What do you think makes Starsight a unique company?
Overall I think Starsight is a very entrepreneurial company. From the team, to the management, to the board, everyone thinks outside the box and constantly seeks to innovate. This creativity is tied to our mission and is always focused on our clients. While we are constantly finding ways to improve our services, we do not lose sight of executing our tasks whether they be rapidly bringing sites online or helping our clients understand their energy usage patterns.
Another unique feature of Starsight is our strong backers including Helios Investment Partners, Norfund, and Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers. In addition to critical financial resources, are partners give us credibility and access to business networks.
Starsight recently announced a rebranding that came with a new logo, website, and more. What was behind the decision to rebrand?
This year brought a lot of reflection, evolution, and planning. That is why we thought it was the right time to refresh our look and reaffirm our values of people, superior service, and reliability. We are particularly proud of our new logo – which is clean, modern, and evokes solar panels – and our new website where current and future clients can learn all about Starsight.
As our ambitions expand beyond Nigeria and into Ghana and beyond, we wanted to show the world what we are all about: powering Africa to prosperity through cost-effective clean energy. Our new social media channels, for example, will allow everyone to follow our impact and achievements.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect Starsight’s operations?
Like so many businesses in Africa and around the world, we had to close our offices to protect the health and safety of our employees and customers. However, our periods of remote working did not affect the high level of service we delivered to our clients.
Beyond prioritizing the health of our own team members, we actively sought ways to support our community in Nigeria. To this end we were excited to announce our work with the Ekiti State government on powering a hospital in a poorly powered area. This successful project led us to earmark 1MW worth of equipment specifically for healthcare sector clients like clinics and hospitals. These facilities depend on reliable and stable sources of clean energy, which our systems can provide.
Despite a regional economic slowdown, Starsight expanded into Ghana this September. How has Starsight been able to stay so active?
We owe our continued success to our team, our clients, and our investors. Thankfully, our business has remained solid and our customers, who we dearly thank, have stuck with us during these trying times. The pandemic and its associated shutdowns have reemphasized the importance of reliable clean energy, and that has led to an uptick in interests in our systems. Our power solutions not only give our clients piece of mind, but also help their bottom line by reducing their overhead costs. The slowdown has made businesses in Nigeria and Ghana more cost-conscious.
As for our Ghana expansion, we are excited about the country’s potential. It is a bustling and growing market, like Nigeria, and we believe that many businesses of all sizes will be interested in our systems.
Which sectors make up the most of Starsight’s clients and which sectors do you want to see Starsight expand its client base in?
We have a strong presence in the banking sector in Nigeria. Some of our long-term clients include FCMB and EcoBank. We are proud that these important financial institutions rely on us to keep their offices up and running. The financial sector is a great example of a sector that needs the 99% uptime guarantee that only Starsight can provide.
We are actively expanding into the agriculture, industrials, large-scale residential, and telecommunications sectors. Our systems can deliver reliable clean power at scale, which all these sectors require.
What can we expect from Starsight in 2021?
New markets, new sectors, and new technology. Our goal is to power Africa to prosperity and that of course requires us to continue moving into new markets, which we will be doing in 2021. We are looking for new partnerships and growth opportunities. We also look forward to showing the versatility of our power systems as we expand to serve new sectors. We recently completed are first 1 MW + installation and expect to deliver several more in 2021. Lastly, we will continue delivering on our promise of innovation by deploying new technology at our sites. These new technologies will lead to more power generation, efficiency, and, ultimately, value for our clients.