African entrepreneur makes portable charger for phones and more

Global Business

Among the scores of African entrepreneurs in New York City, one man is creating huge waves with a device born from the chaos of Hurricane Sandy.

Tanzanian-born Meck Khalfan has developed a high-end portable charger that he hopes will one day help power the world.

CCTV America’s Liling Tan reports.

Meck Khalfan, a New Yorker and the man behind a device seen at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show.

The Puku portable charger is a marriage of high-power and high-fashion, and targets the tech-savvy and the stylish. But the former software engineer says it’s what inside that matters.

The Puku S8 is named after a hardy African antelope, retails at $99 and packs quite a punch.

It’s rather light but it has a total capacity 8,000 milliampere-hours. For the not-so-tech-savvy that means an iPhone 6 that is running out of juice,  can be fully charged at least three times.

The lighter model, the Puku Light is good for two full charges and sells for $49 dollars.

Khalfan says demand has been exceeding expectations since the company launched in 2013.

But this fancy device was conceived as a matter of practicality inspired by Hurricane Sandy when the power in New York went out.

Khalfan is also taking Puku back home to Africa, where he wants to make it more affordable.

Puku has already been introduced in Tanzania, Nigeria, and South Africa, and the company is also looking to expand in Asia and Europe.


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