U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320
2002-011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 24, 2002
Contact: USAID Press Office
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sun Ovens International,
Incorporated, of Elburn IL, through the U.S. Agency
for International Development, Global Technology Network's
(USAID) business facilitation program, has licensed
the unique solar cooking technology, known as GLOBAL
SUN OVENS, to a joint venture between UltraTec of
Kampala, Uganda and the Tucson Transatlantic Trade
Inc. Holding Group (TTT). TTT is active in the energy,
environment, factory automation, industrial construction
and food processing sectors, with activities in the
Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific.
The exclusive manufacturing rights are being conveyed
on a test marketing basis to provide an alternate
cooking technology to low-middle income households
that would otherwise depend on scarce wood or expensive
oil resources, with their negative environmental impacts.
This transaction is supported by a $100,000 grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy and a $300,000
loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
The transfer of this technology will address the
rapidly expanding problem of deforestation, global
warming and the growing need to incorporate environmentally
friendly solar approaches to everyday living. The
demands of population growth, and the inefficient
conversion of wood to charcoal, have outstripped much
of the forests' ability to regenerate.
Initially, some 60 units have been shipped from the
U.S. for test marketing. Local assembly and manufacture
will follow as the market grows. After the initial
test marketing, sales forecasts will be developed
and a component part manufacturing facility will be
opened in the TTT Inc. Holding Group Industrial Park
near Kampala, Uganda. This local production capability
should directly translate into an approximate cost
savings of some 40 percent, thus making the units
more affordable to poor families in rural areas.
The National Strategy for the Advancement of Rural
Women in Uganda (NSARWU), an NGO founded by the First
Lady of Uganda Janet Museveni, will assist in making
the ovens available to women in rural Uganda. NSARWU
is developing a culturally appropriate training program
that will distribute ovens to trained participants
allowing them to make small monthly payments (over
a three-year period) from the savings obtained by
not purchasing other cooking fuels.
SUN OVENS INTERNATIONAL has taken a concept that
has been around for centuries and incorporated more
recently developed materials to produce an effective
solar cooking device that can meet 80 percent of the
cooking needs of Ugandan families powered with the
ever abundant solar rays. Based on this initial market
entry in Uganda, the GLOBAL SUN OVENâ has great
potential for use throughout the African continent.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is
the U.S. government agency that has provided economic
development and humanitarian assistance worldwide
for more than 40 years.
