West Africa

Profile: Christie Etukador, Sunlight Energy Ventures – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Brief Biography Christie is the CEO of SunLight Energy Ventures, a solar energy social enterprise she founded with her husband. Prior to this, she held a lecturing position at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria where she taught Renewable Energy Technologies to Final year students in the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering. She also consults on …

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Profile: Kouma Agbenowossi, Project Production Solaire – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Kouma Agbenowossi is in charge of marketing for PPS (Projet production Solaire), which specializes in Renewable Energy in Togo.  Kouma started working with PPS in March 2016 and has a background in negotiation, leadership education and team management.  He is studying Business Administration and Leadership (ongoing) at VELI (van Duyse Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute) at Cotonou-Benin, …

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Profile: Andrew Carter, PayGo Ventures – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Brief biography Andrew Carter is the Managing Director of Paygo Ventures. Previously at the African Development Bank, he led mini-grid technical assistance and initiatives to provide debt finance to pay as you go solar companies. Prior to that, he consulted for clients in Côte d’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of Congo on mini-grid projects. His entrepreneurship …

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Profile: Kabir Ademoh, Ajima Farms – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Brief Bio Kabir is the Head Of Operations for Ajima Farms and General Enterprises in Nigeria and has worked on a variety of roles within the Agricultural sector. He is the founder of Fresh Daily a grocery delivery business aimed at supplying sustainably grown vegetables from a network of micro-farms. He has a background in …

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Profile: Fatima Oyiza Ademoh, Ajima Farms – Finalist, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Brief Biography: Miss. Fatima Oyiza Ademoh is experienced in business development & renewable energy project development. Currently, she is the Project Developer for the Power Africa USADF funded off-grid energy project implemented by Ajima in Nigeria and an Entrepreneurship lecturer at Baze University. She recently served as the Business Development Executive at Novantus Energy. Fatima …

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Profile: Check Traoré, Nafa Naana – Winner, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

What is your off-grid energy business? Can you give a brief overview? How long have you been working on this business? Nafa Naana is a social business making clean and affordable energy products available to the poorest households of Burkina Faso. Nafa Naana implements an innovative business model, which combines a microfranchise approach to an …

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Profile: Sayouba Guira, Nafa Naana – Winner, West Africa

Energy Entrepreneurs /

What is your off-grid energy business? Can you give a brief overview? How long have you been working on this business? Nafa Naana is a social business making clean and affordable energy products available to the poorest households of Burkina Faso. Nafa Naana implements an innovative business model, which combines a microfranchise approach to an adapted microcredit scheme: we …

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Smart Villages announces Nafa Naana as the Winner of the 2017 Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa

Press Releases /

Smart Villages is pleased to announce Nafa Naana as the winner of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa.  Nafa Naana is a social business that improves access to clean and efficient energy solutions through a microfranchised distribution network and microfinance services in Burkina Faso. Nafa Naana develops marketing and financial solutions to strengthen distribution …

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WR34: Insights for energy access in West Africa

Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided …

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BR26: Energy access in West Africa – Policy Recommendations

Policy Briefs /

A high percentage of the West African population lives in remote rural areas without access to modern energy services. Clean energy mini-grids (CEMGs) have been identified as essential to helping achieve universal electricity access in the region and they feature as important parts of national targets and renewable energy action plans for all ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. It is estimated that mini-grids …

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WR32: Energy planning from the bottom up: community-led approaches West Africa

Workshop Reports /

As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past few years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop on rural energy …

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From the bottom up: Community-led approaches in national energy planning in West Africa

Workshops /

As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past few years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop on rural energy access planning on 20 February 2017 at …

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Smart Villages launches the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa

Press Releases, Top Story /
West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge

Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa. Building on the success of annual East African competitions in collaboration with the Cambridge Development Initiative, this inaugural West African competition challenges entrepreneurs to tell us how they want to grow their existing businesses.  Winners will work with consultant …

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West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge 2017

Competitions /
West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge

The West Africa Off-grid Energy Challenge took place in early 2017.  Twenty-nine established off-grid energy companies applied to the competition by describing how they wanted to grow their existing off-grid energy businesses. Over a period of four months, five finalist companies worked with consultant mentors through Cambridge Bridges for Enterprise (link to https://www.bridgesforenterprise.com/) to analyse and refine their …

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WR25: The water, energy, and food nexus: Lessons from West Africa

Workshop Reports /

Agricultural activities account for 70% of global water usage. Food production and the associated supply chain account for about 30% of total global energy consumed. While there is an awareness of the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus, there is a lack of effective and integrated initiatives to address it. As described by the United Nations: “The global community is well aware …

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WR24: West Africa Dialogue for Media Professionals

Workshop Reports /

As an integral part of that activity, the Smart Villages Initiative aims to raise public awareness of rural energy access issues, sustainable energy technologies, and entrepreneurial approaches to energy in the developing world. To help meet this goal, we seek to promote objective, informed, and balanced coverage of the issues, challenges, and opportunities through media dialogue events for both regional and international …

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BR16: Findings from the Smart Villages West Africa regional workshop

Policy Briefs /

There is substantial potential across West Africa to develop renewable energy resources for electricity generation. Despite the potential, a substantial portion of the population across the region remains without access to electricity. For cooking, a large majority of the population remains dependent on using biomass as the basic fuel in rudimentary cook stoves to meet …

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