Briq’o’blaze is located in Mombassa County, Kenya, where they distribute carbonized briquettes made from charcoal dust and coconut shell as an eco friendly alternative to wood or wood charcoal. Moza Ahmed founded Briq’o’blaze in 2017 after visiting a boarding school in Western Kenya, where she was intrigued by the “funny looking charcoal” she saw being used. She then found a manufacturer, came back to Mombassa, organized a women’s group and started collecting waste products to produce briquettes under Briq’o’blaze’s own brand name. The women in the group work together at Briq’o’blaze to bring clean energy solutions to their neighbors and generate income for the group members.

Briq’o’blaze works closely with another company, Eco Energy, that produces briquettes in Mombasa.  This is a partnership that works well as Eco Energy gains access to new markets and Briq’o’blaze has a reliable supplier of briquettes and buyer of feedstock. The women in Moza’s group collect household charcoal dust when they are making briquette deliveries, and this charcoal dust is sold to the Eco Energy for feedstock.  Once the briquettes are made, Briq’o’blaze buys them for in large bags and repackages the briquettes in smaller, branded bags. Briq’o’blaze sells the briquettes in 3kg, 5kg, and 30 kg bags and sells primarily to households, kiosks and restaurants. 

In the future, Briq’o’blaze is looking at expanding its product offering to different types of briquettes as well as charcoal for Oud, which is a scented charcoal, very popular for burning on holidays.

Despite the challenges Briq’o’blaze has faced, the company is determined to expand through research and interacting with other like-minded entrepreneurs across the region in the HFI Kenya program.