Interview with Business Development Manager Blessing Ekanem,
Akwa Ibom, Nigeria.
On the day Blessing Ekanem was born, there must have been an angel whispering to her mother what to name her, a name that foretold her future, a blessing to all who meet her.
Blessing Ekanem is a Solar Sister Business Development Manager in South South Nigeria and oversees seven Business Development Associates in her region. She serves as the immediate support for these business associates.
Blessing began her story with Solar Sister in August 2013 as a Business Development Associate. One day a few months ago, we sat together over tea, and she shared a few stories with us.
She began with a personal story.
When Blessing joined Solar Sister in 2013, she was about to give birth in a few weeks. She had just sold a lamp to the nurse in charge of the neonatal clinic. Several weeks later, the baby was ready to come, and she headed to the clinic.
“I went with my WakaWaka light (a small solar lamp). When I arrived, there was no light at the clinic. So I put on mine, and she put on hers, and the baby arrived in a few minutes! After that, every other patient who came to give birth in her clinic had a solar lamp during the delivery, which was healthier for the babies and the mothers. Healthier than a kerosene lamp, a candle, or no light at all.”
She mentions, “Over the years, I have seen the impact of our job on the women. Sometimes I tell myself I would stand in the middle of my town and say ‘Solar Sister,’ and people would run down and say, ‘Yes, I know Solar Sister because I remember the impact you had.’
One of my early customers was a woman who lived in a remote village because I traveled mainly to last-mile communities. She had gotten a new phone from her son, who lived in Lagos. During our conversation, she mentioned how her son had sent her a link to read a Cobra Casino Bewertung 2025, as he had been exploring online platforms and wanted her opinion on their trustworthiness. At that time, not so many villagers had phones, so for this woman to have gotten one from her son was a big deal. It was fascinating to see how technology was beginning to connect even the most isolated communities to global trends.
She took it to town to get it charged, and the battery was removed and stolen. Here I was, preaching the gospel of clean energy, telling her that she could charge her phone from this small solar lamp.
She said to me, virtually crying, ‘My daughter, I am going to buy it.’
I recently met a woman who bought a lamp from me in 2014 for her daughter to take to school. She still had my number, and she called recently and said that the lamp was no longer charging. She had kept the light in beautiful condition all those years. I saw the panel needed a few replacements, so we fixed it.
When she got the lamp back, you could literally see the brightness in her eyes that she had her light back. She said to me, ‘I have not had any other light except this one, and it has been so easy just putting it out there in the sun, and I get it charged.’
Here, when you want to charge your lamps or your phones, you pay money to the operator. But everyone has free energy. The sun is free.
When I am out there talking to people in the villages, I see the impact of the money they spend. I think of the woman who told me that to get her phone charged, she would have to send her young granddaughter to the operator to get it done. This means that, apart from the fact that the battery might be exchanged, she must pay the operator to charge the phone. She worried that a car could hit her granddaughter on the way. She lives far from where the operator lives, so she needed to pay for transport for the young girl to go to charge it and pay for transport for her to come back. Also, the girl might be raped on the road.
All those are reasons that make them bring out their money and buy.”
Wisdom for Entrepreneurs:
“As for Solar Sister Entrepreneurs, I see people who came to embrace the gospel of clean energy.
I am sure that for everyone who signs up to be an entrepreneur, their life must first be impacted. I cannot sell what I don’t use. I cannot tell somebody to use the stove effectively if I have not used it. You exude a certain confidence when you are talking about something you know. Because you know what you are talking about, you are confident.
I tell the entrepreneurs; I am not asking that you use all the array of products that we have. Many have basically the same technology, so use one, two, or three here. So when you sell it to someone, you are confident about it. You are not afraid that they will bring it back. You You know that these products are something that you can recommend.
I know a lady who was burnt by a housefire outbreak. She was burnt totally; unfortunately, we had to introduce solar after the woman was burnt.
That is why we keep telling our entrepreneurs, ‘Every day you don’t do what you are supposed to do, there is a fire outbreak is waiting to happen. There is somebody who uses a candle that will pick up a cloth or something, and the house would be engulfed in fire.’ Those are the stories that keep entrepreneurs on track.
I also tell them record keeping in business is vital. To be a businessperson, you must keep good records. Make sure your customers understand our standard procedures.
You must be out there doing your work and solving a problem. You will only make money if you are out there solving a problem; we know the problem is everywhere. For every problem you solve, you have money.
Beyond that, I teach them that in Solar Sister, impact is important and profit. So while you are making an impact, you are making a profit. Impact and profit. If you are not making an impact, no money is coming your way.
You need to be able to stock up as a business person. When your stock is diminishing, you need to go and get more. My work is to support our entrepreneurs. We help show the entrepreneur the bigger picture.
In our training, we incorporate the can-do attitude. If you say you can, then you can.
My dream aspiration is to see that the entrepreneurs are making an impact and they are making a profit.
It is a simple thing. Get out there. Every home without light should have one.
I try to do that by living by example. One evening, a Saturday evening after a long trip, a woman called me from a far place. I knew there were no entrepreneurs nearby to go, so I drove out there. When I got there, it was 7 pm, and everywhere was dark. Dark. A man came out with a kerosene bush lamp, a container with kerosene, and a wick, and you could see the smoke coming out from it. Another customer had encouraged him to buy a lamp. I was so glad that I could go that night.
I want to have entrepreneurs spread all across the state. In all communities, to provide Light, Hope, and Opportunity to everyone.”