Social Enterprise in Tanzania

The Forbes magazine article titled "The Young African Millionaire Lighting Up Tanzania" (http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/08/01/the-young-african-millionaire-lighting-up-tanzania/2/) profiles Patrick Ngowi, a 28 year-old Tanzania who has made a fortune providing solar energy.  The article discusses his early business ventures, starting off  as a cell phone vouchers sales man and moving up to selling high tech phones.  He began both of these ventures with small loans from his family, and after traveling to Asia saw that the real opportunity was in solar energy.  Since getting into the energy sector he has amassed a significant fortune, and has brought power to a part of the world in great need.  

This article fits very well with our discussions from last week, and our readings for this week.  To start, we spent half of a class period discussing whether or not it is appropriate for a social entrepreneur to receive a high pay.  Ngowi, described by Forbes to be a millionaire by the age of 28 has certainly collected a hefty pay check for his work with solar energy, but I believe he can still be seen as a social entrepreneur.  When Ngowi started to develop his business plan for solar energy, only 10% of Tanzania had access to the national power grid, and by providing renewable energy he was able to broaden access to electricity in a sustainable manner.  This would have huge benefits for the society, as access to reliable and renewable energy is essential for development.

Ngowi also provides a great model for his small scale approach that he used to start off.  He was not a Bill Gates, developing new technologies in his garage, but saw an opportunity where others saw nothing.  His initial business was to make cell phone vouchers more accessible to the public.  In Tanzania, as in many parts of the developing world, people use cell phones without data plans.  Instead of plans they rely on vouchers that can be purchased on the street at low costs ($5).  This allows them to use their phones, but keeps the costs low by not locking them into a high cost, automatically renewed plan.  Ngowi noticed that it was inconvenient for many segments of the population to get their vouchers, so by making it easier for them he made profit for himself and provided a solution for a social problem.  The same can be said of his approach to developing his solar energy company.  He did not develop a new technology, he provided a necessary service to the population.

I have already made it clear that I think Ngowi is deserving of the high compensation and accolades he has received for his work.  At the end of the article he states that he wants to see his company become a $100 million company in the next 5 years.  I think that to achieve that would be a a great accomplishment, and would provide an admirable model for others to follow.  The idea of social enterprise that we have discussed in class has primarily been on a smaller scale.  Can we still view Ngowi and his solar energy as a social enterprise if he is turning a profit of $100 million?  Should he start an innovation-based non-profit or other socially-conscious spinoff?