Koolboks
Organization Details
Poor energy access, high costs of buying and running generators, and the relatively high cost of cooling prevent many African businesses and households from accessing refrigeration when it’s needed. What many of these countries have in plenty, however, is sunlight. Koolboks has developed solar-powered refrigeration systems, enabled with pay-as-you-go technology, to make sustainable refrigeration accessible and affordable for all.
Impact Story
Economic development
Koolboks provides solar refrigeration solutions that can scale to benefit industries such as aquaculture and frozen foods, including small businesses that are predominantly owned and run by women. As a result, approximately 85% of our customers are female. Market women have chosen to acquire Koolboks products in order to improve the profitability of their businesses, by reducing wastage and eliminating costs related to the erratic power supply and need for generators to keep traditional refrigeration systems running. By adopting the Koolhome solution, traders were able to enjoy significant energy cost savings, increased sales, and improved profitability.
Women empowerment & financial inclusion
Koolboks is also able to empower women by increasing the affordability of valuable capital equipment for productive use, leading to ownership of those assets. This leads to a form of financial inclusion, in particular where women may not have access to traditional banking systems. It also leads to improvements in their livelihoods. Koolboks also empowers women through training on the use of solar fridges as well as instruction on how to start frozen food businesses with limited funds. Thanks to Koolboks, market women are now able to pay as low as $30 per month to own a solar refrigerator.
Environmental impact
Koolboks is an environmentally friendly organization that promotes the use of clean and renewable energy and supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 7, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. We aim to reduce GHG emissions caused by refrigeration by facilitating access to clean and energy efficient solar energy, and by replacing old, inefficient freezers dependent on the national grid - or most likely diesel power. We estimate that the use of 500 of our Koolhome freezers for 16 hours reduces carbon emissions by 52 MT per day, equal to the daily carbon emissions of 433 passenger vehicles.
Diverse Social Enterprise
The TRANSFORM Support Hub is committed to accelerating diverse owned and led enterprises to build more equitable and resilient supply chains.