- Bboxx and SP have partnered to scale clean cooking solutions across Rwanda, aiming to replace environmentally harmful charcoal and provide 10 000 households with cleaner alternatives by end of 2023.
- SP, a leading Oil Marketing Company with over a decade of energy transition experience, joins forces with Bboxx’s last-mile distribution expertise to accelerate the adoption of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) for clean cooking. Introducing a Pay-As-You-Cook offer with the Bboxx’s Smart Cooking Valve to its large customer base of more than 100 000 households across the country will put an end to harmful fuel usage.
- Bboxx’s specialized approach involves distributing “Bboxx Cook” branded stoves and offering Pay-As-You-Cook access to SP branded cylinder users, highlighting Bboxx’s role as a go-to partner for LPG companies.
- This collaboration addresses the urgent need for clean cooking solutions, enhancing the quality of life for Rwandan households and addressing 5 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals while advancing economic growth.
Thursday 14th September 2023 – Bboxx, a data-driven super platform and champion of economic empowerment in Africa, has joined forces with SP, the foremost Oil Marketing Company in Rwanda, to extend clean cooking solutions to households across Rwanda. This pioneering partnership is set to eliminate the use of environmentally harmful charcoal, offering households cleaner and more efficient alternatives while catalyzing economic empowerment and accelerating the energy transition.
Globally, 2.4 billion people lack access to clean cooking, with traditional methods like wood and charcoal posing severe health risks, leading to 2.5 million premature deaths annually, predominantly from cooking smoke, and disproportionately affecting women. In addition, traditional fuels are responsible for vast carbon emissions and up to 30% of global deforestation, while clean cooking solutions provide a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly alternative.
SP’s extensive experience in the energy sector, with a track record of over a decade in supporting the energy transition in Rwanda, makes them an ideal partner for this endeavour. SP’s expertise in providing Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and its extensive distribution network of 60 petrol stations and six cylinder filling plants across Rwanda ensure reliable and accessible product availability.
Renowned for its specialization in last-mile distribution, Bboxx will be instrumental in delivering tangible change. Armed with its fully integrated operating system, Bboxx Pulse®, the company will facilitate the widespread adoption of clean cooking solutions. Bboxx will offer Pay-As-You-Cook options for Bboxx Cook branded stoves and SP branded cylinders, underscoring their capacity to act as the ultimate last-mile partner for LPG companies.
SP’s unwavering commitment to the energy transition is evident through its ownership and operation of a 65,000 m3 petroleum storage terminal in Rusororo, coupled with continued investments in clean energy infrastructure. This aligns harmoniously with Bboxx’s mission to propel growth and create new markets through their data-driven approach. At the heart of this collaboration lies the replacement of traditional charcoal with LPG, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for Rwandan households.
This holistic approach addresses the urgent need for clean cooking solutions, ameliorating the reliance on ecologically detrimental biomass fuels.
John Uwizeye, Managing Directorof Bboxx Rwanda, said: “Our partnership with SP signifies a transformative juncture in Rwanda’s journey towards sustainable energy and enhanced livelihoods.”
Yves Legrux, CEO of SP Rwanda, said: “By amalgamating SP’s robust supply network with Bboxx’s technological ingenuity, we are poised to accelerate the adoption of clean cooking solutions, simultaneously fostering economic growth.“
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Notes to Editors
More on clean cooking
Globally, one third of the global population – 2.4 billion people – still do not have access to clean cooking (WHO). Traditional cooking methods such as wood and charcoal create cancer-causing by-products and carbon monoxide in the smoke, leading to long-term health effects and sapping resources from healthcare systems — and women are the ones who suffer most. 2.5 million deaths occur prematurely each year due to household air pollution, mostly from cooking smoke (IEA).
By moving away from traditional cooking fuels, women are improving the health of their families. They’re also saving time: in many societies, women and girls bear the primary responsibility for cooking and gathering fuel, often spending hours each day on these tasks. Clean cooking solutions – such as liquified petroleum gas (LPG) – free precious time each week, creating greater opportunities for education and productive economic activities.
Wood and charcoal also contribute significantly to carbon emissions and deforestation – charcoal and wood respectively have a 50% and 74% larger carbon footprint than LPG (volker-quaschning.de), and as much as 30% of global deforestation is used for charcoal production. Clean cooking solutions reduce these impacts, helping mitigate some of the biggest sources of emission, pollution, and deforestation in the developing world.
Sustainable Development Goals addressed by this partnership:
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 15: Life on Land
About SP (Société Pétrolière):
SP is the leading Oil Marketing Company in Rwanda operating a network of over 60 petrol stations and supplying petroleum products to commercial and industrial customers in the country. SP is also the owner and operator of a 65 000 m3 petroleum storage terminal in Rusororo.
In addition, SP has been supporting energy transition in Rwanda for over 10 years by supplying Liquified Petroleum Gas. SP has six cylinder’s filling plants across the country in order to ensure product availability at all times throughout the country. SP also enjoys the largest cylinder pool in the market.
SP will continue investing in the energie transition in the coming months and years.
About us
Bboxx is a data-driven super platform, transforming lives and unlocking potential by connecting consumers and deploying innovative products across Africa.
Bboxx is championing the economic empowerment of Africa, accelerating the transition to the digital economy and creating new markets. We have built Bboxx Pulse®, a fully integrated operating system, and combined it with an extensive on-the-ground network to connect customers with clean energy, clean cooking, smartphones, e-mobility and selected financial products – many for the first time.
We are connecting both underserved rural communities and aspiring urban ones with a highly convenient and affordable way to access life-changing solutions, through last mile logistics and data-powered innovative financing methods. We offer our services on a pay-as-you-go basis to households, businesses, and communities, enabling African consumers to unlock their potential.
We build strategic partnerships with investors, utilities providers, global companies, and governments to accelerate growth and provide a wide range of products to consumers in Africa. Our partners are seizing a massive market opportunity by plugging into Bboxx – developed through green tech and big data and designed for scale.
Following the successful acquisition of solar energy frontrunner PEG Africa in 2022, Bboxx is now positively impacting the lives of more than 3.5 million people in 10 operating markets, directly contributing to 11 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Bboxx and its group of companies is one of the largest networks in Africa, with over 4,000 staff across Africa and offices in the UK and Asia.
For more information please contact:
Bboxx / Impact and Influence
Email: bboxx@impactandinfluence.global
