In developing countries, and particularly in Africa, access to energy is a top priority. The ENGIE Foundation and the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation have decided to join forces to promote access to sustainable and affordable energy for people living in rural areas in the Centre-Sud region of Burkina Faso. Read on to find out more.
The H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation
Currently, 1.1 billion people have no access to electricity while around 1.5 billion have only limited access (source: World Bank Group 2017). In Africa, two thirds of the continent’s population, some 650 million people, are without access to power. With Africa’s population set to increase by 1 billion within the next 30 years, this poses an enormous challenge. In some rural areas of Burkina Faso, less than 3% of households are connected to the power grid, forcing local people to resort to dangerous and inefficient fuels for lighting and other everyday needs.
Set up by Her Royal Highness Princess Abze Djigma, the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting access to affordable and sustainable energy for people in developing countries. It also aims to reduce poverty by providing and deploying energy and biodiversity solutions for women and young people:
– Supply and installation of solar panels
– Training in the installation, use and maintenance of solar generation solutions
– Irrigation systems to increase local agricultural productivity
– Provision of a platform to stimulate entrepreneurship.
MAMA-LIGHT® and the ENGIE Foundation in Burkina Faso
The ENGIE Foundation has joined forces with the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation to support its MAMA-LIGHT® initiative. The initiative provides access to affordable and sustainable energy sources for women, small businesses, children and disadvantaged young people around the globe. Selected by the United Nations at the Solutions Summit at the UN General Assembly in 2015, the programme also drives the generation of new jobs and creates a sound basis for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The partnership signed between the ENGIE Foundation and the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation on December 18 will provide 2,000 schoolchildren and students from the Centre-Sud region of Burkina Faso (1,000 girls and 1,000 boys) with a MAMA-LIGHT® portable solar lamp.