Tuesday, April 22nd, marked the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, a global reminder that we all share the responsibility to protect our planet. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, calls on everyone to rally behind renewable energy as the path to a more sustainable future.
At Solar Sister, we see this theme in action every day through our powerful, women-centered model. We train and support women in sub-Saharan Africa to launch clean energy businesses that deliver affordable solar lights and clean cookstoves directly to last-mile communities. These women are frontline climate leaders in their communities.
Take Ndanusa Ayishetu, a Solar Sister Entrepreneur in Kwara State, Nigeria.
Ndanusa lives in Edu, a region of 30 small villages spread across 980 square miles, none connected to the electricity grid. Families here rely on bush lanterns – tin cans filled with kerosene or diesel, lit by a cotton wick – to light their homes, their dim flames flickering against the darkness, giving off black soot and smoke.
After joining Solar Sister in 2021, Ndanusa delivered clean energy to over 100 homes in the first six months, boosting her business capital by 19%. Working with her Business Development Associate, she organized a campaign to promote clean energy within the community. After the campaign, Ndanusa’s customers began to buy more than just the smaller lamps and invested in larger home systems.
In these rural communities, women shoulder the burden of energy poverty, cooking over dangerous open fires, struggling to help children study at night, and spending hours gathering fuel. Ndanusa saw this firsthand. She didn’t wait for change to come; she became the change. She added clean cookstoves to her product offerings, helping over 200 households switch to safer, healthier cooking methods in her first year.
Solar Sister’s model works because it meets women where they are, economically, geographically, and socially, and equips them with tools to generate income while protecting their families, communities, and planet. This is people power in action: women tackling energy poverty, reducing carbon emissions, and building brighter, more resilient futures.
When we say Our Power, Our Planet, we mean it. Women like Ndanusa are lighting the way.
Photo: Vendor in market in Uyo, Nigeria using a bush lamp