Covid-19: Two firms benefit from free solar power scheme

As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to disrupt businesses and the way of life, many companies are struggling to stay afloat.

In Kenya, many companies have closed shop and rendered thousands of employees jobless as the local economy takes a hit.

One of the major reasons that has seen many processing companies close shop is the high cost of energy.

A lack of local and global markets due to strict lockdowns has slowed down production of various consumer goods.

However, two companies in Kenya have a reason to continue with their production after a leading clean solar power provider in the world, Redavia, partnered with two local companies to cushion them from the effects of Covid-19.

Redavia which is a leader of cost-effective, reliable, and clean solar power for businesses, has signed Covid-19 resilience leases with leading Nakuru-based animal feeds manufacturer Wonder Feeds Limited and Siginon Aviation, a logistics company, offering these businesses six months of free solar power.

 The partnership comes as a big relief for both companies who are now assured of continued service provision and production.

 “I’m happy with this collaboration with Redavia as it will save us millions of shillings in energy bills. We shall now have a steady production as we have a reliable power back up,” said Abdul Parkar, managing director of Wonder Feeds.

 Mr Parkar that the installation will help the company save on power bill,

 “The money that we will save will help in other overhead costs particularly at this time of covid-19,” said Mr Parkar

 Before the Covid crisis, Wonder Feeds Limited had upgraded its factory to accommodate its growing business.

 According to Mr Parkar, the company maintained product prices for customers despite an increase costs of raw material, leaving the company with higher operating expenses.

 The new collaboration with Redavia is a game changer and Mr Parkar says it is timely as the benefits of the deal will trickle down to their loyal customers.

 “Our customers are our king and we have made these strides in the business because of them and that is why I am so happy and willing to extend the same benefits I am getting from Redavia to our customer by maintaining affordable prices of our feed products,” said Mr Parkar.

 Siginon Aviation which is a ground handling company based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi was also pleased with the deal.

 “As a company one of our key policy is to embrace environmental conservation during our operations and that is why we operate and engage equipment that limits emissions of carbon fuel into the atmosphere and therefore Redavi’s free solar power solution supports our environment policy to the community,” said Mr Edwin Ronoh, Siginon Group Finance Leader.

 Siginon is one of the few companies in Kenya which is advocating for green agenda as one of its key business objective.

 “Our partnership with Redavia comes at a time when the green agenda is out key business objective. Siginon Aviation continues to embrace business solutions that ensure environmental conservation, and Redavia’s solar power solution gives us the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment as a strong believer in environment conservation,” added Mr Ronoh.

 Covid-19 has disrupted many African businesses significantly and in this challenging time such gesture by Redivia would reduce their operating costs with a flexible free solar plant leasing service.

 The company has introduced the Covid-19 resilience lease, which provides six months free solar power plants to businesses to cushion them from the effects of the deadly virus.

 “We are glad to be able to make a difference for our business partners in this time of need and start a win-win relationships that will last for decades. The Covid-19 resilience lease programme is already a huge success, and we are keen to scale up the programmr further. We invite more companies to apply,” said Erwin Spolders, chief executive officer and founder of Redavia.