We have some massive news to report this week. As mentioned in a previous blog by our Social Impact and Research Manager Kat Harrison, our solar projects are now spreading to West Africa!
Our not-for-profit distribution arm, SunnyMoney, recognised for their expertise, have secured funding from the World Bank to undertake a pilot scheme in Senegal that will implement an innovative solar light distribution model.
A handful of SolarAid and SunnyMoney research experts, along with GVEP who are providing additional support, have already made a start planning implementation and logistics for this project. Funding only started this week so it is still very early stages.
John Keane, SunnyMoney Managing Director had this to say;
‘We are hugely excited to be setting up operations in Senegal. A number of years ago, I saw first-hand how much need there was in rural, off grid, Senegalese communities for solar energy solutions. We very much hope to bring the success we have seen in East Africa to West Africa and see this as a crucial first step which will enable us to have a dramatic impact on the lives of many rural Senegalese communities. We are very much looking forward to supporting the World Bank, the Senegalese government and other actors in providing solar solutions.’
Good luck to our team who have a huge task ahead of them over the forthcoming months.
If you want to keep up with the latest from Senegal then please follow our Programme Manager on Twitter here: @Eduardo_A