Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy

Elvis Kadhama is a 27-year-old Ugandan social change maker, social entrepreneur and environmentalist. He is committed and passionate about changing people’s lives, income and saving the environment through catalyzing clean energy transition in rural Uganda. He’s committed to change the mindset that most people are having towards carbon emissions, he believes through sensitization and training of rural populations on the health, financial and environmental benefits of clean energy products, Elvis graduated from Uganda College of Commerce Tororo in 2015 with a Business diploma,  a Young African Leadership Initiative-YALI RLC EA (2018) Alumni, Bridges for Enterprise alumni year 2019-2020, grantee of the pollination project grant, grantee of the Mcginnity family foundation grant, and grantee of Enventure clean energy startup loan. Elvis is the Founder and Executive Director of Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy and he also believe in the role clean energy products have in improving individual livelihoods and sustainability.

Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy (PEA) is an Eco-Inclusive social venture founded in 2018 with the aim of distributing life-changing clean energy products to impoverished people in rural Uganda. Our low-emission products mitigate the release of CO2 and noxious fumes resulting from unsustainable energy usage. We reduce poverty in rural Uganda by reducing financial burden resulting from sudden medical or weekly energy expenditures impacting households. We realize our mission by distributing our products through the “Green Homes Project,” which provides families living on less than $2 a day access to high-quality, affordable, and warrantied clean energy products. PEA recruits local women and youth as “Energypreneurs,” who distribute clean energy products straight to customers’ doorsteps and educate consumers about the benefits of clean energy technology. To reduce up-front costs, we offer each customer a customized installment payment plan. Our innovative approach to distribution facilitates the clean energy transition in underserved communities in Uganda.  

Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy addresses the environmental, financial, and health issues caused by unsustainable lighting and cooking practices in rural Uganda. Electricity is unavailable and expensive for the majority of the nation’s low-income population. With limited options, communities rely on kerosene lighting and open-fire cooking to sustain everyday activities. Kerosene-based lighting is expensive, with monthly purchases of kerosene forming 10% of a family’s monthly income. When in use, it also poses health and safety concerns from fire outbreaks and noxious emissions. Furthermore, the burning of charcoal and firewood on open fires emits significant amounts of smoke and CO2, creating health and environmental concerns. On aggregate, this practice also results in high deforestation rates. Thus, these lighting and cooking practices dampen environmental outlook, reinforce household financial stress, and produce health and safety concerns.

Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy empowers low-income villagers to spur the clean energy transition and address these problems. We sell clean energy products, such as solar lanterns, fuel briquettes and low-emission stoves, at fair prices to improve energy practices in the region. Our business idea addresses the financial problems faced in impoverished communities through an innovation in distribution. PEA’s sales agents physically approach each village and build trust in the local community to educate villagers on our products and spur sales. Through our “Rent-to-Own” model and collaboration with VSLA groups, we offer each customer a customized installment payment plan, reducing the upfront financial burden on consumers. We maintain long term relationships with all villages by recruiting local women to act as “Energypreneurs,” who help to continue to educate villagers and distribute our products within the community. To date, we have recruited 15 local women into our business to aid in distribution. PEA’s products also improve the health prospects of rural communities and contribute significantly to emission reduction. These clean energy products significantly cut CO2 emissions, with solar lanterns replacing kerosene usage and each low-emission cookstove cutting firewood and charcoal consumption by 36%.

PEA targets customers that are of low-income households living on less than $2 PPP a day. In Uganda, these people are generally smallholder famers and small business owners living in underserved, off-grid markets. To serve our target customers, we get deep into rural and urban slums communities of Eastern Uganda to provide the poorest with access to quality, affordable, durable, money saving and warrantied clean energy products. Our beneficiaries are family members of our customers, namely female family members and children, who experience the highest exposure to unsustainable lighting and cooking practices. To ensure we reach the people in need, we recruit local women and youths as Energypreneurs who bring solar and cookstoves straight to families’ doorsteps, educating customers about the new clean energy technology and providing a payment plan to fit their budget. Our partnership with VSLA groups allow us to offer customized, flexible installment payment plans and hold large education workshops comprised of 30-60 VSLA group members on the cost, health, and environmental benefits of clean energy products. In addition to VSLA groups, we work with local village leaders to target village communities, bringing education workshops to rural villagers and broadening financial inclusivity with our flexible Rent-to-Own model

