At EQ, we work jointly towards a common goal: moving money to meaning. In order to establish goals and objectives, and to provide feedback to facilitate team-members professional growth, EQ recognizes the importance of aligning the strategic efforts of staff members to that of the company. To that end, EQ uses a tool called Management by Objectives (MBO) where managers and team members work together to set, record and monitor goals annually.
Through the Spark+ Africa Fund, we invest in a new crop of companies that are seeking to develop alternatives to polluting and unhealthy solid fuels such as wood and charcoal such as Kenyanbased BURN Manufacturing. BURN is an enterprise that is innovative, socially responsible, profitable, and sustainable. Its founder, Peter Scott, managed on a shoestring budget to turn his dream to save the African forests into the only vertically integrated modern cookstove manufacturing company in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through its first modern manufacturing facility in Kenya, BURN has proven that cookstoves can deliver transformative social, financial, and environmental impacts and with the investment from Spark+, we are helping them achieve their goal of expanding their footprint across Africa, launch new products, and increase production capacity.
The chance to visit BURN’s production site during EQ’s visit to Kenya, was one that was jumped on with a lot of excitement. On arrival, we received a warm welcome from CEO Peter Scott and together with his employees, they guided us through the production process of their award-winning clean cooking stoves.
The very impressive solar-powered facility currently has a capacity of 100,000 stoves per month and employs over 1,000 people, 50% of whom are women. Jikokoa, one of their charcoal appliances cooks faster than traditional stoves and uses less fuel. One Jikokoa saves about 0.56 kg charcoal/day, translating into 204 kg charcoal savings per year. In 2022, more than 800,000+ households benefit from BURN’s super fuel-efficient biomass appliances in East Africa.
Through their innovative and affordable clean cookstoves, BURN contributes to saving forests and millions of lives in the developing world through improved cooking solutions. Due to the stove’s high efficiency, customers end up saving on average 150 $ US per year on fuels (monthly income ~ 630 US $).
The EQ Team during the presentation of Peter Scott, the founder of BURN.
While conversing with the locals, we were delighted to hear just how enthusiastic they were towards BURN’s products. There’s a popular saying in Kenya, “chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza,” which loosely translates to “good things sell themselves, unlike bad things which constantly require plenty of work and manpower to sell.” The locals were beyond excited to spread the benefits of BURN’s products to everyone they knew.
It was a beautiful experience to see and hear how many lives have been simplified and positively impacted by BURN’s products.
