Solar powered computers accelerate digital literacy in Madagascar thanks to new Aceleron and Jirogasy partnership

- 230 million jobs across Africa will require some level of digital literacy by 2030, translating to 650 million training opportunities and a $130 billion market.

- Jirogasy’s Jirodesk 2 solar powered PC will support learning in schools that do not have access to reliable power and empower younger generations with digital skills to build their economic future. The project has been awarded funding by the Efficiency for Access Development Fund, which is supported by UK Aid, US Aid, The World Bank and other coalition members.

- Aceleron’s specially designed circular economy batteries will power the computers and embed resilience into the systems, as well support job creation in East Africa.

- Across Sub-Saharan Africa, only 35% of schools have access to electricity, 89% of learners do not have access to household computers and 82% lack internet access. Globally, 230 million children attend primary schools without electricity.

Aceleron, the UK developer of circular economy lithium-ion batteries, and Jirogasy, the Malagasy solar start-up, are today unveiling a new partnership to deliver solar powered computers to 10,000 children a year across schools in Madagascar and East Africa. The computers will go to schools that do not have access to reliable power, helping to reduce the gulf in digital literacy that lack of energy access is creating.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that 230 million jobs across Africa will require some level of digital literacy by 2030, translating to 650 million training opportunities and a $130 billion market.[1] And yet across Sub-Saharan Africa, only 35% of schools have access to electricity, 89% of learners do not have access to household computers and 82% lack internet access. [2]^{, [3]} Globally, 230 million children attend primary schools without electricity, compromising educations and development outcomes.[4]

The Jirodesk 2, designed and produced in Madagascar, will support and enrich learning, as well as equip younger generations with the vital digital skills to build the continent’s digital economic future.

Yann Kasay, CEO of Jirogasy @Jirogasy

Yann Kasay, CEO of Jirogasy and the French Africa Foundation’s Young Leader of the Year 2019, says: “Every part of this project is championing economic growth in East Africa. The computers are built here in Madagascar, supporting the development of local digital and engineering jobs. The batteries are enabling the growth of a skilled green jobs economy in Kenya. Together, they are delivering key educational resources to Malagasy schoolchildren, boosting digital literacy and offering a route for largely non-electrified communities to connect to new economic opportunities.”

Expanding digital learning in previously unconnected communities will open up huge opportunities. As COVID-19 forces more businesses and schools online, the World Economic Forum highlights that is more important than ever that transferable digital skills are incorporated into education curriculums.[5]

The batteries that power the Jirodesk 2 are built in Kenya from repurposed waste solar lanterns and lithium-ion battery cells. UK-based Aceleron works with local technicians in Nairobi to develop and build the high quality, second-life batteries, creating a local workforce of battery manufacturers and engineers, and empowering people with skilled jobs.

Jirogasy has selected Aceleron as its delivery partner because of the African-built credentials of its batteries, and the shared mission to advance green economic growth in East Africa.

Jirogasy engineers incorporating Aceleron’s battery into Jirodesk 2 @Jirogasy

“Using a solar home system to turn on a light is one thing, using it to power education is taking this technology to the next level,” says Amrit Chandan, CEO of Aceleron.

“These computers can change lives. Circular economy batteries can be the cornerstone of localised circular economies – wherever the batteries are, they drive the growth of skilled green jobs. This project is evidence that clean technology is about so much more than reducing emissions, it’s about improving people’s lives.”

Aceleron’s unique batteries are designed with the circular economy in mind. They can be taken apart, serviced and upgraded, so if one component breaks, the individual piece can be easily replaced. Most other batteries are welded or glued together, meaning that they would normally have to be thrown away when a component breaks. As the computers will be operational in often difficult to reach schools, the ability for all components to be easily accessed and fixed at the schools will embed the systems with additional resilience.

The pilot stage of this project will see seven schools equipped with computers across Madagascar in 2021, with a further 20 in 2022. Long-term, Jirogasy is aiming to provide access to the Jirodesk 2 to 10,000 Madagascan students per year and to build an additional production site in Kenya, expanding the reach of this technology.

After intense months of production, Jirogasy delivers its Jirodesk 2 @Jirogasy

Programmes are already underway in Madagascar to bridge the digital divide. The World Bank, for example, has supported a communications infrastructure project to connect rural communities to ICT services.[6] With the Jirodesk 2, Jirogasy and Aceleron are ensuring that no community gets left behind and all Malagasy schoolchildren have access to the digital skills that will advance their economic futures.

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/africa-needs-digital-skills-across-the-economy-not-just-tech-sector/

[2] https://www.unicef.org/media/64346/file/sdg7_2pager_final.pdf

[3] https://en.unesco.org/news/startling-digital-divides-distance-learning-emerge

[4] https://www.unicef.org/media/64346/file/sdg7_2pager_final.pdf

[5] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/how-can-africa-pivot-its-education-system-using-enthusiasm-of-covid-reset/

[6] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/05/26/bridging-the-digital-divide-in-rural-madagascar

The computers will come equipped with education software and resources, courtesy of French-Malagasy NGO AccesMad. Jirogasy and AccesMad have partnered previously to install 24 computers into four Madagascan secondary schools, delivering digital education to thousands of students. The company has also worked with multiple NGOs throughout 2020 to provide its computers to remote medical clinics in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Olivier Ralaiharivonison, Director of AccesMad, states: “We are happy to host and support Jirogasy’s Jirodesk 2 to support our long-lasting mission of electrifying high schools and other academic institutions in remote areas. The engineering team has enhanced the original Jirodesk to develop a v2 and address our expectations. It is a true success and will be a valuable asset on the field.”

Chandan added: “Clean technologies are breaking down barriers in Madagascar and across Sub-Saharan Africa, from enabling education, to growing livelihoods and building economies. Thanks to advancing solar and storage technology, we can accelerate digital literacy and open up economic and job opportunities that were previously unheard of to many communities. Here, more than anywhere else, we are seeing the true power of the green revolution.”

ENDS

Additional notes

A short video, produced by BBC Africa, about Jirogasy and its technology can be found here.
Jirogasy has recently been awarded funding by the Efficiency for Access Research and Development Fund to support the roll-out of the Jirodesk 2 in Madagascar. The fund is supported by UK Aid, US Aid, The World Bank, International Finance Corporation, IKEA and Rockefeller Foundations.

Media contacts

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Rosie Williams
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Pierre Gugenheim
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+33 (0)6 40 77 37 94

About Aceleron

Aceleron is an award-winning, innovative clean technology company, designing and building lithium-ion batteries. Based in the UK, we make better lithium-ion batteries created with true sustainability in mind. With our technology we unlock longer, improved operating life and commit to 99% recyclability. We always place people and environment in the core of our business, ensuring that we provide peace of mind to customers across the world.

About Jirogasy

The start-up Jirogasy is the first company to manufacture connected objects and solar kits "made in Madagascar" for e-health and e-education. Created in 2017, the first production line established in Madagascar designs and produces its own parts and is one of the first African initiatives to go beyond the assembly of components in the solar and electronics sector. The start-up has thus created its own solar computer, the "Jirodesk", which it deploys via a network of partners in dispensaries and schools in non-electrified areas.