21/10/2026
Last week, our Managing Director of Easy Solar’s PayGo business unit, Ben Afrifa, joined energy sector leaders in The Hague on 12 and 13 October for Energy Access at a Crossroads, hosted by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) | Partner in Sustainable Development at Titaan.
Speaking during the session Harnessing Innovation for Energy Transition for All, Ben shared lessons from Easy Solar’s EnDev Innovation project in Sierra Leone, which combines solar freezers with Darli, a voice-based AI service that provides agricultural advice in local languages.
The project has shown strong demand for solar freezers, while also revealing the challenges of getting customers to adopt new digital services. Nearly seven in ten customers surveyed had not yet used Darli, highlighting the importance of customer training, reliable connectivity, and delivering information at the right time.
The experience reinforced several important lessons:
• Energy access creates greater value when it supports productive businesses and livelihoods.
• Digital solutions must fit customers’ everyday realities to drive adoption.
• Partnerships between energy providers, funders, and financial institutions can help connect customers to the tools and capital they need to grow.
At Easy Solar, we see an opportunity to go beyond providing energy by helping customers build more productive, resilient, and profitable businesses.
Thank you to RVO and the other participants for creating space to share experiences, learn from challenges, and explore what comes next for energy access.