PEA targets customers that are of low-income households living on less
than $2 PPP a day. In Uganda, these people are generally smallholder
famers and small business owners living in underserved, off-grid
markets. To serve our target customers, we get deep into rural and urban
slums communities of Eastern Uganda to provide the poorest with access
to quality, affordable, durable, money saving and warrantied clean
energy products.

For years, my family was exposed to smoke and fumes while lighting using kerosene lamps, unaware of the effects that these dirty fuels would have on our health and well-being. In 2018, my grandmother died in a fire outbreak caused by a kerosene lamp and our neighbour suffered a stroke caused by these fuels, paralyzing the left side of her body. Strokes are one of the top 10 causes of death in Uganda. Approximately 4 million people die prematurely from illness attributed to household air pollution produced by inefficient energy sources. I learned about alternative energy sources when our neighbour was healing. I was determined to improve the quality of life for low-income households such that nobody else would have to face the pain and financial strain caused by pollutive fuels. As a social entrepreneur, I was driven to promote the clean energy transition in rural Uganda through social business and I co-founder a social enterprise Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy (PEA) and it became the vehicle through which I realized the vision of social entrepreneurship.

Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy addresses the environmental, financial, and health issues caused by unsustainable lighting and cooking practices in rural Uganda. Electricity is unavailable and expensive for the majority of the nation’s low-income population. With limited options, communities rely on kerosene lighting and open-fire cooking to sustain everyday activities. Kerosene-based lighting is expensive, with monthly purchases of kerosene forming 10% of a family’s monthly income. Despite the costs, it provides insufficient light for business operations and nighttime study for children. When in use, it also poses health and safety concerns from fire outbreaks and noxious emissions. Kerosene lamps reportedly cause respiratory problems, strokes, eye problems, chest pain and suffocation – heavily affecting women, children, and the elderly. Furthermore, the burning of firewood and charcoal on open fires emit significant amounts of smoke and CO2, creating health and environmental concerns. This practice also involves the burning of firewood, resulting in high deforestation rates. According to the UN, no forest will remain in Uganda by 2050 at the current deforestation rate. Thus, these lighting and cooking practices dampens environmental outlook, reinforces household financial stress, and produces health and safety concerns.

For years, my family was exposed to smoke and fumes while lighting using kerosene lamps, unaware of the effects that these dirty fuels would have on our health and well-being. In 2018, my grandmother died in a fire outbreak caused by a kerosene lamp and our neighbour suffered a stroke caused by these fuels, paralyzing the left side of her body. Strokes are one of the top 10 causes of death in Uganda. Approximately 4 million people die prematurely from illness attributed to household air pollution produced by inefficient energy sources. I learned about alternative energy sources when our neighbour was healing. I was determined to improve the quality of life for low-income households such that nobody else would have to face the pain and financial strain caused by pollutive fuels. As a social entrepreneur, I was driven to promote the clean energy transition in rural Uganda through social business and I co-founder a social enterprise Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy (PEA) and it became the vehicle through which I realized the vision of social entrepreneurship.

“During my industrial research report for the award of diploma in business studies at Uganda College of Commerce Tororo, my supervisor suddenly wanted to change an entire report work two days before the deadline. The supervisor was unhappy with my first draft of the report, so I was tasked with redoing the entire report. I organized a late-night brainstorm that evening. After hours of work, I asked to take an extra of two days on putting together everything right. This was challenging because it was my first time working on the industrial research report and also my chance to make the supervisor happy for better grades. I overcame this challenge by looking at previously successful research reports for the teams in my course, analyzing the feedback they gave on their initial reports and incorporating all of the team’s ideas into the new research report. The supervisor was ultimately thrilled with the fresh research report, and all of the new ideas i included!” and this earned me good grades GPA 5.0 in this research paper.

