SunErgy starts a cooperation agreement with two giants in their respective fields, Microsoft and Orange.
“The initial contact and dialogue started in the middle of May”, Dr. Skjorshammer and Mr. Haugen say, who are co-founders and main shareholders of the company.
“We have worked all through the summer and are now ready to start’’ Skjorshammer says, continuing, “We are extremely pleased and honored for having the opportunity to work with Microsoft and Orange beginning in Cameroon. As SunErgy extends and moves into new markets and countries, we will continue developing the cooperation with Microsoft and Orange. Both companies are active in Africa, and Africa as an important new growth market.’’
He also stated, ‘’With Microsoft, we will focus in three areas: connectivity, energy and education. Connectivity will be related to the Microsoft knowledge and expertise on Cable TV and the Internet. The energy part includes taking full advantage of the Microsoft Cloud and the many opportunities it offers for data gathering and management. An additional important feature is that it allows us to access the system from anywhere in the world, Norway included. This provides full insight and complete control of all activities for the management and the owners. The educational part is the introduction and use of various educational programs developed by Microsoft for school children and adults.’’
The cooperation with Orange, the French mobile phone operator with more than one in ten Africans on their customer list, includes Mobile Phone Payments (Orange Money) and their messaging system. This will allow all SunErgy clients to be able to pay their bills, whether electricity, cable TV, Internet and micro loans, using their mobile phones which in turn will provide for maximum transparency and security of money transfers. All this together creates a state of the art record keeping of all money transfers and clients.
The cooperation with Microsoft and Orange, combined with previously established and ongoing cooperation with reputable, global equipment suppliers for solar electricity, cable TV and the Internet, is of uttermost importance. It is absolutely necessary as SunErgy seeks to expand its activities, which make it a leader in the field of off-grid village development in Africa and elsewhere. With more than 800 million in Sub-Saharan Africa alone having no access to electricity, the market seems almost beyond imagination.
Skjorshammer enthusiastically says, ‘‘with the partnerships we have put together, SunErgy will be well prepared and equipped to play a major role in the development of the region and its people.’’
‘’Finally, we interpret this cooperation as stamp of approval of our achievements so far and that we seems to be on the right track. This is most motivating and encouraging,” Haugen and Skjorshammer conclude.
06.10.2016