The People Behind the Light: Powering Lumos’ Quality and Scale

At Lumos, scale isn’t just about size, it’s a deep, system-wide commitment to quality and long-term impact; it’s what makes growth meaningful and sustainable. Quality is a daily practice, and scale means we’re both growing bigger and thriving, expanding our reach and influence every day. Every Lumos Solar Box delivered, every light that switches on, is made possible by the dedicated teams behind the scenes. Step inside our operations, into the lab, the warehouse, and the heart of Lumos logistics, and meet the people who make it all happen.

Where Quality Lives

Every Lumos system starts and ends with a promise: it works, and it keeps working. The Lab is the control tower of quality, where systems are diagnosed, tested, simulated, and either repaired or repurposed. Whether it’s a newly arrived shipment or a customer return, every unit is thoroughly checked before heading into the field. “The lab plays a critical role at Lumos; it serves as the control tower where the Lumos Solar Box integrity is verified before reaching customers. Without our work, faulty components could slip through, leading to customer dissatisfaction, technical failures, and reputational damage,” says Henry Mmadumere, a Project Coordinator in the Technical Unit. Similarly, Domba Abdoulaye Glovaky, who works on quality checks, notes, “After repairs, we run tests on every battery to make sure it works perfectly. It’s our way of bringing light to households and providing excellent after-sales service.”

“The work done in the lab brings significant benefits to our customers. It ensures they receive reliable, safe, and well-packaged solar systems that they can trust to perform and improve their lives,” says Esther Ene Agbo. As Ble Okou Amos, a trainee laboratory technician, explains, “By focusing on restoring as many Lumos Solar Boxes as possible, I am gaining valuable experience and helping to fill a critical gap, as Côte d'Ivoire lacks qualified personnel. This work drives progress and supports families who depend on electricity.” 

Behind the test benches and simulation tools are people like Henry, who began his Lumos journey as an assistant technician and now leads daily operations and reporting in the Technical Unit. His day involves everything from assigning jobs and supervising technicians to coordinating timelines and ensuring that each system meets Lumos' rigorous standards. “We are the gatekeepers of quality, and that’s a responsibility I carry with pride,” he states.

Once systems are cleared in the lab, they move on to Quality Assurance (QA) and packaging, where precision and care continue the chain of reliability. Esther Ene Agbo ensures every system is visually inspected, labeled, and ready for customer delivery. “The Technical Unit acts as a vital gatekeeper, preventing issues from reaching the field and guaranteeing that only the best units are dispatched,” notes Esther Ene Agbo from QA and Packaging. Ouattara Ibrahim N'Djinman, a member of the Lumos Côte d’Ivoire Lab team, shares how important their work is: “To be able to restore a battery that was previously faulty to good condition, that’s something that brings me real pride.”

Flean Rodrigue, part of the cleaning and packaging team also in Côte d’Ivoire says, “Maintaining the batteries in perfect condition and packing them carefully ensures customers get reliable systems. It’s a good structure because it brings electricity to inhabitants in zones not electrified.” The scale of Lumos is felt here with rows and rows of yellow boxes and teams moving efficiently. The operation is continuously growing.

Units that can’t be repaired are not discarded without thought, components are salvaged, and even used Lumos Solar Boxes are repurposed when possible, extending the life of each asset. Nothing is wasted; everything is put to use wherever it can be.

Organised Energy

If the Technical Unit is the control tower, the warehouse is the engine room. This is where the scale of Lumos’ operations becomes tangible: shelves lined with rows of Lumos Solar Boxes, teams moving systems in and out with methodical precision.

Once systems are packaged and cleared, they are handed off to the warehouse team for storage and dispatch. Ebenezer Essien, part of the inventory team, ensures the flow doesn’t stop. He manages shipments, performs audits, and keeps the Technical Unit and other departments stocked with the materials they need. “A typical day for me at Lumos involves receiving shipments, conducting inventory audits, and collaborating with the lab team. If I weren’t there, inventory management would suffer, and the Technical Unit’s ability to deliver high-quality services would be compromised.” Every movement in the warehouse is logged and checked. Each box, small in size, is part of a massive and growing system that reaches deep into Nigeria’s communities. The Lumos scale is felt not in numbers, but in the orchestration of people, purpose, and process.

The Pulse of Operations

As systems are prepared for dispatch, coordination shifts to the Operations team, the people who ensure everything runs smoothly from start to finish. Beyond the Technical Unit and warehouse is the team coordinating it all, the back office, where planning, tracking, and troubleshooting come together. Here, schedules are created, bottlenecks are cleared, and every Lumos Solar Box finds its place and purpose. 

Hauwa Ibrahim, a Data Analyst in the Operations team, ensures nothing falls through the cracks as her work encourages optimised decision-making across departments. "Some of the challenges I face are adapting to changes in packaging requirements, meeting with time and production schedules as units arrive a bit late from technicians." She shares that to overcome this challenge they, "improve communication to enhance collaboration with production team, quality control team, invest in training to enlighten teams on packaging materials, equipment and company requirements, implement efficient packaging workflow and encourage feedback and suggestion from the packaging assistant teams."

More Than a Job

At the core of Lumos operations are people who see their work as a chance to grow, to solve problems, and to light up homes, clinics, and businesses across Nigeria. Henry Mmadumere notes that “My work here has helped me develop not just professionally, but personally as well. It has strengthened my sense of responsibility, time management, and problem-solving, all of which have positively impacted my family life.” Similarly, Esther Ene Agbo notes that  “Working at Lumos has had a significant positive impact on my life and my family. It has provided financial stability and given me a strong sense of pride in contributing to a meaningful cause.” And Ebenezer Essien “Since joining Lumos, I have experienced significant personal and professional growth. The organization has provided me with opportunities to develop my skills and advance my career.” 

Over in Côte d’Ivoire, Tode Aristide Junior, a lab trainee, highlights the rigor needed: “Thanks to Lumos, I’m much more independent. It’s a structure that gives young people a chance.” While Balima Daouda, who’s involved in cleaning and packaging, expresses how their work supports families: “It’s a structure that helps families to have light and joy.” Similarly, Charlemagne Beugre Ogboutou agrees that for him, it helps families including his own, “Thanks to Lumos, I’m much more independent.”

In every repaired Lumos Solar Box, every carefully packaged order, every tracked inventory unit, there’s care, precision, and purpose. While in every person behind those systems, there’s a shared commitment to powering life across Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, one Lumos Solar Box at a time. Together, they’re driving something far greater, a growing energy movement that’s lighting up communities and changing lives.