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Altech is a company founded in 2013 by two Congolese, who grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania after being forced to leave South Kivu during the civil war. The two friends wanted to develop a business that would help reduce their native country’s energy deficit. To this end, they have created Altech, which distributes small solar equipment (lamps, small domestic systems) to households in peri-urban areas, mainly in Kivu, a zone devastated by civil war.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the second largest country in Africa. The gigantic size of the country places it in a contradictory situation, with great wealth in natural resources (copper, cobalt, lithium) but great difficulty in controlling such a vast territory with very few resources and structurally deficient infrastructures, particularly in terms of transport. The country is also deeply affected by the civil war in Kivu, which has been the scene of armed conflict since 2004.
In a context where 90% of Congolese have no access to electricity, ALTECH’s mission is to expand access to clean, reliable, renewable and affordable energy for off-grid and poor households. Since the start of its activities, Altech has managed to impact 1.7 million lives. By providing equipment that runs exclusively on solar energy, Altech also avoids carbon emissions, as customers previously used paraffin lamps for lighting.
