Bboxx has partnered with TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda to scale Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) clean cooking in and beyond Kigali, Rwanda, following a successful pilot programme in 2023, with plans to reach 1 million people over the next 5 years.
For this clean cooking roll-out, Bboxx is providing its own technology, the Smart Cooking Valve, which sits on top of the LPG cylinder, and TotalEnergies will provide the cylinders and gas.
The Smart Cooking Valve, launched in August 2023, is a device that revolutionises gas usage; it locks onto the LPG cylinder and digitally controls customers’ gas access based on their mobile money payments, enabling a pay-as-you-cook financing model.
Few households can afford an entire gas refill in one payment, so this flexible payment system allows customers to pay for their day-to-day gas usage and reap the economic and health advantages by switching from traditional cooking methods like charcoal to more affordable and less polluting LPG.
The initial test phase of the pilot programme demonstrated great demand for the PAYGo kit, with higher than usual cylinder rotation. The partnership model enables universal clean cooking access, with TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda financing the cylinder and gas for customers, and Bboxx ensuring collection payments.
This provides financial flexibility for the customer and expands the LPG offering to a wider market. This partnership creates a brand-new clean cooking business model which has the potential to scale across the entire continent – Bboxx and TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda plan to reach 1 million people over the next 5 years by providing cylinders with Smart Cooking Valves.
Mansoor Hamayun, co-founder and chief executive officer, Bboxx, said: “Pursuing clean cooking expansion is a huge part of Bboxx’s mission to bring essential products and services to underserved communities and we are both honoured and excited to embark on this clean cooking deployment with TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda.
Bboxx is building on the release of the Smart Cooking Valve last year and applying its PAYGO model to the existing clean cooking industry, enabling us to extend access to more families. When we look at the bigger picture, access to clean cooking facilities leads to more lives saved.”
Ronan Masseron, TotalEnergies country chair and managing director in Rwanda, said: “Through partnership and innovation, Bboxx and TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda are lighting the path towards clean cooking access in Rwanda and beyond. By combining Bboxx’s pioneering technology with TotalEnergies’ commitment to sustainability, we’re not just providing LPG cylinders, we’re delivering economic empowerment and health benefits to thousands.”
The partnership of Bboxx with TotalEnergies Marketing Rwanda marks an important development in the clean cooking space.
Currently, 2.4 billion people still rely on traditional cooking methods, which often leads to harmful health effects, often with fatal consequences, particularly for women and children.
The success of this partnership and clean cooking deployment would demonstrate that there is scope for more LPG units to expand across the continent using this business model.
