Thursday 01 October 2020 – Kampala, Uganda – Uganda’s leading PAYGo solar company, Fenix International Uganda (a company of ENGIE) and MTN Uganda, Uganda’s leading telecom operator, announced today the end of their partnership following the expiry of their current agreement.
Fenix International Uganda, the manufacturer of ReadyPay solar home systems (SHS) began the relationship with MTN in 2009, during the pilot phase of its first SHS and made history as the first African solar home system kit to be branded by a telecom operator. Both companies sustained the relationship over the years and officially went into an exclusive partnership in 2014. Since then, the partnership has resulted in connecting over 560,000 households in Uganda to clean, affordable electricity and impacting over 2.5 million people. In addition to lighting, customers are also able to access an on-grid experience with TVs, radios, and sound systems, as well as financial products like school-fee loans.

“The success of Fenix and ReadyPay in Uganda is due in a big part to MTN. In the early days, as a small startup with the ambition to impact millions of lives in Uganda, MTN took a bet on us and allowed us to pursue our mission of providing off-grid Ugandans with access to clean, affordable electricity and financial services. Together, we have celebrated many successes and historic milestones in Uganda,” said Daniel Willette, Managing Director of Fenix Uganda. “Due to our success in Uganda, we have been able to replicate this partnership model over the years in other countries across Africa. We are indeed grateful to MTN for the critical role they played in our success.”
ReadyPay customers buy solar homes systems with a small deposit and pay back as little as 500 Ugandan Shillings per day using MTN Mobile Money. Most customers have credited ReadyPay for their introduction to mobile money and they go on to keep using it for other services. In 2019 alone, ReadyPay customers made more than 11 million mobile money payments on the MTN network, making Fenix one of MTN’s highest volume partners.

“Our partnership with Fenix International has achieved great success over the years, particularly in terms of mobile money adoption in Uganda,” said MTN Chief Executive Officer, Wim Vanhelleputte. “We are grateful to have partnered with such a mission-focused and impact-driven organization like Fenix, and are extremely proud of the impact we have jointly made in the lives of Ugandans, especially through access to energy, financial inclusion and mobile connectivity. We plan to keep building on these successes and wish Fenix all the best as they move on.”
The impact of this partnership goes beyond providing households with electricity, as Fenix and MTN we have lit up schools and health clinics in off-grid communities across Uganda, through the MTN Foundation.

“Even though our partnership has come to an end, we still look forward to collaborating with MTN on various projects in the future to keep impacting the lives of Ugandans,” said Willette. He also assured customers that their payment will not be affected, “our customers will continue to make their ReadyPay payments with MTN Mobile Money, this is not going to change.”

About Fenix International
Fenix International’s mission is to transform customers’ quality of life through disruptive innovation in energy and financial services. Fenix has sold over 800,000 solar home systems, bringing clean, reliable power for lights, phones, radios, TVs and more to over 5 million people across Africa. Fenix is a fully-owned subsidiary of ENGIE, one of the world’s largest energy companies and a leader in the move to renewable, decentralized and digital energy. Already the market leader in Uganda and Zambia, Fenix has expanded into new markets – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Mozambique – and continues to work towards providing more affordable, inclusive, and income-generating products.

About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services, and Internet Service Provisioning. As at 31st December 2018, MTN Uganda recorded 11.2 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug or follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnug or
www.twitter.com/mtnugpro for assistance.

For more information, please contact:

The mediadesk.ug@mtn.com or 0772 123 067 or Rhona.Arinaitwe@mtn.com
Emmy Olaki at emmy.olaki@tbwa-uganda.com or 078 260 5997
Fenix International – press@fenixintl.com