For years, my family was exposed to smoke and fumes while lighting using kerosene lamps, unaware of the effects that these dirty fuels would have on our health and well-being. In 2018, my grandmother died in a fire outbreak caused by a kerosene lamp and our neighbour suffered a stroke caused by these fuels, paralyzing the left side of her body. Strokes are one of the top 10 causes of death in Uganda. Approximately 4 million people die prematurely from illness attributed to household air pollution produced by inefficient energy sources. I learned about alternative energy sources when our neighbour was healing. I was determined to improve the quality of life for low-income households such that nobody else would have to face the pain and financial strain caused by pollutive fuels. As a social entrepreneur, I was driven to promote the clean energy transition in rural Uganda through social business and I co-founder a social enterprise Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy (PEA) and it became the vehicle through which I realized the vision of social entrepreneurship.

Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy (PEA) enables sustainable energy practices by expanding access to off-grid communities in Uganda. To address this, PEA has created an innovation in distribution. Before entering new villages, we develop trust with and gain a comprehensive understanding of underserved urban and rural communities to effectively market our products. We have refined our marketing strategy by partnering with Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups. Our partnership with VSLA groups allow us to offer customized, flexible installment payment plans and hold large education workshops comprised of 30-60 VSLA group members on the cost, health, and environmental benefits of clean energy products. In addition to VSLA groups, we work with local village leaders to target village communities, bringing education workshops to rural villagers and broadening financial inclusivity with our flexible Rent-to-Own model. Through this model, we offer customized, cash-based installment payment plans. We have hired 15Energypreneurs, employees stationed in individual geographic areas, who hold specific market expertise in the areas they operate in. Finally, we encourage long-term sales through our referral program, which encourages customers to recommend our products to others. Upon successful referral, the customer will be rewarded with vegetable seeds to boost food security and income generation through farming. Our distribution model’s focus on community engagement, financial inclusion, and long-term empowerment allows us to bring off-grid rural and urban communities in Uganda sustainable energy

Our innovation has the potential to be better than other ways of addressing the challenge, as it expands impact and facilitates long-term community empowerment. Through our distribution we are able to solve three key issues other energy distributors fail to address: (1) Marketing through Community Engagement and Education, (2) Flexible Payments catered to those living on less than $2 PPP a day, and (3) Long-Term Presence and distribution in communities. Our innovative marketing strategy that focuses on entering villages through VSLA groups, Energypreneurs, and local leaders ensures that we’re building a long-term presence in communities. Our focus on education allows customers to understand the benefits and facilitates recurring purchases in the future. Second, our Rent-to-Own payment system offers more flexibility to rural and urban slum dwellers. Thus, our Rent-to-Own model is highly adaptive to our target demographic. Finally, our use of a referral program ensures long-term presence in communities, meaning we can expand while growing our current sales through word-of-mouth marketing and network effects.

PEA is currently serving 1,000 customers, targets to impact 20,000 low-income households living on less than $2 PPP a day in the next one year and 100,000 people in 5 years. In Uganda, these people are generally smallholder famers and small business owners living in underserved, off-grid markets. To serve our target customers, we get deep into rural and urban slums communities of Eastern Uganda to provide the poorest with access to quality, affordable, durable, money saving and warrantied clean energy products. Our beneficiaries are family members of our customers, namely female family members and children, who experience the highest exposure to unsustainable lighting and cooking practices. To ensure we reach the people in need, we recruit local women and youths as Energypreneurs who bring solar and cookstoves straight to families’ doorsteps, educating customers about the new clean energy technology and providing a payment plan to fit their budget.

Empowering 20 female and youth Energypreneurs in 2020 and 120 Energypreneurs in the next 5 years, training them and offering them employment.

