page_title: African Clean Energy
section_title: The Business Model
hierarchical_section_title: African Clean Energy / The Business Model
caption_attribution_description: English: ACE One cooking in Cambodia
context_page_description: African Clean Energy is a social enterprise that produces and distributes solar-biomass hybrid energy systems in developing countries. The company was founded in Lesotho, where it manufactures the ACE One Energy System. The company's headquarters are in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
context_section_description: African Clean Energy is a for-profit company.
  It is currently active in Lesotho, Cambodia and Uganda, and its flagship factory is located in Lesotho.
  The ACE One is sold direct to consumers in these countries using an instalment-based payment model at a cost of about $100 each. This ensures that the product is affordable to people who would be unable to afford a large lump sum payment.To date, the company has sold about 60,000 units. 
  The company has a potential market of approximately 900 million households. ACE is currently expanding its mobile retail shops to give more people access to its products and services, in a project which is being co-funded by the European Union. 
  African Clean Energy sponsors ACE Maseru FC, an A division football team in Lesotho. The company also manages the Lesotho Orphans Project, an initiative for donating stoves to orphaned children in Lesotho. ACE is an equal opportunity employer, that has committed to ensuring that 50% of employees are women.The company currently employs 193 people globally and another 12 in Amsterdam.
caption: ACE Cambodia
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