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Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
HARARE-based clean energy firm Lanforce Energy has raised nearly US$1,1 million in result-based funding from Open Capital to provide Zimbabweans and other Africans with access to clean cooking solutions by the end of 2027.
The money was raised through the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa which aims to provide Africans with clean cooking solutions.
In a statement, Open Capital, said the agreement would enable the company to scale up and deliver the benefits of renewable clean cooking solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, especially to under-served markets in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The initiative will mainly target youths and women.
“We are proud to have supported the Lanforce team with their fundraising strategy through the Water and Energy for Food Grand Challenge Programme (WE4F) to see this outcome, which will enable access to quality, clean cooking products and much-needed financing for thousands of end customers, especially the youths and women,” said Open Capital.
Open Capital is also currently supporting Lanforce Energy to raise commercial financing to further fund growth.
Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) has signed its first agreement with a women-owned and led company in Zimbabwe which is selling biogas digesters to support the scale-up of clean and modern cooking solutions in rural and peri-urban areas, potentially benefiting thousands of Zimbabweans.
Chief executive officer of Lanforce Energy Mrs Judith Marera said to be able to scale up their business with support from MCFA was a dream come true in their endeavour to uplift women and children, especially girls in Zimbabwe.
“Growing up in Zimbabwe as a young girl, it was my socially ascribed gender role to fetch firewood and provide for the fuel needs of the family,” she said.
“It took up a lot of my time, some of which was supposed to be for study or channelled to other productive activities.
“This obviously affected my performance at school, and when I look back this could easily have been prevented if we had used modern cooking solutions such as biogas.
“By providing technical assistance, advocating policies, raising awareness and building partnerships, MCFA is helping to make biogas a more affordable and accessible option for people in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole,” said Mrs Marera.
Aliona Fomenco, Investment Manager at NEFCO said: “Lanforce Energy is an innovative company aiming for large scale-up opportunities, helping to improve health, reducing deforestation in a large part of the country and supporting the empowerment of women in Zimbabwe by leading by example.”
The available biodigesters include stoves and burners which are easy to operate, portable and available in different sizes depending on the customer’s needs.
All parts of the biodigesters are replaceable and their expected lifespan is about 20 years, depending on the care and maintenance provided.
Online Reporter