Solar Sister: Shining a light on female centred distribution channels

As we develop the mWomen Business Case, we have been exploring how to bring women into the mobile value chain, using female distribution networks such as that exemplified by Vodafone Qatar’s Al Johara initiative. We came across the fantastic work Solar Sister has been doing to empower women using such networks in the Green Power for Mobile Charging Choices Report 2011 and we asked Katherine Lucey, Solar Sister CEO to join our guest blog programme to share the NGO’s work with the mWomen community. Pictured below, she writes:

Katherine Lucey

Solar Sister empowers women through economic opportunity. Using a women-centred distribution system for micro-solar energy products such as solar lamps and cell-phone chargers, Solar Sister brings clean energy access to BoP consumers in rural Africa. In the past few years, great advances have been made in the technology and design of microsolar products so that they are both available and affordable. They have been designed with features that specifically address the needs of BoP consumers, including building in phone charging capability. However, the lack of distribution systems and a gender-based technology gap means that this potentially life-changing technology is not yet accessible to the people who need it the most.

In rural Africa, the gender-based technology gap is particularly wide, and has devastating consequences as women and girls miss out on education and opportunity due to lack of access. Solar Sister provides the women with a ‘business in a bag’, a start-up kit of inventory, training and marketing support. The women become their own boss and often, create sustainable businesses. The women use their natural networks of family, friends and neighbours to provide an effective distribution of the micro-solar energy products and cell phone chargers to the most rural and hard-to-reach customers. Because women are ‘built-in’ to the system, they provide a critical link to the women consumers who often get overlooked by traditional distribution channels.

Using a market-based social enterprise model, Solar Sister has empowered over 120 Solar Sister Entrepreneurs in three East African countries: Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Solar Sister fills the distribution gap for clean energy technology including affordable solar powered lamps and mobile phone chargers. In the first year of operation, Solar Sister Entrepreneurs have been able to bring access to solar powered products to over 6,000 rural customers.

Solar Sister’s goal is to build a network of 5,000 entrepreneurs across five countries in five years – benefiting over 1 million people with light, hope and opportunity.

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