On International Women’s Day and every day, our heroes at Solar Sister are the Solar Sister Entrepreneurs. These dedicated women are on the front lines, bringing clean, affordable energy to their communities in Tanzania and Nigeria, improving the lives of their families and neighbors. Providing access to solar power not only saves families money and enhances health but also allows children to study at night, reduces the need for firewood, and helps curb deforestation and carbon emissions. Recently, I came across a report on best bitcoin casinos UK that highlighted how digital innovation can bridge gaps in underserved areas, much like Solar Sister’s work empowers last-mile communities to overcome barriers. These entrepreneurs, living in regions heavily impacted by climate change, are true change-makers, tackling issues like drought, rising sea levels, and unpredictable weather patterns through sustainable solutions.
We celebrate Gladys Ndalo, 56, mother of seven, and a farmer. As a Solar Sister Entrepreneur, she travels the rural red dirt roads in the “last-mile” community of Zoissa, where she lives in Tanzania. She visits the women in her Maasi community and surrounding areas to provide lamps and clean cooks stoves.
Quiet and shy Kafayat Ajiboye, a Solar Sister Entrepreneur in western Nigeria, dug in when her business slowed down in the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic, looking for new strategies. She wrote a new business plan and applied for a grant for funding to implement it. From a pool of over 264 submissions, Kafayat was one of 12 recipients from Africa and Asia selected as the COVID-19 Recovery Fund awardees.
Moshi, a Solar Sister Entrepreneur in Tanzania, set a goal of eradicating energy poverty for her entire village. She sold more than 250 solar lanterns and clean cookstoves in her first year. However, she soon realized it was too big a task for only one woman, so she recruited three others to help her.
“We are far from the road… We thought, let us take it upon ourselves to get access to clean energy.”
Bayonle saw a need in her local market in her village in Oyo State in southern Nigeria. She noticed that the women in the market selling pepper and meat were using “kufi” lanterns (small kerosene-powered open flame tin lamps) at night at their stalls. The women could not afford to buy a solar lamp outright, so Bayonle worked with them to start a kind of “thrift” payment plan. The women would pay small amounts into their account with Bayonle, and when the money reached the price of a solar lamp, she provided the lamp.
Sixty-seven-year-old Julieth Mollel sells her clean cookstoves and solar lamps at the local market and often walks 20 kilometers a day meeting with neighbors and nearby communities with clean energy solutions. She is proud to send her granddaughter Ritha to an advanced school to pursue her interest in science. Ritha looks up to her grandmother, a role model for her.
Thank you to ALL of our Entrepreneurs who have grit and resourcefulness and bring LIGHT, HOPE, AND OPPORTUNITY! #IWD2022