Qotto
Beyond the Grid: lighting up West Africa’s remote communities
- Company
- Renewable energy
- Sub-Saharan Africa H2R
- 2021
- Active
The challenge
Over 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still live without electricity. In rural areas of countries like Benin, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire, access remains especially scarce. Yet most investors avoid these frontier markets — daunted by poor infrastructure, institutional fragility, and currency volatility. For Qotto, the challenge isn’t just reaching last-mile communities — it’s staying there and building systems that endure.
The Innovation
Qotto delivers solar home systems bundled with essential digital services—including internet connectivity, mobile banking tools, and offline education platforms. With a pay-as-you-go model and locally rooted agent networks, Qotto provides off-grid households with affordable, modern services that improve quality of life and unlock economic opportunity.
The impact
Supported by Acumen’s Hardest-to-Reach initiative, Qotto received impact-linked financing designed to reward deep, inclusive outreach. In the pilot, 77% of customers gained access to electricity for the first time — and 61% lived on less than $2.30/day. The result: clean energy and digital inclusion at scale, and a replicable model for delivering infrastructure in the world’s most overlooked markets, reaching the truly unreached.
