Solar solutions firm, M-Kopa and Safaricom have launched solar-backed digital tv services targeting millions of Kenyans who cannot not afford a television set.

The program will provide a 16-inch digital TV to its customers at a deposit of Sh1,500 plus a year of daily payments of Sh 50. On completion of payment, the digital television together with the solar system will belong entirely to the customer.

Customers will access 26 digital channels on the solar TV for four hours a day. According to the Kenya Audience Research Foundation 2015 data, only 31 per cent of the adult population had access to TV.

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore said: “We are creating a genesis of new economy based on clean energy that promises to include groups that have been previously marginalised.”

With only 20 per cent of the population accessing electricity, many homes are left with no option but to opt for other sources like battery-operated radios for news.