Micro Solar Field Trip

On Wednesday of my second week I went on a micro solar field trip to visit a village chief to see if his village would be an appropriate sales point for the micro solar products.

Brave and CB pitch to the Chief

The micro solar product that we are using at present takes 8 hours of sunshine to charge and then will provide 6-8 hours of power for a light bulb and a mobile phone charger. SolarAid trains up individuals or community groups as ‘entrepreneurs’. The entrepreneur then buys stock from us at a wholesale price and sells it on at a profit to them. The entrepreneurs often link up with microloan organisations in order to get a loan for their stock purchase.

After  a much longer than necessary bus trip (due to an hour’s wait in the bus station even before setting off and numerous unexplained stops en route)  we reached the village. I asked whether the building we approached was the local community centre. Turns out that it was the chief’s house! It was a large building so he was obviously quite wealthy but still let’s bear in mind that generally the rooms were all unfurnished and of course there was no electricity – hence our reason for being there. The villagers were very receptive of our pitch. I say our – it was all given by Brave (our SolarAid micro solar Field Coordinator) and C.B (one of our entrepreneurs) in the local Tonga language.

I should take a moment to explain language in Malawi. The official language is Chichewa. However this is only actually spoken in Central and Southern Malawi. In the North the language is Tumbuka but today,  100k from Mzuzu, the language changes to Tonga.  I am somewhat lacking in language skills to date. My focus will have to be on Tumbuka. Fortunately though, English is widely spoken as it is taught in all schools.

Back at the sales pitch C.B. was using a very elaborate analogy about a cart and an ox to explain how to promote use of the solar panels to other villagers (translated for me by the chief’s son). Another villager who was already using a sample of the product spoke very enthusiastically of its’ merits using some comparison to witchcraft that was frankly lost on me.

CB collects his sales money

We then moved on so that CB could collect cash receipts for sales as he is an established entrepreneur. He was using a kiosk owner in Chintheche as sales agent so that the kiosk owner could demonstrate the product and collect payments on behalf of CB and take a commission for doing so. There was a nice juxtaposition in his kiosk as he displayed the solar product right next to bottles of kerosene. One of the many benefits of solar is that it can eliminate dependency on kerosene which is hazardous to health due to the fumes and also due to the risk of fires. He also did a nice line in Manchester United pants.

Me with some happy Sunny Money customers

Man Utd - Pants

We ended up coming home in an ambulance that night but don’t worry it was just our 5^th mode of transport for the day after the bus, a taxi, a truck and minibus. As they were empty they picked up a few passengers (including us) for the final stint to Mzuzu.

The Solar Panel Shipment Part 2

The rusty door - aka "the ramp" 

The offload commences

Monday morning meant another long sejourn at the MRA as we waited for two officials to become free. Eventually, after stopping off to collect the Tanzanian lorry drivers from their accommodation, we were on our way to the warehouse. We opened up the lorries and the MRA officials inspected and agreed they were happy with the contents. That part was quick enough but it was evident that the actual unloading of the panels wouldn’t be quite that fast. Rather than being individually packed they were stacked together in blocks of 12 on a wheeled pallet and they were incredibly heavy. Now this being a warehouse in Mzuzu rather than on a UK industrial estate there was no forklift, no nothing to assist with getting these pallets from the lorry and into the warehouse. But what there was was manpower as loads of locals sensing the chance of a day’s work were already there and willing to assist. Also what was available was an old rusty door which we identified as suitable for our makeshift ramp. Unfortunately the rust plus weight combination meant that it gave way mid unload of the first pallet and we were left in a dilemma as to what to do. We headed back into Mzuzu to try and find a real ramp… to no avail. Karel continued alone in the afternoon and I was left nervously wondering if when he returned to the warehouse he would find a pallet of smashed panels and no people in sight. I saw him in the evening and was relieved to hear that miraculously all was fine and the panels were safely stowed in the warehouse (apart from 6 that had been damaged in transit –none were damaged in the unload). He explained that when he returned the Malawian workforce had expanded and using pure increased manpower and a couple of logs for leverage they had all been lifted into the warehouse. Mission accomplished.  Sometimes you don’t need technology just good old fashioned muscle.

