Oluchi Chibuzor
A French tech startup, Koolboks, has launched a redefining refrigeration system in Nigeria aimed at using geospatial technology and solar power to provide sustainable refrigeration in not only Nigeria but Africa.
In view of this, the startup is focused on serving the Nigerian market and making cooling affordable, accessible and therefore means that without public electricity, small business owners and homes have no issue effectively storing and managing their perishable goods.
According to the French based company, the system comes up with solar-powered freezers that depend less on public power but more on solar energy to power the products.
Speaking recently in Lagos, the co-founder of Koolboks, Mr. Dominic Ayoola, said they basically intend to democratise the way the world experiences cooling.
He noted that their mission is to make cooling affordable and accessible to everyone that needs it in Africa.
According to him, “About 40 percent 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. 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 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.
“Most of the refrigerants that are being used are dangerous refrigerants. They have been banned in the West, and these are 80,000 times more dangerous than carbon, but that is what still exists in African countries,” he said.
As an innovation to recreate cooling systems and offers a variety of other advantages, he maintained that Koolboks creates an affordable off-grid solution that is able to generate continuous refrigeration for up to four days, even in the absence of power and limited sunlight.
