MARCH 15, 2018
Oolu wins Hogan Lovells Solar Innovation Award for their work in rural Mali!
The winners of the Hogan Lovells Community Solar Innovation Awards 2017 were revealed today during the 2018 SEED South Africa Symposium in Pretoria. They are:
Frontier Markets, India – a last-mile sales, marketing and after-sales service distribution company bringing clean energy solutions to rural India. A growing network of rural women are empowered with clean, safe energy access and training to become micro-entrepreneurs promoting solar energy systems.
Grupo Fenix, Nicaragua –runs courses that target students and professionals to facilitate information exchange on building and solar-technology. Clients participate in hands-on activities such as building solar cell-phone chargers and installing photovoltaic systems in rural homes that lack access to electricity.
Kalpavriksha Greater Goods, Nepal – alleviates energy poverty in rural Nepal by empowering women entrepreneurs to sell clean energy products, stimulating economic growth. Women entrepreneurs are given extensive business training and mentorship support.
Kumudzi Kuwale, Malawi – supplies charging stations in villages where locals can rent solar lamps, batteries and charge mobile phones; ensuring basic electricity is supplied at affordable costs in financially sustainable ways.
Masole Ammele, Malawi – promotes the use of solar water pumps in organic fish farming and production; and provides market linkages to fresh fish, dry fish and fish fingerlings through working with organised local household farmers.
Oolu Mali, Mali – the first pay-as-you-go distributor of off-grid solar energy in Mali. The unique payment infrastructure is complemented by entrepreneurial thinking which is geared towards promoting employment and gender equality in rural Mali.
SAMWAKI, Democratic Republic of Congo – this rural women’s organisation runs a solar powered radio station Radio Bubusaand provides its listeners with portable solar radios and solar charging stations and runs anagro-ecological cooperative COOPAEKI that focuses on coffee agriculture.
Solar Freeze, Kenya – provides smallholder farmers in Kenya access to portable solar cooling units to prevent post-harvest loss, thus providing farmersand traders the leverage to move and store smaller quantities of fresh produce more frequently.
South Asian Forum for Environment, India – uses solar energy to ensure a supply of safe drinking water for the urban poor, creating a women centric end-to-end solution for climate adaptive basic amenities and sanitation with minimal emissions.
Village Energy, Uganda –designs and installs customised solar installations for businesses, agriculture and community institutions that lead to improved livelihoods, job creation, and access to services. With its traveling academy, it trains rural youth and women as solar technicians to find opportunities within the solar industry.
“These awards demonstrate the incredible innovation in capturing and using solar energy to make a real difference to the lives of people in some of the world’s poorest areas,” said Scot Anderson, Hogan Lovells Energy and Natural Resources Group Judge and Global Head.
As overall winner, Village Energy will receive a $10 000 financial award.
“This is a validation that our hard work over the years is finally being recognised globally. This prize will really help us to increase the vocational training we are providing to rural youth and women. We want to develop rural businesses which continue to be neglected – we want to train them, finance them and really get them to be more productive,” said Abu Musuuza, Village Energy Limted Co-founder and CEO