• Closing the gender technology gap by providing lighting and clean cooking solutions to low income families in rural areas.
• Including women in the energy supply chain, promoting clean energy provision to households.
• Leading to improved air quality and lower CO2 emissions.
  • Reducing the amount of money spent on kerosene lighting, firewood and charcoal – currently 70 % of household income.
  • Providing electrification to rural areas, which further contributes to community development
  • Empowering women as consumers: PEA Energypreneurs benefit first as users of clean energy products and use the power of personal testimony to educate their communities on the benefits of solar lanterns, water filters, clean cookstoves and fuel briquettes solutions they sell.
  • Energy efficiency and increased use of clean energy products to contribute to climate mitigation and disaster risk reduction.
  • Last mile distribution of clean energy products to low income households at affordable prices.

Lack of funding: currently we do not have funds to recruit full time team members, acquire regional office spaces, or head sales, finance and administration.

Entrepreneurship: We have limited access to information about establishing and sustainably growing a social business.

Talent Acquisition: Acquiring a full-time team that is comprised of dedicated and experienced talent might be also a challenge to us. As our organization grows larger, it may also be difficult for us to train many employees on best sales strategies.

Impact Tracking: We face difficulty in tracking quantitative and qualitative impact accurately for our clean energy project which make our work hard.

Fierce competition: We expect to face competition from new entrants in the market, who might damage our reputation through the distribution of substandard clean energy products.

Consumer Attitudes: As a social enterprise we are facing a challenge of people’s thinking and behaviors to from traditional cooking and lighting practices remains difficult. Since changing how people behave in the society is very challenging, the benefits take considerable time to materialize. Strategic Partnerships: As a start-up in the clean energy space, we are actively looking for potential partnerships to collaborate on marketing efforts, suppliers, sales, and financing. However, choosing trustworthy partners with a good reputation and similar goals maybe a challenge

1. To get startup capital, we formed a partnership with Enventure enterprises Uganda, offering us with clean energy loans at affordable interest rates.
2. To learn more and get exposed, we participate in several online and offline entrepreneurship bootcamps and accelerator programs.
3. However, we are collaborating with a pro-bono consultancy (Bridges for Enterprise) to create impact tracking tools that will help us future
4. To overcome competition, we educate our customers on the benefits offered by our products, including but not limited to health, financial and environmental benefits, 1-2 years of warranty and a 3-5-year lifetime of products.
5. We try to change customer attitudes towards clean energy products by providing them with education and training through village meetings.

Bridges for Enterprise: Bridges for Enterprise (BfE) is a global nonprofit run by students and professionals offering pro-bono consulting services to social enterprises globally. PEA works with the New York chapter and has participated in the organization’s Consulting and Finance Advisory engagements, which spanned 8 months. BfE has empowered PEA with business consulting and financial advisory services, enabling us to grow our venture and create a more inclusive and sustainable future.

• ENVenture Enterprises Uganda: Supported PEA with a clean energy start up loan. As of this year, PEA will qualify as a member institution of the ENVenture growth fund.
• D.light Designs Uganda Ltd:  Is one of Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy product partners and assists with capacity-building and marketing tools, maintenance and repair, supplies discounted, quality, affordable and durable solar lanterns that are warrantied for two years. They also provide marketing and technical support, including product repairs and replacements.
• The Uganda Carbon Bureau:  Acts as a knowledge resource on developments in carbon finance markets.
• Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) groups:   identifies business opportunities, select potential customers and monitoring credit  sales

Our business model is simple and unique, PEA recruits local women and youth as Energypreneurs (sales agents) who go with clean energy products straight to customer’s door steps. The Energypreneurs offers education about the products and a payment plan called “Rent- to -Own” making it affordable for the poorest families to repay in small installments at a time. As these Energypreneurs are often part of the communities, they are in good position to provide customer service and assistance in local language. The model also involves partnerships with VSLA groups allow us to offer customized, flexible installment payment plans and hold large education workshops comprised of 30-60 VSLA group members on the cost, health, and environmental benefits of clean energy products. In addition to VSLA groups, we work with local village leaders to target village communities, bringing education workshops to rural villagers and broadening financial inclusivity with our flexible Rent-to-Own model.

