非洲：太陽能產品的雅芳式分銷

????當初凱瑟琳?露西創(chuàng)立非營利組織Solar Sister時，她希望幫助烏干達等國的女性創(chuàng)業(yè)者們在農村分銷平價太陽能產品。

????“大概五、六年前，很多太陽能公司開始為金字塔底層設計產品，”她說。價格降了下來，產品變得更出色、更可靠，供應越來越多。問題是分銷投資不足。

????露西過去是紐約的一位投資銀行家，專門為大型能源項目提供融資。露西在Solar Sister建立起了類似于雅芳等直銷公司的草根分銷網絡。露西認為，太陽能產品的理想銷售員就是當地的婦女。

????露西說：“在這些社區(qū)里，女性是能源客戶，她們管理著家庭的能源需求...因此她們能很好地宣傳介紹產品?！迸詮V泛的人際網絡使得Solar Sister能比傳統(tǒng)零售商更加深入地接觸目標群體，而Solar Sister則提供培訓和創(chuàng)業(yè)融資。

????露西說：“這種方式讓分銷深深深扎根于社區(qū)。”

????最近，這家組織從烏干達擴張到了坦桑尼亞和尼日利亞。目前，Solar Sister支持著400位女性創(chuàng)業(yè)者。露西計劃在三年內將這個數字擴大10倍——但如果有更多的資源，她說：“我們可以擴大100倍?！?/p>

????露西表示，在缺乏電力基礎設施的非洲地區(qū)，人們對太陽能的需求使得撒哈拉以南地區(qū)成為可替代能源大規(guī)模擴張的天然目標市場。“我們期待引爆點的到來，等待著綠色能源的成本能與電網一比高下的那一天，”露西說“在非洲，我們離這個引爆點還很遠。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：楊智

Solar Africa meets Avon?

????When Katherine Lucey founded non-profit Solar Sister, she wanted to empower female entrepreneurs in countries like Uganda, while simultaneously distributing affordable solar products in the countryside.

????"About five or six years ago, lots of solar companies started designing for the base of the pyramid," she said. Prices were coming down, products were getting better, more reliable, and there was a plethora of supply. The problem: not enough investment in distribution.

????Lucey is a former New York investment banker who specialized in financing large energy projects. With Solar Sister, Lucey built a grassroots distribution network modeled on direct sales firms like Avon. The ideal salespeople for solar products, Lucey said, are local women.

????"In these communities, women are the customers for energy, they manage household energy needs ... so they can evangelize about the product," Lucey said. Women's extensive personal networks allow Solar Sister to reach deeper into the bush than traditional retailers, and Solar Sister provides training and start-up financing.

????"This approach embeds distribution deep down in the community," Lucey said.

????The organization recently expanded from Uganda to Tanzania and Nigeria. At present, Solar Sister supports 400 female entrepreneurs. Within three years, Lucey plans to grow that number tenfold -- though with more resources, she said, "we could explode it by a hundred."

????According to Lucey, the demand for solar among off-the-grid Africans makes the Sub-Sahara a natural candidate for the large-scale expansion of alternative energy. "We look for that tipping point where green energy competes economically with the electrical grid," Lucey said. "In Africa, we are so far past that point."