Ayoola Dominic, co-founder, Koolboks, in this interview with TAIWO HASSAN, speaks on the inevitability of his product to the micro small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs), especially with regard to frozen food busines
Tell us about Koolboks refrigerating system and its merits? Some key major problems we have in Africa is, number one; wastage of food and medications due to lack of refrigeration and storage facilities. So today in Africa, we have three significant challenges. One; 40 per cent of food is wasted in emerging markets; also, we have about five out of every ten patients that get to die due to vaccine spoilage. Two, we know that affording a refrigerator is usually expensive and when you have it, there is no electricity. Over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa today lack access to electricity and therefore lack access to refrigeration. And when they even have refrigeration, the cost of effectively owning one is usually an uneasy task. Because after getting a refrigerator, they typically have to get a generator and then you start buying fuel to be able to run your refrigerator. Thirdly, of course, we are talking of the environment; most of the refrigerants that are being used are dangerous refrigerants. They have been banned elsewhere, and these are 80,000 times more dangerous than carbon, but that is what still exists in African countries. So what we have done is providing the solution using sun and water which is very cheap. We make it a pay-as-go to make it easy for individuals and shop owners to pay on monthly, weekly or daily basis. You can pay as low as N12,000 weekly or monthly. Our mission is to make cooling affordable and accessible to everyone that needs it and to stimulate small-scale businesses in Nigeria.
What are the other benefits of Koolboks to Nigerians?
Koolboks freezers come with four LED bulbs and four charging points, which means that whether or not you have public power, generator or not, Koolboks system is one that powers your house with light and you at the same time charge your phones. So it provides light, energy and refrigeration in a single unit.
That also means providing your family all these from natural energy source which is not diluted. It is like using the sun and water to power your home which you do not have to pay for. We give you the opportunity to pay for it every month for the next 24 months; so what else do you need? God has giving you sun and you have water in the well which is natural. The value that comes with Koolboks is immeasurable for family and for small business owners who can sell all manners of drinks without having to sweat to get a generator and all that. All we are doing is to empower struggling families and others.
They shouldn’t go beyond that temperature for you to be able to sell your foods fresh and clean or you poison people generally, so the whole idea is for us to remotely monitor the temperature of the fridge. It’s just like someone or kidney that requires oxygen at a particular rate and you know what it means when he does not get it. Or what it means when a frozen food dealer or vaccine preserver go off power for four or five hours? They become understandably worried because they could lose a lot in terms of spoilage. That is why we monitor the temperature of the refrigerators and also monitor the battery voltage. There is no issue of transport; just monitor it and put a phone call and you will be asked to do this or that and it will be fine. That is the main reason we make sure to monitor our freezers. We understand that our customers deal on perishables. One good thing is that this is easy and can be done on the palm of your hand, with your phone from anywhere in the world. It is possible to do this even in areas where there is no network.
Is it possible to monitor the temperature of the refrigerator and its battery voltage?
For us, we are able to monitor the temperature, monitor the battery voltage on the refrigerators; why are we doing this? We figure out that most of our customers are small business owners who are into frozen food business. In frozen food business you have to preserve the integrity of your products. You know meats are meant to be kept at a particular temperature and the same thing goes for fishes and others. They shouldn’t go beyond that temperature for you to be able to sell your foods fresh and clean or you poison people generally, so the whole idea is for us to remotely monitor the temperature of the fridge. What it means when a frozen food dealer or vaccine preserver go off power for four or five hours? They become understandably worried because they could lose a lot in terms of spoilage. That is why we monitor the temperature of the refrigerators and also monitor the battery voltage. There is no issue of transport; just monitor it and put a phone call and you will be asked to do this or that and it will be fine.
What should be avoided while using Koolboks refrigerators?
It still has no energy storage. People should be aware that when there is no sun they should not unnecessarily throw open the doors; you should know that even when you open a fridge that is constantly on power, the ice defreezes. When you talk about freezing and cooling, people should be able to define what they actually want. We need to clearly define this because we have different energy demands for different needs.
Can Koolboks be used with public electricity?
Yes, it can work with or without public power; you have the ability to switch inbetween both. Koolboks has the ability to switch between NEPA and Solar. But our campaign is ‘shame on NEPA’ because we have come to bridge the gap.
What is the market projection for Koolboks in Nigeria?
Our market projection in Nigeria this year is 7,000 units; next year we are looking at 15,000 units, which I think is even small, but we are planning gradual saturation of the market in Nigeria.
What sector of the economy needs Koolboks most because you talked of vaccines?
Hospitals and labs can’t pay our bills alone; how many hospitals and labs do we have? Truth is that Koolboks is for every home and particularly those small business owners that require constant energy for their products and services. If the frozen food business owners are not careful, they can throw away their goods because of lack of power and that is the major problem we want to solve; these are the ones we majorly target. Why go for electricity when the sun is free?
What plans are there to penetrate other African countries?
We are currently in 18 countries and out of the 18 countries, 16 of them are in Africa. We are targeting offices in Mozambique and Congo in the next two years. We are building our assembly plant in Nigeria already and it is very big. We started building from the scratch.
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