Peter Scott is the founder and CEO of Burn Manufacturing, a Ruiru based company making Jikokoa energy saving charcoal stoves.
The company makes 250,000 cooking stoves every month for distribution across Africa, with a sizable number of products remaining in the Kenyan market.
Scott got the idea of making energy saving jikos in 1990 when he visited DR Congo and realized the effects of deforestation.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
In 1990, the then 20-year-old visited the Democratic Republic of Congo where he witnessed firsthand deforestation.
In an interview with Nation, he noted that people would cut trees in the forests mostly for charcoal production.
It broke his heart, and he swore to do whatever he could within his power to reduce deforestation in Africa.
“I saw deforestation in Congo from charcoal production and I got down to my knees and wept. I told myself I would spend the rest of my life defending the forests of Africa,” Scott said.
In 1997, Scott became a cooking stove designer specializing on making fuel-efficient stoves.
“I’ve always been concerned about the state of the planet, so it wasn’t a total curveball, but I’ve wholeheartedly dedicated my life to saving forests in Africa ever since, and it wasn’t until 1997 that I realised I could do that with cookstoves,” he said.
He worked as a consultant for 13 years before he quit and partnered with some of the best designers and engineers for a research retreat.
Scott and his team were looking at inventing a cooking stove that would end deforestation and reduce health-related issues on communities that relied on use of charcoal and firewood for cooking.
Following a successful research retreat, he designed Jikokoa in 2013 and raised Ksh 1.5 billion funding through equity, grants and borrowing.
He then moved to Kenya where he settled and established Burn Manufacturing in Ruiru.
“When most people talk about manufacturing in Africa, they’re really just talking about assembly as opposed to full manufacturing,” Scott said.
Adding;
“There’s no other cookstove company that makes their own products. They might design their own stoves, but they certainly don’t manufacture them – our manufacturing expertise is unmatched.”
Over 500 people are directly employed at the manufacturing facility while 300 others are indirectly employed in sales, marketing and distribution.
“We’re growing enormously, and what is interesting is that people don’t recognise that Africa is a really great place for manufacturing
“The grid is very green, it’s 75-80 percent renewable, and the workforce is spectacularly hardworking and committed,” he said.
Scott hopes to launch five new products and increase production capacity in Kenya from 250,000 to 1 million per month.
