Make Solar Energy Affordable for Nigerians Earning Under ₦50,000 a Month

Pay-as-you-go solar has reached hundreds of thousands of Nigerian homes, but the market has stalled at the middle-income segment. Households earning under ₦50,000 a month — nearly half the population — cannot afford the deposit or the monthly instalments of current PAYG providers. Meanwhile, they spend 15–20% of their income on generators, fuel, and candles, which is demonstrably more expensive than solar would be. Your challenge is to design a solar home system financing product that is accessible to a household earning ₦40,000 a month. It must require a deposit of under ₦3,000, structure payments around weekly rather than monthly cycles, and integrate with mobile money for payment. You must also show how the unit economics work for the financing provider. Submit a financial product design (max 10 pages) including: payment structure and deposit model, unit economics including cost of capital and default risk, technology for remote disconnection if payments stop, customer acquisition strategy, and a plan to reach 10,000 households in one state. Judging criteria: 35% financial model credibility for target income group, 30% payment structure design, 20% risk management, 15% customer acquisition plan.