14 DAY TRIAL // Financial software, data and media company Bloomberg is not all about making a profit. On the contrary, it is very much preoccupied with making the world a better place, hence its having recently agreed to get behind efforts to green up Africa.
Not to beat about the bush, media reports say that Bloomberg Philanthropies, i.e. the company's charitable arm, has teamed up with social enterprise Little Sun. The end goal of this collaboration is to promote solar lamps across Africa.
Information shared with the public says that, as part of this partnership, Bloomberg Philanthropies has provided a low-interest loan amounting to $5 million (€3.62 million) to Little Sun. The social enterprise is to use this money to up the popularity of solar lamps in the developing world.
More precisely, it appears that Little Sun is now in the business of selling portable LED lamps that run on solar to people in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Burundi, South Africa and Ethiopia.
The lamps are cheap enough for locals to be able to afford them, and pricy enough for the retailers that Little Sun works with not to lose interest in marketing them, Business Green informs.
As reported on several occasions, such lamps are way more eco- and people-friendly than the kerosene ones that many people living in Africa presently rely in. This is because, unlike kerosene lamps, those kept up and running by solar power produce no environmental pollution.
“Too many families are forced to breathe in toxic kerosene fumes because they don't have access to electricity. Solar-powered lights can improve their health and at the same time, protect our environment by keeping pollutants out of the air they breathe,” Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, explained in a statement.
Little Sun details that the solar-powered lamps it is now busy selling to people in Africa are the creation of artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen. They are water-resistant, and their battery is said to have a lifespan of about three years.
Commenting on the decision to become involved in helping people in Africa opt for greener lighting options and on the social enterprise's partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Felix Hallwachs, the current managing director and chief executive of Little Sun, stated as follows:
“Today, seven out of 10 people lack access to even the most basic electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the next 20 years, Africa is poised to hold the world's largest un-electrified population. The impact investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies will help us reach our goal of providing clean energy to homes, schools and local businesses, replacing toxic kerosene lamps everywhere we work.”