Tanzania

Rafiki Power: Solar power creates new off-grid business opportunities

In this video, you’ll learn about the new business opportunities that solar power has created in one off-grid village in northern Tanzania. Rafiki Power’s solar kiosk allows an entrepreneur to build his business while selling mobile money, charging phones, and providing other useful services to the wider community.

Juabar’s “Media Hubs” bring women’s health TV and Swahili “Sesame Street” to rural Tanzania

Interview with Olivia Nava Co-founder and CEO, Juabar Location: Oakland, California / Tanzania “Anywhere where there is mobile money, there is a potential for services in delivery and market opportunities.” Juabar is a solar entrepreneurs’ network which has been based in Tanzania since 2013. The three-person company behind the initial model, of a solar panel …

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Changing lives with energy access: Micro-hydro grids in rural Tanzania, Part 1

An Italian project (CEFA) and the local village company (MVC) have installed a mini-hydro grid in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The project has helped a large off-grid area of Matembwe village to access electricity and build up the local economy and services. It is sustainable thanks to management and maintenance.

For Tanzania’s Chololo Ecovillage, a focus on education makes investment go further

Mary Mpilimi says: “Now I don’t have to beg money for my husband for things like clothing, medicine and school fees."

Interview with Michael Farrelly Chololo Ecovillage Location: Tanzania “If 70 percent of your population is dependent on rain-fed agriculture, then climate change is a big issue”. With a masters degree in rural development, Michael Farrelly has brought a knowledge of participatory research methods to the Chololo Ecovillage. By offering villagers a wide range of climate-resilient techniques to …

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Education and entrepreneurship: How solar energy impacts Tanzanian villages

How has solar energy changed the lives of people in rural Tanzania? In this video, you’ll hear from villagers themselves – including small business owners and students. You’ll also hear from Mobisol, one of several companies active in providing solar energy to rural villages. Video by: Steve Martin Saning’o, Terrat, Tanzania

[:en]Smart Villages launches the 2016 Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge for East Africa[:]

[:en]Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the second annual Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition challenges aspiring young East African entrepreneurs to come up with an idea for a social business powered by off-grid energy. Social businesses deliver positive social impacts to the end user …

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East Africa Energy Innovation Challenge 2016

The second annual East Africa Energy Innovation Challenge took place in summer 2016.  With restructured selection criteria, 85 East African applicants applied to the programme by pitching their ideas for providing energy services to off-grid villages. Eight aspiring entrepreneurs developed their ideas over seven weeks with the Cambridge Development Initiative (https://cambridgedevelopment.wordpress.com/)  in Dar es Salaam …

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WR7: East African Community Leaders’ Dialogue Workshop Report

Amidst the stunning background of Terrat, a Masaai village in remote Northern Tanzania, members of the Smart Villages team spent the weekend of 22-23 August, 2015 engaged in an extremely productive dialogue event with representatives of village level energy initiatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda. The event was organised at a time when …

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East Africa Energy Innovation Challenge 2015

The first annual East African Energy Innovation Challenge was an entrepreneurial training course and competition that took place in summer 2015.  Over 225 East African applicants across nine countries applied to the programme by pitching their ideas for providing energy services to off-grid villages. The entrepreneurs identified a number of issues and opportunities in the …

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