CONTEXT

Bolivian migrants living in Spain send around USD 268 million in remittances home each year. This constitutes a viable source of end-user financing for emigrants’ families. While electrification rates in Bolivia are above 68 per cent, a large percentage of the population, mostly middle-low to low-income families rely on dangerous shower geysers to heat shower water.

Tapping into the USD 268 million of remittances sent to Bolivia each year from migrant workers residing in Spain can offer a sustainable and empowering way to overcome the challenge of energy poverty.

PROJECT

This project aimed to develop a locally relevant and self-sustaining business model that enables migrant workers from Bolivia, who live and work in Spain, to direct part of their remittance payments towards sustainable energy solutions for their communities and families at home.

Based on an intensive market assessment in Bolivia and Spain, financing structures were set up to enable emigrants to direct remittances to solar water heaters for their families at home. Local partner, Gaia is managing a platform bridging the roles and responsibilities between clients and the main partners, Banco FIE, a Bolivian financial institution, which provides an additional credit structure for purchasing the product, and Energética, the technical expert partner for the platform.

OUTCOME

A total of USD 200,000 sales have been achieved, tapping into the solar water heater market potential of around 723,323 homes in total in 2015. The main benefit of the project is that providing sustainable access to modern forms of energy improved the income, productivity and quality of life of families and communities.