Not only is it important for FINCA to identify life-enhancing products for the communities where we work, we also need to ensure these products reach the individuals and families who need them. BrightLife is FINCA’s program to provide distribution to the rural, hard-to-reach places where our customers and their neighbours live.
With BrightLife, FINCA aims to provide a sustainable, last mile distribution channel for products that:
- Save people time and money;
- Make people more resilient and empowered;
- Increase their opportunities to participate in the local economy.
This includes solar lanterns and systems with phone charging capabilities, as well as efficient cookstoves that require less wood, reduce harmful emissions, and cook much faster than open fires—allowing women and girls to get on with their days.
From Darkness to Light
In Uganda, 90% of the population is not connected to the electric grid—a ready market for inexpensive and efficient life-enhancing products, such as solar lanterns. Clients who have purchased solar energy systems and lanterns through BrightLife have reported improved respiratory and eye health, better lighting that allows their children to study at night and businesses to stay open longer, the ability to socialize safely within their communities at night, and substantial savings on lighting costs and cell phone charging.
What does this mean in a place like Uganda, where the last mile is a dirt road, markets are undeveloped, cheap products don’t last long, and good products are unaffordable? It means that an organization like FINCA is needed to solve these issues of energy poverty. We do this by bringing together local knowledge and community networks; engaging local entrepreneurs; offering affordable financing options to consumers; and staying committed to quality products, creating education and awareness, and providing after-sales support.
