Investor Needed to Establish Solar Energy Business in Ghana

I am seriously looking for investors to establish a solar panel and accessories business in my home country and the West African sub region.

Since I remember myself I have never experienced a full week of 24 hours electricity per day without power cuts. During the last decades Ghana has been experiencing serious power cuts, which have been affecting the development of this young middle income country. Ghana which previously was the main supplier of energy in the sub region is seriously suffering setbacks and the power produce is not sufficient for its own needs, let alone the needs of its environs. What we would like to establish is a business that will produce energy which will be very reliable, green, productive and affordable to the people.

There is no competition because the electricity cooperation of Ghana has lost the confidence of the countrymen who have no alternatives but to wait or switch to the generator which is also not affordable in the country.

What I have concluded is that selling the panels and supporting accessories will not yield huge returns at a faster rate, so instead we will sign contracts for installation, long-term use and support of the system based on monthly payments, and the period specified in the contract, the customers will be able to become owners of the system.

Our main competition will be the Ghana Volta River authority company which has been always failing to deliver. Why? Because a new dam is being constructed in Burkina Faso which poses a serious threat to the dam in the south i.e. the Ghanaian dam that the company is relying upon because it takes its source from the same place.

Also, there is no such company in the West African sub region so we will be the first of our kind. The consumers have been looking for alternatives but all the efforts prove futile. Our success cannot be repeated by our competitors provided we remain loyal to our valued customers. We are different and will be better than them because our source is 100 percent reliable, environmentally friendly, green, and efficient.

The opportunity we are facing now is the following: The country we want to operate is in a serious power crisis and we have to capitalize on their inability to satisfy the consumers’ needs. Taking our towns, villages and cities in the mining areas and some remote areas I spent some weeks in Ghana during my research and found out that there a lot of wealthy individuals in the area and business is booming yet there isn’t sufficient electricity to fit the needs of the business. I went on to ask them why don’t they switch to the generator and they told me that cost for diesel is a headache. We are going to make money by capitalizing on the opportunity we have identified. Firstly, we will start explaining and demonstrating to our potential customers the advantages of the solar power systems and show them very clearly why they going for this choice would be most beneficial to them. We will install the system and give them a specified amount to be paid at the end of the month.

Part of the fund will be used to train and equip technicians locally and also establish a warehouse at very moderate rate since land in my country is very very cheap. Most of the funds will be used for purchasing the panels and accessories. Last but not the least, we will use the capital to purchase scaffold, safety kits, workers’ clothes and a few vehicles. We’d like to finance the system installations and then request a monthly fee from the users because most of the citizens can't afford to purchase it outright others.

Initially we will not go for a huge investment since it is a new nice in the market we will like to start with about $500,000 to $800,000. The interest rate will depend on the investor's quotation. We’d like to have an active partner. Payback will start six months from the first day we receive the loan.