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Campus - 28.05.2025 - 09:24 

HSG students support sustainable energy projects in Malawi

In many regions of Malawi, sunset means darkness – or dangerous light from kerosene lamps. Only four percent of the rural population has access to electricity. A group of HSG students supported the social enterprise SunnyMoney in further developing its business model for the distribution of solar lamps.
[Translate to English:] Die Studierenden, die das Unternehmen beraten haben.
[Translate to English:] Die Studierenden, die das Unternehmen beraten haben.

Malawi at night. The sun has set in this East African country, but life goes on – by the flickering light of kerosene lamps. These lamps are problematic: they cause respiratory diseases, pose a fire hazard and are expensive to run. However, electricity is not available in large parts of the country; only four per cent of the rural population has access to it.

A group of six HSG students in the General Management (MGM) Master's programme is now helping to change that. As part of the HSG course “Managerial Impact Projects: Sustainability”, they are spending two semesters supporting the social enterprise SunnyMoney in Malawi – and thus a movement towards sustainable, affordable energy supply. This enables the population to work, learn and maintain social contacts with clean and reliable light. The course was led by HSG titular professor Moritz Loock.

Solar instead of kerosene – with a sustainable business model

SunnyMoney sells low-cost solar lamps throughout the country. However, the business model is not sustainable: high import costs, currency problems, payment defaults. The company is not yet profitable and is currently financed mainly by the British NGO SolarAid. “In order to reach many people, SunnyMoney has to stand on its own two feet,” says Orfeusz Kolodziejczyk, a HSG Master's student. “If we can do that, we can make a real difference.”

“We had to learn to think in completely new ways. Our assumptions from our degree course and our professional experience in consulting often didn't fit.”
Oliver Beeker, HSG student

The six students each invested a total of over 200 hours in the project. Alongside Kolodziejczyk, the team included Oliver Beeker, Maron Karkossa, Patrick Köster, Nick Palkovitsch and Laurenz Rittinghausen, all of whom are also MGM students. They contributed working hours that small social enterprises such as SunnyMoney would otherwise be unable to afford.

To gain a better understanding of Malawi, its developments and challenges in the energy sector, and SunnyMoney itself, the HSG students conducted 15 interviews with experts, including energy suppliers, solar and microfinance experts, and mobile traders who sell solar lamps to the population in rural areas. “These interviews were crucial – online research yields very little data on this topic,” said the students.
In addition to expert interviews, they were in constant exchange with Brave Mhonie, CEO of SunnyMoney. He completed a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) in Renewable Energy Management at the HSG Executive School. This is how the contact with HSG and the course with SunnyMoney came about.

What is slowing SunnyMoney down – and what could help

During this research, key weaknesses in the SunnyMoney business model emerged:

  • High import costs: Poor infrastructure makes transport expen-sive.
  • No financing options: Although solar lamps are cheaper than kerosene in the long term, they require a one-off initial invest-ment. But this is precisely where the problem often lies – many people lack the necessary capital and financing options are few and far between.
  • Currency problems: Solar lamps are purchased on the inter-national market in US dollars, which are scarce and expensive in Malawi.
  • Default payments: Many people buy the lamps with micro-credit, but not everyone pays it back. Retailers who sell the lamps to the population in rural areas receive their commission regardless.

The result: liquidity problems and a lack of investor confidence.

But the students didn't just come up with criticism, they also proposed solutions:

  • The FEBCO SACCO cooperative, which also supports Sunny-Money, offers microloans to close the financing gap for the purchase of solar lamps. The students developed a scaling model that improves access to sustainable financing through profes-sional capital management and new risk management structures – because without these funds, trade comes to a standstill: retailers fall by the wayside and buyers are left in the dark.
  • A planning model will help SunnyMoney to quantitatively map the financial impact of all measures developed. Employees can populate the model with business figures and thus identify the key value drivers for sustainable growth at any time. In this way, the team not only provides one-off recommendations for action, but also creates a step-by-step scaling concept that sustainably links strategic orientation and financial planning.
  • Retailers also play a key role in the company's success. A revised incentive scheme means that their commission is only paid once the end customer has made their repayment. This promotes long-term customer relationships, reduces the default risk for FEBCO SACCO and strengthens SunnyMoney's financial resilience.

“Our strategy and model should help SunnyMoney develop profitably and become self-sustaining over several years. If the company is healthier, it can also scale its business, which means making more solar lamps available to the population,” says HSG student Oliver Beeker.

A project that changes things – including the consultants themselves

The project also left its mark on the students. “We had to learn to think in completely new ways,” says HSG student Oliver Beeker. “Our assumptions from our degree course and our professional experience in consulting often didn't fit. The reality in Malawi forces you to rethink things.” For the students, the collaboration with SunnyMoney was therefore more than just a consulting project. “It was a valuable change of perspective,” says Kolodziejczyk.

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