Jamie Yang

2010

Jamie Yang

EGG-energy

http://www.egg-energy.com

Community Improvement & Economic Development

The Bold Idea:

Bold Idea: Offer poor households and small businesses in Tanzania a comprehensive battery subscription service that will provide electricity for health, safety, and education benefits.

Over 500 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity.  This lack causes heavy reliance on polluting, unsafe, and expensive energy sources: A typical household in Tanzania spends $120 per year--more than 10% of its income--on kerosene for lighting, disposable batteries for radio, and mobile phone charging services.  This situation, though, is particularly frustrating since most people can look out their window and see a transmission line:  Of the 35 million Tanzanians without electricity, 80% live within 5km of the grid.  

EGG-energy solves this last-mile distribution problem by taking power at its source–-a grid connection or an off-grid power generating station-–and packaging it in an inventory of portable, rechargeable batteries.  Customers pay a subscription fee for the battery and a small fee to swap it immediately for a fully charged battery.  The battery is sufficient to power lights, a radio, and a mobile phone charger for three nights.  EGG-energy offers its customers comprehensive electricity services at a lower cost than current expenditures.   

Biography:

After Jamie completed his PhD at MIT, he wanted to use his broad engineering background to have a more immediate impact.  What drove Jamie and his colleagues to start EGG-energy was the realization of opportunity:  The more they learned about electricity in Africa, the clearer they could see how expensive it is to be poor and how strong the demand is for better solutions.  With funding from business plan competition awards and a private investor, Jamie moved to Tanzania in June 2009 to get EGG-energy off the ground.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
As I was completing my graduate degree, I was looking to use my skills and experience to have a more immediate impact. I was drawn by work being done at MIT towards designing products with applications in the developing world. I met another MIT engineer with a background in energy, and we decided to find a way to build a for-profit company that provides energy in the developing world. We soon began to assemble a team and narrowed our focus to clean energy provision to low-income households in sub-Saharan Africa.  Rather than a moment of obligation, what drove us to start EGG-energy was the growing realization of opportunity:  The more we learned about electricity in Africa, the clearer we could see how expensive it is to be poor.    The inspiration for EGG-energy’s battery swapping business came from a health clinic in Uganda run by my friend. The clinic was only 100 meters from a transmission line, but had been unable to raise the funding to install the needed transformer. They were also interested in providing power to the nearby village. Conversations with other organizations and published research made it clear that this was a common problem with an affordable solution: We could make the “last mile” of electricity distribution much cheaper by offering subscriptions for batteries and using existing channels—feet, bicycles, motorbikes, buses, etc.—for distribution.


Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
I've lived a very fortunate life so far, being born in the wealthiest country in the world into a family that cares very deeply about education.  This, combined with my interest in science and engineering, allowed me to attend--without incurring a debt burden--universities that gather people from around the world that have big ideas and want to implement them.  Several universities and financing organizations have also started creating environments to specifically foster and support social enterprises.  In sum, I've found myself in a fortunate situation in which moving to Tanzania to start this company is a measured risk and a good opportunity.  With the help of organizations like Echoing Green, I'd like ventures like EGG-energy to be seen as viable business opportunities rather than dreams.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
EGG-energy envisions an energy “grid” that is accessible by all.  Countries that have achieved this have typically required a massive infusion of capital and effort from the top down.  What is innovative about our business plan is that it seeks to build an electricity distribution network by starting with the household and the small business.  We are targeting customers for whom a large gap exists between expenditure (over 10% of household income) and quality of service (kerosene lighting).  This is more effective because it doesn’t require the end customer to wait for an underfunded government branch to build services that eventually trickle down to them.  EGG-energy can use market forces to start building infrastructure—distribution channels, physical presence, and customer knowledge—that reaches everyone.  As our customers increase their energy usage, EGG-energy will use this foundation to grow with our customers.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?
an open mind  curiosity  adaptability  patience for some things and impatience for others  the right mix of humility and arrogance

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?
A variety of artists, but most inspirational are those who laid the foundation for the future--the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, etc.


What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?
I highly recommend Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day by Collins et al.  The researchers show how the poor use a complex combination of informal and formal financial tools to manage their limited and uncertain incomes.  This book shows how inaccurate our perception of the poor can be, and helped me make sense of what I've been seeing in Tanzania.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?
I keep an eye on a few blogs on development (Wronging Rights, Chris Blattman, Aid Watch).  To keep up with what's happening in the US, I read The New York Times, ESPN, and The Onion very regularly.

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
My dad has told me that I should find myself a woman smarter than me.  This is good advice, and is more broadly applicable:  Surround yourself with people better than you at something, and learn everything you can from them.