The Solar Panel Shipment Part 1

I arrived in Mzuzu late on Wednesday September 1^st. Even in the first few days I have already gained a great insight into the quirks of getting business done in Africa.

On Friday evening at the end of my first week we got a call to say that two lorries containing donated solar panels from the US had arrived at the Malawian border (they were at the last stage of their journey coming overland from Tanzania) and would be in Mzuzu by morning. Karel, the Macro Solar manager, had been waiting for this news for months and so on Saturday morning me and Karel headed off to try and get the stock unloaded, counted and inspected for any damage so that we could make an insurance claim if required. And so began my initiation into the ‘African’ way of doing things! We arrived at the MRA – the Malawian Revenue Authority to find out how much import duty would be payable. A quick flick through the Malawian Customs and Export Act revealed that our solar panels fell under section 85.41 and attracted duty at 30%. However further inspection revealed that this was the 2007 version of the Act and that subsequent issues had abolished duty on solar panels. VAT was still payable though as apparently VAT exemption proceedings had begun but nobody was anticipating that materialising sometime soon (or ever?). We then faced a tripartite of stumbling blocks. Firstly we needed a tax registration number which we would find on the documentation from the last import. We went to the SolarAid office and found it. Unfortunately it wasn’t this number that they wanted but a consignment number. Therefore another dash back to the office was required to find a further number.  By now it was 10.50am. Problem number two was that the banks close on Saturday at 11.00am and in order for us to open the containers holding the panels we would have to present a certified cheque for the tax amount due to the MRA so that two MRA officials could accompany us in overseeing the opening of the containers. Karel dashed to the bank – then I noticed that the costs had been calculated on a GBP base rather than a EUR base so at the MRA we recalculated and got a message via text through to Karel at the bank to change the amount on the cheque. While I waited at the MRA a senior official asked me in to his office for a conversation. I didn’t really know what to expect. He explained that he had seen what we were importing and wanted to enquire about buying one of the panels for his village. I explained that unfortunately they were not for sale commercially and were all earmarked for projects decided on by a selection process.  Encouraging to see the interest in solar power though.

Also encouraging to see were the latest amendments to the Malawian Customs and Excise Act which were heavily promoting the use of green energy by abolishing duty on energy saving light bulbs but applying 100% duty to old style lightbulbs and batteries. Other amendments indicated the government desires to promote local production by increasing duty on imported soft drinks and thread.

I have digressed a little but it was a long wait at the MRA for Karel to return and in fact the third and fatal stumbling block was that the MRA itself shuts at 12 on a Saturday. With no cheque in sight they shut up shop and I was turfed out of the office and the compound and left to sit on the kerb waiting for Karel to return and give him the bad news. This meant that the containers could now not be opened until Monday morning and in the meantime the Tanzanian lorry drivers who need to return with the containers now needed to be accommodated and fed over the weekend.

It may have felt frustrating but really it was just the fact that the panels arrived on a Friday night that hindered us. Any tax authority in the world would require the organisation’s registered tax number in order to administrate a request and the MRA itself has a duty to prevent fraud by insisting on a certified cheque rather than cash being handed over so I am focussing on the positives at the MRA.

Introduction

I am spending three months in Mzuzu in Northern Malawi working for the NGO SolarAid. I have been placed at SolarAid through an organisation called AFID (Accounting for International Development) which matches up accountants wanting to do voluntary work with NGOs requiring some financial expertise resource. You can read more about AFID’s work here. http://www.afid.org.uk/ My previous experience has been spending nearly all of the last decade working in financial services, predominantly in the Lloyd’s Insurance Market, firstly as an auditor and more lately in industry. This is my first foray into the world of NGOs.

SolarAid has two main streams of work. Firstly macro solar which installs large solar panels on the roofs of schools, clinics and community centres and secondly micro solar which uses a network of entrepreneurs, trained by SolarAid, to distribute smaller solar units which charge mobile phones and provide light for individual houses.

Prior to travelling to Malawi I had spent a few days at the SolarAid office in London in order to gain an understanding of the operations, identify areas where I, as an accountant, could add value to the operations and to set objectives for my stay.

As the organisation has expanded very reapidly form 3 to 7 people (including me) in 3 months there is plenty of work to be done.