Furntec powers low-income communities

FURNTECH Agencies is a Windhoek-based distributor and wholesaler of renewable energy systems to improve disadvantaged communities’ living conditions, as well as save small installation entrepreneurs from collapse.

Johan van Straaten, the general manager of the company, says Furntech’s core business is to provide direct current (DC) renewable energy systems to communities through trained installers, who in turn service end users – mainly the low-income sector.

“We want to give the low-income people of Namibia power to change their own lives for the better. Why should they always eat dried food when they can also eat wet food, like everyone else?” Van Straaten says.

They also service areas that do not receive any national network supply, like farms and rural areas.

Van Straaten says direct current is safe in that there is no risk of electrocution, as traditional huts or shacks often leak during the rainy season.

He says Furntec has been working with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to ensure quality installations, quality products, educating end users, as well as providing proper after-sales service.

“If you look at the industry today, it has become reckless, with people importing inferior systems and selling them to desperate people. These break down in a short time,” he says, adding that a properly installed Furntec system would last about 10 years.

He says the basic DC-to-DC (plug-and-play) system is protected in that none of the components are open, and there is no accessibility to batteries, thus limiting abuse and uneducated tampering.

“The easy installation protects the installer from making vital installation mistakes that could lead to injury and/or damage to components, and the expert factory assembly ensures the product is offered at its full potential to the end user, without relying on the installer’s limited knowledge in as far as full applications are concerned,” Van Straaten says.

The DC range, which has a lithium battery, runs on 12V and is ideal for lights and charging runs, and can power a 210l freezer, TV, radio, sewing machine and other home gadgets.

There are other bigger systems on offer that can power several homes and streets, and are ideal for informal settlements.

Lilongeni Unoovene, the renewable-energy representative responsible for networking, says Furntec has installed the DC-range system in a shack in one of Windhoek’s informal settlements.

He says the supplier of the system is Specialised Solar Systems of South Africa.

Explaining the structure of the company Unoovene says they trade as two entities within one infrastructure – Furntech Agencies, being the traditional box movers on domestic consumer goods, and Furntech Fourways Solutions, which focuses on solution-based offerings primarily within the digital air solutions market.

Furntech Fourways Solutions also caters for room air conditioning, cassette air conditioning, system air conditioning, and evaporative air conditioning.

“On all products and brands offered by the Furntech Group we carry the full responsibility of back-up service and warranty promises imported and distributed in the Namibian market,” Unoovene says.

He says the company was helping the government implement part of its Harambee Prosperity Plan II through the provision of renewable energy systems to all sectors of the economy.

“With the fall of the construction industry in the country at the start of the recession, Furntec has taken it upon itself to help redundant artisans to stay afloat by training them to install renewable energy systems under their ambit to help them get a livelihood.

“When Covid struck, our system helped people in rural areas, farms, and informal settlements to get power and overcome challenges like e-learning for children during the lockdown.”

Email: matthew@namibian.com.na