Our model is based on putting women and youths to work through teaching entrepreneurship and skills. This enables women and youths living in poverty to eventually sustain themselves. In 2018, we started with one village in Mayuge district, recruited and trained 2 local women as Energypreneurs who went on to service the one Village with products. By 2019, with support from the Enventure Enterprises Uganda, we scaled up our action to 10 villages in Mayuge district.

Replicating our proven models and establishing of sales outlets: PEA intends to reach a large number of people through replicating our innovative distribution channels. We plan to recruit 1,000 youth and women as Energypreneurs, continue expanding financial access through our affordable financing model (Rent to Own) as well as having our permanent presence in the communities through brick and mortar stores.   We also plan to engage low-income schools and local institutions with the willingness to adopt our innovation at scale. 

Developing of local partnerships: to reach and serve a large number of people, PEA plans to partner with local leaders and Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) groups. This will however help us to scale as these partnership segments have much knowledge of the market environment than we do.

PEA secured seed grants from the pollination project USD 1,000 in 2018, USD 2,000 from The MCginnity family foundation in 2018, USD 1,000 equity from Enventure Enterprises in 2019 and USD 1,000 equity from Enventure Enterprises in 2020. W e also raised revenue worthy USD 5,000 from sales of products in 2019 and planning to raise USD 3,000 as revenue from sales in 2020 due to COVID19 Pandemic crisis.

We are seeking to raise funds USD100,000 in form of a grant by august 2020 and we plan to use the funds in the following areas

• Inventory expansion, transportation/mobility access, geographical expansion/outreach, local advertisements on radios, employability (creating more jobs),
• Investment in technology to track sales and revenue and grow the business, sales outlets establishment, new commission based partnerships, training of staff, greater access to information, building a network).
• Boost marketing and advertisement through Radio and TV adverts, Pull
  up banners, Tiers drops, Brochures and Fliers containing information about the company and products

Use of funds

1. 30% will be spent on boosting inventory of products to fuel higher market demand
2. 55% on setting up sales outlets and establishing presence in new districts and regions
3. 2% on buying a delivery van to facilitate delivery of products across all outlets
4. 4% on higher quality technology to better track revenue, sales and impact
5. 2% will be spent on marketing efforts through Radio and TV adverts, Pull up banners, Tiers drops, Brochures and Fliers containing information about the company and products

Next steps to achieve with funds

1. employing 1,000 currently unemployed youth and women
2. expanding to 75% of the 134 districts in Uganda
3. impacting 100,000 lives through clean energy business and product

We are applying to the Elevate Prize to secure funding and we shall use the funds as follows, 30% on expanding inventory of products to fuel higher demand, 55% on setting up sales outlets and establishing presence in all regions of Uganda, 2%on buying a field van to facilitate delivery of products, 4% on higher quality technology to better tracker sales, revenue and impact to solve a barrier of impact tracking for future investments, 2% on marketing efforts through radio and TV adverts, pull up banners, tier drops, brochure and posters containing information about the company and products. The Elevate prize will also support us to employ 1,000 currently unemployed youth and women as full time and part time staff to curb the barrier of talent acquisition, access to professional management and development services, mentorship and coaching, educational training, capacity building, and connection with influencers, industry leaders, and experts to solve the barrier of lack of access to entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. With the support from the elevate prize, we shall be able to impact 100,000 lives with access to clean products in a period of 5 years

Global Distributors Collective: GDC will support Pearl Entrepreneurs Academy reach millions of unserved customers with life-changing products, and to developing the last mile distribution sector as a whole. GDC has over 150 members in over 40 countries, who have reached over 25 million people in last mile households with life-changing products such as solar lights, clean cookstoves and water filters. Their ambition is to make last mile distribution the first priority, so that life-changing products can be made affordable and available to all.

Angaza Technologies: This organization that will help accelerate PEA’s solar products distribution in rural communities through its Pay-Go mobile platform, which is compatible with the D.light-solar technology.