Profile: Nelson Maleko – East Africa

Wha5. Nelsont is your off-grid energy business?

My off grid energy business is to produce efficient stoves which will use briquettes and charcoal.  

Can you give a brief overview?

The stove will have an adjustable plate which allows accommodation of different pan size in order to increase efficiency.

Other additional features on the stove is automatic ash removal plate and insulation mechanism to avoid heat loss.

What inspired you to start working in off-grid energy?  Are there any key people who inspired you to work in this area?

The consumption of fuel great influenced by cooking habit as well as stove performance characteristics.

Currently the stove with higher performance are imported but its higher price make it not affordable. So our product will be affordable and durable compared to normal stove or imported one.

Have you lived in an off-grid community? If the answer is yes, what is something you want people with reliable energy to know about growing up off-grid?

YES, people should be aware of renewable source of energy and have trust to the coming inversion like ours, in order to support growth of off-grid energy.

What is the most important thing you have learnt so far by being on the off-grid energy track?

I have learnt a lot about the formulation of methodologies to solve different problems occurring in the community.

What are some of the challenges you have faced when coming up with an off-grid energy business?

-Some ideas may be rejected by investors, this cause a lot of problem to come up with viable ideas at short period of time.

-Awareness of people is also a challenge, because people like to buy products which they aware with.

Where do you hope to be 3 years from now?

-To have a registered company on civil works and constructions, to have an online market platform which will enable selling of my agro-products.

-to be leading entrepreneur in terms of off grid energy

-To give back to community (Have orphanage centre) and professional soccer academy.

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