Stories are what make the world and inspire the imagination. We have collected, and continue to add, stories about energy access and rural development around the world, as well as the latest updates and thoughts from our own projects and activities.
Vishnu Raghunathan, CEO & Co-Founder, Lytyfy Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia “You have to really find quality products in a market which can be unfair.” After college, Vishnu Raghunathan and S. Deepak Kumar spent more than two years working for the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, a government programme in India’s rural Bihar province. The experience […]
Vishnu Raghunathan, Lytyfy – solar entrepreneur Read More »
Tell us a bit about yourself My name is Jacqueline Proneth. I am a 24 year old woman from Tanzania studying for a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting at the University of Dar es Salaam. Meanwhile, I am in the process of registering a business with my partner Suleiman Mzungu which involved charcoal briquettes. What
Profile: Jacqueline Pronet, SUJA – clean cooking entrepreneur Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Can you give a brief overview? How long have you been working on this business? My off-grid business deals with production of charcoal briquettes with a brand name “Mukala”. We focus on production of clean cooking energy using agricultural waste materials like coconut husks, sugarcane husks, wood pieces, charcoal
Profile: Suleiman Mzungu, SUJA – East Africa Read More »
What are you currently working on? For how long? Can you give a brief overview? Still working on [TACODE (Tanzania Cow Dung Energy)] but up to right now there isn’t much progress – limited scope with UTT . Have recent undergone an exhibition in January at UDEC – worked on their prototype to refine their
Profile: Neema Igogo, Tacode – Energy Entrepreneur Read More »
James is an Industrial Chemistry graduate with entrepreneurship passion leaned towards renewable energy adoption among low income communities, energy management and environmental conservation. He is an alumnus of Cambridge Development Initiative, a program sponsored by Smart Villages. He is also recognized as Smart Village Ambassador by IEE Smart Village. James is the Co-founder of Chemolex
Profile: James Ogingo, Chemolex – East Africa Read More »
Brief biography I am an entrepreneur, marketer and sales trainer in Kenya. Since graduating from the university, I have passionately worked at Chemolex Company where I am a co-founder. I have developed the start up from an idea to the scale up phase where the company serves 400 households, 30 businesses and operates 5
Profile: Clifford Okoth – Chemolex – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Can you give a brief overview? How long have you been working on this business? Gram Oorja electrifies un-electrified villages in remote areas of India using mini grids. Each home is provided a metered connection that can be used by the household for its electricity needs varying from lighting,
Profile: Sameer Nair – Gram Oorja – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Manufacturing of portable bio-gas for generation of cooking energy and organic fertilizers. Can you give a brief overview? Lack of adequate cooking energy has been one of the major problems in the country. Many people utilize charcoal and firewood which is not an environmental friendly source of energy. However,
Profile: Tecla Mariwa – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Portable biogas Can you give a brief overview? Portable biogas is a system that can be easily installed and used in households and institutions like schools, food vendors etc… system uses organic wastes such as food leftovers to generate a cooking gas, additionally the system has a purification system
Profile: Seni James – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? i. Drying fruits using solar oven ii. Solar power in the agricultural sector. Can you give a brief overview? i. In Tanzania there’s no fruit preserving factory, which means fruits gets destroyed easily by either for not being consumed for long time or by climatic conditions such as high
Profile: Samwel Baruti – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? My off grid energy business is to produce efficient stoves which will use briquettes and charcoal. Can you give a brief overview? The stove will have an adjustable plate which allows accommodation of different pan size in order to increase efficiency. Other additional features on the stove is
Profile: Nelson Maleko – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? My off-grid energy business is an efficient stove producing business known as Jensen Energy incorporated in collaboration with partners named Nelson Maleko and Senteu together with Elifadhili Shaidi. Can you give a brief overview? Our business incorporates at producing efficient cooking stoves that avoid the loss of heat plus
Profile: Mlamba John – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? My off-grid energy business idea is drying fruits and vegetables by using solar energy technology. Can you give a brief overview? The process will involve drying of fruits and vegetables by using a friendly energy which is solar energy, so as to tackle the problem of food wastage and
Profile: Mediana Ngosso – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Production of efficient stoves Can you give a brief overview? These stoves will use normal charcoals or briquettes in low amount since, in the way they constructed will preserve heat loss What inspired you to start working in off-grid energy? Are there any key people who inspired you to
Profile: Makondose Senteu – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? Our business dries food, such as fruit and vegetables, using solar energy, in order to preserve post-harvest food. Can you give a brief overview? The business mainly deals with drying product by using solar energy. We provide services to farmers and training to customers so as to make them
Profile: Lilian Alphonce – East Africa Read More »
What is your off-grid energy business? The business is the production of affordable efficient stoves which uses less fuel to produce more heat. Can you give a brief overview? The problem we identified is that most stoves produced locally dissipate large amounts of heat to the surroundings, do not focus the energy to the pan,
Profile: Elifadhili Shaidi – East Africa Read More »
[:en] Maarten Strengers, Founder, Greenlink Location: De Bildt, Netherlands / Tanzania “We’re building a company, we’re not rescuing Africa.” As an electrical, mechanical and ICT engineer, Maarten Strengers flies to Africa when his technical know-how is needed; when there is a problem with installation capacity, or to advise on a solar community centre. “After a
Greenlink: We’re building a company, we’re not rescuing Africa Read More »
[:en] Interview with Vishnu Raghunathan CEO & Co-Founder at Lytyfy “The appeal of the product is there only if the financing is there. So we decided to group the product with the financing.” After college, Vishnu Raghunathan and S. Deepak Kumar spent more than two years working for the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, a
Lytyfy: Solar home systems in rural India Read More »
[:en] Augustine Ndasi, Managing Director, Haute Energy Systems Ltd. Location: Limbe, South West Region, Cameroon “As we say in our dialect – no point waiting for someone, it’s better to get going!” Augustine Ndasi did not count on lugging equipment, weighing 12 tonnes, through rough terrain on the border of Congo. One tubular battery, which
Making way for solar in Cameroon Read More »
Interview with Steve Andrews, CEO, NewLight Africa (Heya!) Location: London, UK and Nairobi, Kenya “Think of us as the Amazon of rural Africa” After some time in the solar lights business, Steve Andrews asked himself what more his customers could need. He was CEO of SunnyMoney, a company owned by the NGO SolarAid, which he
Steve Andrews, Heya: for-profit models are working for clean technologies in Africa Read More »