HYDROGEN PHONE CHARGER TO BE LAUNCHED IN NIGERIA

African smartphone users will soon have an alternative means to get round the power shortages afflicting much of the world’s poorest continent - a portable charger that relies on hydrogen fuel cells. 

British company Intelligent Energy plans to roll out 1 million of the new chargers in mid-December, mainly in Nigeria and South Africa, after successfully testing them in Nigeria over the last five months, its consumer electronics managing director, Amar Samra, said.

“In emerging markets where the grids are not reliable and people are using (mobile phones) as a primary device, it is mission critical; if you’re out, you’re out,” Samra said on the sidelines of a telecoms conference in Cape Town.

Electricity supply is unstable in Nigeria, African most populous country, a situation which has forced many individuals and corporate organisations to buy their own power generating sets.

The country has just handed the state-owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to private owners, but many citizens are still skeptical on whether the new owners would be able to “bring them out of the darkness”.

The chargers are designed to back up the spread of smartphones and tablets across countries where cellphones have already helped to transform lives and businesses.

The hydrogen chargers, which fit easily into a handbag, consist of a fuel cell and a non-disposable cartridge that can be detached when exhausted.

Samra said consumers could expect to pay less than $5 dollars (N800) to “refuel” a cartridge of the charger.

This would translate to a cost of less than $1 to charge a phone, he said, adding that final costs would ultimately depend on how telecoms companies marketed and sold the product.

Samra said that if bought over the counter, the entire device will cost under $200 (N31000), although options being considered include $10 (N2000) a month for a two-year contract or getting it for free.

Deolu Ogunbanjo, a Lagos-based telecoms consumer right activist, told Daily Trust yesterday that the new charger would be a big relief to phone users in Nigeria, where electricity supply is a major problem.

He said the product would also have ripple effect in the area of job creation as many people would be engaged in its sales and repairs.

But he said most Nigerians, who leave below $2 per day, may not be able to afford the device.

An official of Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said the development is a welcome development as “it would sure boost our profit.”

The official, who pleaded not to be named, told Daily Trust on phone that the charger would afford phone subscribers to have their devices on almost all the time and the means they use them more than when they always run out of battery.

Industry body GSMA, which represents about 800 of the world’s mobile operators, said in its latest report that smartphones were key to boosting mobile Internet access in sub-Saharan Africa where current penetration of 4 percent of the population lags the global average of 17 percent.

Ericsson predicts that smartphone traffic in Africa will increase tenfold between 2013 and 2019, when around 476 million devices will be in use.

“Alternative sources of power are very important, because smartphones and other devices need lots of power and you need to charge up every four hours, so for a businessman it is crucial,” said Melvin Angula, an engineer attending the conference.

“We always have problems with cell batteries, so everybody will be keen for portable energy. But, it has to be the right price for it to fly in our markets,” said businessman Thabo Magagula, who also attended the conference.

Besides Intelligent Energy, Japan’s Aquafairy has also been developing fuel cell chargers, Samra said.

Other companies, such as Dubai-based developer Solarway, have launched solar powered kiosks designed for communities that are not linked to a power grid, each capable of charging up to 40 cell phones a day.

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