The launch was attended by senior Zambian government officials, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) free-trade group leaders, US embassy officers, African Development Bank officials and the CEOs of major Zambian mobile operators. The launch celebrated the first container of World Panels that arrived in World Panel Zambia's Lusaka warehouse.
"I've worked for many years to empower people in rural Africa to improve their economic well-being and opportunities in life. This utility-grade personal solar charger finally delivers on my dream to aid and empower people living without regular access to electricity," said Jacob Sikazwe, CEO of World Panel Zambia.
The first shipment contained thousands of World Panel 500 combo-pack units with the patented solar panel technology plus a bundled 5,000 milliamp Powerbank and bright ten-bulb LED light. The technology will be distributed in rural and urban COMESA regions. The company indicated that it plans to ship one million World Panel units to the COMESA region in 2015.
John Anderson, the inventor and CEO of US-based World Panel Inc., gave the keynote speech at the event. "With only 8% of rural Zambia connected to an electrical grid, our distributed green energy solution can significantly increase that level in three years at a fraction of the cost of traditional energy solutions. We are honoured to deliver our first containers into Zambia," he said.
