“With Solar Sister, our life is better. Light, hope, and opportunity at our doorstep.” Ruth Kachalla, Solar Sister Entrepreneur.
Five women gather under a large neem tree in Yangang, Tabbat, a small village in Langtang North in northern Nigeria. Business Development Associate Manmak Joseph leads the sisterhood group on Products and Services for this month’s training.
For Byencit Shallom, the CFLI project gave her not one job opportunity but two.
When CFLI came to Plateau State, Nigeria, Byencit was an unemployed mother of two, married to a teacher. Like most, the project allowed her to sell solar products and make a profit that helped support her, her husband, and her children.
Soon, however, Byencit learned that she needed more than one source of income for herself. Her husband hadn’t been getting paid for months, and the profit from her clean energy business helped the family survive during that challenging period.
Then Byencit made a wise decision.
She used her solar profits to create a second income stream of making throw pillows, which she promoted alongside her solar products!
As Byencit reflects, she says, “I don’t know what would have become of me if not for the opportunity I got through this project. I am now addressed as a business tycoon (laughs) because I now receive calls from people who are in need of products.”
In 2022 Solar Sister partnered with the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives, CFLI, to begin an entrepreneurship journey for 50 women in Jos and Adamawa. The objective is to improve the economic well-being of fifty female entrepreneurs in Adamawa and Jos States in Nigeria and increase renewable energy access in their communities. By launching clean energy businesses, our Solar Sister Entrepreneurs will improve the livelihood and prosperity for themselves and their families through a last-mile distribution channel for clean energy products.
In recent years, the Northern region of Nigeria has been faced with significant loss from the frequent insurgent attacks, especially on power grids and farmlands in Adamawa. More than half the state has been left entirely without electricity, affecting their livelihood source. These attacks have left women the most vulnerable, facing unpaid work and exposure to gender-based violence. They are more likely to be forced into early marriage.
The project has established fifty entrepreneurs with training in business capacity and leadership. Training will continue in 2023 with the 12-month curriculum. Since the project started in October 2021, the entrepreneurs supported by this project have sold over 1,200 clean energy products. As a result, the project has improved the lives of more than 5,700 individuals and avoided 1737 tonnes of CO2e emissions.
Meet several entrepreneurs who joined Solar Sister as a part of the CLFI project.
Fadimatu Salihu
One of the best things about being a Solar Sister Entrepreneur is that it’s a stable, year-round opportunity, leaving seasonal work as a thing of the past. This is what drew in Fadimatu Salihu in Nigeria.
Previously a farmer, Fadimatu would sell her harvest at markets when possible. Still, in the off-season, she was left with nothing to do and nothing to sell. “A full housewife,” she’d say.
“This year, after joining Solar sister with the seeding they came along with, I became a full-time businesswoman. I became a solar mummy in my community. I don’t sit down at home again, waiting for the next market day. I now have what to sell and a business. What I always now think of is where is the next community to go to.”
A housewife no longer, Fadimatu is grateful for the intervention and the opportunity to join a sisterhood group. With her new occupation and year-round profits, her morale has been boosted, she now meets her family’s financial needs, and she’s elevated herself out of poverty.
“With Solar Sister, my community is lighted.”
Zuyina Istakis Bulus
Life as a potato trader is difficult. The market is unstable, prices constantly change, and products spoil in transit and the heat, causing a loss in profits. Potato trader, Zuyina Istakis Bulus, experienced this regularly but didn’t have another option…until Solar Sister.
“I was invited to join this intervention and was skeptical at first cause of the nature of the society we are, but I fell into it when I noticed I have nothing to lose,” she says.
Soon, Zuyina and her family’s lives changed. She now has a reliable source of income where she can’t lose anything to spoilage. She can more profoundly support her husband and substantially reduce her family’s financial difficulties. Also, being a Solar Sister entrepreneur and attending the monthly training makes her feel like she is part of a big family!
“I almost became the breadwinner of the family. My husband, who was also skeptical about the whole stuff at the onset, became a motivation for me to make more sales. He knew the benefit of my making sales, so he encourages me more,” she says.
“I am so grateful, you might not understand, but I understand very well what I am talking about. I smile more often than before,” she beams.
Ruth Kachalla
Living in Adamawa State, Nigeria, with her family, Ruth Kachalla struggled to find a source of income to help support her family. The lack of profitable businesses limited her, and she relied on her husband’s income.
This changed with the CFLI intervention. Being seeded and receiving startup capital through the project boosted her morale and gave her the means to finally start a business!
“It’s hard to find an organization to give you capital free of charge without asking for repaying and with no interest attached,” she says.
Now, a Solar Sister Entrepreneur and making profits, she has money to do things she couldn’t do before without her husband’s help.
“The business made me go to places I have never gone before and to make new connections,” she says. “Things got better for my family and me. We have an extra source of income to use. With Solar Sister, our life is better. Light, hope, and opportunity at our doorstep.”