Category: Uncategorised
-
Gender Assessment in the Energy Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies
By Immaculate Wafula and Josephine Osengo, Practical Action Eastern Africa Practical Action in Kenya and ENERGIA have been pioneers in driving gender equality in the energy sector, dating back to their partnership since the mid-2000s. A key milestone in this journey has been the Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK) project. As part of…
-
Empowering communities through clean energy access
In Kenya, few rural households have access to electricity. Most rely on dangerous kerosene lamps, wood and charcoal. Caroline Akinyi is one of the Women Entrepreneurs under the Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK II) project working within Rongo town in Migori County. The mother of two started off her clean energy business in…
-
From Survival to Revival: Soldering on after the pandemic
Dorcas Mutashi, 26 years old is an entrepreneur selling solar products, improved cookstoves and pellets. Her business is located at Kewa village, Lugari sub-county, Kakamega County. Before joining the clean energy business, Dorcas used to work as a casual labourer with Kenya Highways Authority (KENHA) as a cleaner. Due to substandard payment, Dorcas quit her…
-
How COVID-19 recovery stimulus saved livelihoods during the pandemic
When the pandemic plunged economies around the world into turmoil in spring 2020, small and micro businesses in sub-Saharan Africa were hit hard. On the one hand, such businesses were hamstrung as lockdowns and movement restrictions blocked their access to markets to sell their goods and services, whilst they also contended with interruptions to supply…
-
Three women talk about their new lives as Solar Sister Entrepreneurs.
Anthonia Agwunobi, a mother of 5, is a primary school teacher in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Before becoming a Solar Sister Entrepreneur, Anthonia relied exclusively on her meager earnings as a teacher to support her family. Built on the trust and popularity as a well-respected teacher, Anthonia developed her business quickly in the early…
-
Awa’s business expansion held back by Covid-19
Awa Sène was overjoyed when she took delivery of her second solar freezer in April 2021, a decision she had reached after discussing expansion plans with Energy 4 Impact Business Mentor, Dominique Thiaw. She immediately set out to widen her customer base to the surrounding villages. After a difficult period in which her business had…
-
Susanna Simon – Bringing light to the dark night
In a Maasai village in northern Tanzania, when the sky turns from deep marine blue at dusk to black night, the stars sparkle like jewels in the sky. Despite the big open sky, Solar Sister Entrepreneur Susanna Simon’s community is dark with only a few pinpricks of light coming from kerosene lamps. Most of the…
-
New steps towards greater efficiency and autonomy
Once she had finally paid off her solar water pump last June, thanks to the grant received through ENERGIA’s Covid19 Solidarity Fund, and with enough capital for seedlings, feritiliser and labour Aïssata Ba took some time at the end of the summer to prepare her land for a new agricultural cycle. She had already bought…
-
The ENERGIA Solidarity Fund helps revive the businesses of women affected by the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted lives all around the world, including markets and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the entrepreneurs that Energy 4 Impact supports in various sectors of the Senegalese economy have also suffered from the impacts of the crisis. But the Solidarity Fund established by the ENERGIA Network has provided a lifeline…
-
Millicent’s challenges and successes to scale up her energy business
Marketing trainings offered to Millicent Akinyi Dula by Practical Action’s Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya project have not only been a life changing opportunity to her energy business but her life as a whole. The mother of six, who identified product demonstration as an ideal strategy to sell her clean energy business during the…
-
Rebecca is promoting productive uses of energy to enhance livelihoods in her community
Rebecca Aseyo’s dream of opening a portable solar products shop within Kakamega County’s Central Business District is finally a reality. Through the County Government, Rebecca was able to secure a stall that goes for Ksh.3000 monthly (USD 28). As also planned, her engagement with the local management team from Sunking Kakamega was successful and they…
-
Persistence, Passion, and Grit Define The Journey
Solar Sister Entrepreneur Onyinye Onye Ndimele will be the first to tell you that reliable energy is cause for celebration in the bustling market town of Awka in the Igbo heartland of southeast Nigeria where she lives with her husband and three children. Electricity was available before, but, without warning, it would go off for…