By: Lungisa Somtombo
The electricity bill affects South Africa as a whole. Most people switch their geysers on when they need warm water and turn it off as soon as the water heats. Innovator and entrepreneur Sandiswa Qayi invented an energy saving device to curb high electricity bills.
The Whittlesea born social scientist with a passion for economic development battled with the cost of electricity while she was in the manufacturing space, which is why she and her business partners decided to research how to reduce energy consumption and improve on energy saving from residential to commercial users. In 2013 Amahlathi Eco-Tech (AET) Africa was born.
The device is called ‘Hotspot’ which is a geyser sleeve, it is retrofitted into an existing geyser to improve energy saving on the geyser. One can also buy a new geyser already fitted with the hotspot. It allows a person to heat the amount of water they want to use and can heat up to 50 litres instead of 150 litres of water, saving electricity cost.
“The primary market is that people buy the sleeve and retrofit it into their geysers, as we know the cost of changing into energy saving devices requires a lot of money so we come up with solutions that are affordable,” she said.
Speaking to BCM News, managing director of AET Africa, Qayi said starting a business was not an easy journey. “Considering that you have a family that depends on you and you have to leave a guaranteed salary to start something new, knowing that you might not get a salary is what makes the process difficult.”
The challenges she faced in the process of starting her business was not having money to travel in order to network and sell her idea to the relevant people and being in the innovation space because she came up with a new product that people have not seen and do not trust hence having to educate them so they can be able to buy it.
When Qayi and her partners were doing their research, they received funding from the Eastern Cape Development Corporation on a programme called Technology Innovation Agency, East London IDZ from the innovation hub, Department of Science and Technology and SEDA.
She said in terms of selling the product, they are receiving good feedback especially from provinces such as Gauteng and that they still need to raise awareness in the Eastern Cape as people are hesitant to buy due to lack of information about the Hotspot however saying they will do their best in the Eastern Cape.
As the most vital aspect of starting a business is creating employment, AET Africa has 14 employees excluding two directors, three are at their offices in East London and 11 are at their factory in Dimbaza.
Qayi said she realized that she was on the right path and people recognise her work when she won awards. She won the Most Promising Youth-led Business Award, Special Award for Innovation, Young Woman in Energy Award, Enviropaedia Ecological Award and Black Business Quarterly Award.
She said her future plans are to make a huge difference in the manufacturing space. They work with universities to give engineering students experiential training to complete their degrees and provide workplace experience to engineering graduates. “We believe the future of black industrialists is giving people the skills and exposure they need to inspire them to come up with new ideas.”
Qayi sees AET Africa going global, she went to Ghana to explore trade opportunities within the African space, she also visited Switzerland and India to have an impact beyond the African space.