a-project: COVID-19 Solidarity Fund for Women Entrepreneurs
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ENERGIA’s COVID-19 Solidarity Fund: Impacts and benefits
In late 2020, Senegalese entrepreneur Awa Sene was struggling to keep her cold trade business afloat amidst setback after setback. Pandemic-related restrictions led to a sharp drop in sales, and equipment malfunctions put a further strain on her cash flow. She was at the point where she had no choice but to put her cold…
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Solidarity Fund supports female entrepreneurs during the corona crisis
Together with our partners, we have helped nearly 5,000 women energy entrepreneurs across Africa and Asia over the past five years. Through their sustainable energy businesses, these women work to create a better future for their families and their communities. But the corona pandemic has put all of that at risk. They are women who…
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ENERGIA Response to COVID-19
The corona-virus crisis is putting a tremendous strain on the global economy and public health systems, as well as on the energy supply and access systems that support them. It highlights and magnifies inequalities and the multiple forms of discrimination that women and girls face, including in the energy sector. The pandemic goes beyond…
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Rosmiaty Lantara (ENERGIA/Hivos)
Rosmiaty Lantara is an Indonesian biogas entrepreneur, supported by the Hivos BIRU biogas program, which contributes to a transition toward broad renewable energy use and greener societies. Rosmiaty founded her biogas construction company, CV Rizki Abadi, in 2016, with the goal of raising awareness about clean cooking fuels throughout her province of South Sulawesi. Rosmiaty…
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Oluwakemi Ojewoye (ENERGIA/Solar Sister)
Oluwakemi Ojewoye is a solar energy entrepreneur in Nigeria. Her business journey started in 2016, when her husband bought a solar lamp from a woman entrepreneur in their district. Regular and long-lasting power cuts impacted their daily lives, leaving them completely in the dark after sunset. The solar lamp made a huge difference to their…
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Charlot Magayi (Mukuru Stoves)
Charlot Magayi is the CEO and founder of Mukuru Stoves, a social enterprise that recycles waste metal to produce clean cookstoves for low-income households. Mukuru Stoves was originally based in Nairobi, selling to urban households, but moved its operations to western Kenya to better serve those most in need. Their business model focuses on partnering…
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Neha Juneja (Greenway Appliances)
Neha Juneja is one of the co-founders of Greenway Appliances, the largest clean cooking company in India, with recently expanded operations in Zambia. India’s response to COVID19 has had profound impacts on Greenway. With India having the fourth largest number of COVID cases at the time, the country went into a strict lockdown in March,…
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Esther Altorfer (Sistema.bio)
Esther Altorfer joined Sistema.bio six years ago, serving in various functions across the finance and operations departments. Sistema.bio is a global social enterprise that first launched in Mexico 10 years ago, and has since expanded operations across Latin America, East Africa, and India. Premised on empowering smallholder farmers, Sistema.bio’s biogas systems convert animal into clean…
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COVID-19 and Women’s Energy Entrepreneurship: A conversation with five women entrepreneurs about adapting to a crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new and unusual obstacles for industries around the world. The clean cooking and sustainable energy sectors are no exceptions. Women entrepreneurs are rising to the challenge, even as many are bearing additional responsibilities. To better understand these challenges, Sustainable Energy for All, the Clean Cooking Alliance, ENERGIA, and members of…
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Women leaders call for action in response to COVID-19: Opening opportunities for gender equality in the transition to sustainable energy
An opinion piece by Sheila Oparaocha and Elizabeth Cecelski (ENERGIA), Rabia Ferroukhi (IRENA), Dymphna van der Lans (Clean Cooking Alliance), Irene Giner-Reichl (GWNET), Monica Maduekwe (ECREEE), Ajaita Shah (Frontier Markets) As women leaders working to achieve sustainable energy for all, we are calling for gender equality in post-COVID-19 measures to build back better! Women…
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How Assy Ba is coping with the severe impacts on her business
My business has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, due to the restrictions placed on travels. The economic impact on my activity is severe. Once my savings are gone, I will not have any other sources of income to feed my family, let alone to repay my business loan. Assy is a…
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Kamala Bhattarai’s race against time
One morning, I went to my poultry farm to see the chickens and I was shocked seeing almost 700 chickens lying dead. I was speechless. I don’t know how I came back home. My daughter tried to talk to me but I was unconscious and could not respond to her. When I regained consciousness,…