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Zara Solar sells solar home systems to rural homes in Mwanza, Tanzania. Established in 1998 by local entrepreneur Mohammed Parpia and his family, Zara is unique in its ability to market quality products at competitive prices; by importing systems in bulk, it can reduce the overall cost and sells systems to households at an affordable price. To date, Zara has sold over 10,000 solar home systems offsetting more than 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Need

As the second largest city in Tanzania, Mwanza has a surprisingly low 5.9% electrification rate with no plans for national grid extension. Small diesel generators remain the primary supplier of minute quantities of electricity to remote regions. When captive diesel generation is absent, the households rely on kerosene and wood for lighting. This results in a desperate need for alternative electricity in the Lake Region.

E+Co Value Added

In early 2000, E+Co assisted the company with its transition from electrical supply company to solar photovoltaic wholesaler through the completion of a market study, the creation of a business strategy and connection to suppliers. Shortly thereafter, E+Co made a US$50,000 loan to support the import, sale and installation of the company’s first solar systems. The initial work was done in conjunction with the Africa Rural Energy Enterprise Development program and local partner TaTEDO.

Zara’s rapid growth enabled it to absorb an additional US$100,000 investment in 2004 and again in 2006. Now it supplies modern, clean energy to more than 10,000 rural Tanzanian households. As a result of its impressive social, environmental and financial impacts, Zara received the International Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy presented by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 2007. In 2008, the company also won the World Bank’s Lighting Africa competition and the World Energy Globe Award.

**The Zara Solar video clip was provided by the Ashden Awards for Sustainabile Energy at www.ashdenawards.org