Business model innovation represents a crucial topic in the global discourse on sustainable energy use. In the agricultural sector, the Cooling-as-a-Service model has emerged as a recognised solution to unlock wider access to more sustainable cooling services, from cold storage to refrigerated transportation, tackling high post-harvest food losses prevalent across Africa. Cooling-as-a-Service drives transformation by removing the high upfront cost of cooling equipment for customers, shifting ownership from users to providers. This means farmers, cooperatives, and traders pay only for the cooling they use, while dedicated providers can take care of installing, operating and maintaining equipment. 

The Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) Initiative, led by BASE Foundation with support from the Clean Cooling Collaborative in 2019, pioneered the model in different settings. The project revealed strong potential to strengthen cold chains in rural areas, where the lack of access to cold rooms and electricity generates critical food losses, putting livelihoods at risk. This led to the creation of the Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant initiative, combining digital solutions with CaaS for solar-powered cold rooms, and has partnered with organisations in India, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Iraq to adopt pay-per-use approaches.

A growing ecosystem of cooling innovators offering CaaS on the African continent is making significant strides in strengthening local cold chains and improving the livelihoods of local communities, thanks to enhanced food security and higher incomes. We caught up with some of the leading companies to find out more about their latest developments.

Koolboks has deployed over 9,000 solar-powered fridges across 25 countries, helping fishermen, food vendors, as well as clinics and retailers, access sustainable cooling through their as-a-service model. The team keeps innovating, demonstrated by recent developments such as PowerFoot, a pedal that converts conventional AC fridges to run on solar energy, and its PAYGO Locking Technology, which enables flexible payment options for low-income users. In 2025, Koolboks also launched KoolBuy, a “Buy Now, Pay Later” platform allowing customers to purchase any freezer brand with just a 10% down payment and repay the balance over time. More than 200 retail stores in Nigeria have joined, with a goal of 500 by year-end. The company, which started redefining affordable refrigeration in 2018, has now raised $11 million in Series A funding to expand its solar freezer business across Africa and build its first local assembly plant in Nigeria.

ColdHubs, another Nigerian-based pioneer, continues to expand its network of solar-powered cold rooms at agricultural markets, providing affordable cooling on a pay-per-use basis. The company’s impact is tangible: over 14,000 metric tons of food saved from spoilage and more than 20,000 preserved in transit. ColdHubs’ services directly benefit women traders, who form the majority of its customer base, by reducing losses and stabilising income. In collaboration with ColdHubs and LeapEnergy, BASE Foundation’s Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant (YourVCCA) has also launched Smart Cool Markets, a digital marketplace that connects farmers and buyers, turning cold rooms into active sales points.

DGrid Energy is transforming food cold chains across Tanzania, Zambia, the DRC, and Ghana with its “Solar Cool Cubes-as-a-Service”. These modular, solar-powered units are helping smallholders preserve fruits, vegetables, and dairy products efficiently. DGrid’s systems support 8,000 farmers and over 500 workers, and achieve a 96% utilisation rate and 33% lower electricity costs. The company has also developed a digital platform for real-time monitoring and emissions tracking and is pioneering a carbon credit methodology for clean cooling projects.

AkoFresh in Ghana, has two solar-powered cold storage units serving five communities, with a growing presence in both the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions. In June 2025, the company piloted a pay-per-use rental scheme for refrigerated tricycles to fill the transport gap between farms and markets. Along with a digital platform that connects farmers to storage and buyers, AkoFresh is enabling smallholders to cut post-harvest losses and increase income. Since launching, the company has trained more than 3,000 farmers, and prevented an estimated 500 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. AkoFresh plans to scale to 15 communities and replicate its model across Africa, starting with Uganda and Nigeria.

Last but not least, in South Africa, Energy Partners is applying the CaaS model to large-scale food processing. Partnering with Letaba Pakkers, a major avocado exporter, it financed and operates a state-of-the-art ammonia refrigeration plant under a pay-per-use contract. The system has cut energy use by 20%, reducing CO₂ emissions by more than 4,200 tonnes, and eliminated upfront costs for the client. Energy Partners aims to expand the model across Africa’s agricultural and industrial sectors.

Business model innovation for the agricooling sector such as CaaS, is ushering in a new generation of climate-smart, inclusive, and financially sustainable cold chains that can effectively keep food fresh, build resilience against a warming climate, while optimising energy use.

This is a summary of an article originally developed by the Servitisation for Energy Transition (SET) Alliance, BASE’s flagship initiative working on the deployment of service-based models for sustainable energy systems. Complete piece accessible here.