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 In August 2010, Reciprocity took Schneider Electric on a “deep dive” into the energy market for low-income households in the Cape Town townships. The aim of the Learning Journey was to meet a variety of stakeholders shaping the market at the lower income end, including:
· End-Consumers / Prepaid users: Households living in informal as well as formal dwellings, some of them clients of Housing Microfinance Institutions, gaining an understanding of the issues surrounding access, affordability, usage patterns of electricity (electrical devices), and life at home.
· Secondary traders: They are end-consumers legally connected to the grid, but who trade in electricity by selling on to their neighbours, at a profit, often through illegal connections;
· Retailers: The ubiquitous spaza shop owners, who sell prepaid electricity vouchers;
· Electricians: Whether they are official or clandestine, they work to provide access by connecting low-income households to the grid.
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