Barefoot College International and The Solar Mamas of Africa to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on visit to Tanzania
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, July 9, 2016
Barefoot College International confirmed today that 32 Solar Mamas from 9 African countries representing the more than 375 African Solar Mamas trained, will meet and present their accomplishments on behalf of their communities to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the morning of July 10th 2016.
All Solar Mamas have been trained under the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs ITEC (India Technical Economic Cooperation) Initiative which has covered all training and travel costs of the women from their rural poor non-electrified villages across Africa.
More than 160,000 people in Africa have received solar electrification through the ‘Barefoot Approach’, and its unique community-owned and –managed, financially self-sufficient, empowerment model for the poorest of poor communities in 36 countries in Africa.
Together with Barefoot College International staff, founding member & Head of Solar Section, Mr Bagwat Nandan and CEO, Meagan Fallone, will meet Prime Minister Modi and introduce him to the solar electrification training process and the Sustainable Livelihood ENRICHE Program during a 30 minute visit in Dar es Salaam on Sunday morning.
The Government of India, together with Barefoot College, is working to construct 5 women’s regional vocational training centers for semi-literate and illiterate women, focusing on renewable technologies, digital inclusion and development of sustainable livelihood and entrepreneurial skillsets for rural women. The centers are located in Liberia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, South Sudan and Tanzania/Zanzibar.
Barefoot College selects illiterate and semi-literate women and trains them over 6 months to be able to fabricate, install and maintain household solar electrification systems and implement the ‘Barefoot Approach’. A community-based, technically and financially self-sufficient initiative for solar electrification, which builds strong civil society mechanisms, impacts children’s education, women’s health, gender inequality and economic outcomes, for entire communities. The ‘Barefoot Approach’ has been implemented in 74 countries throughout the developing world by the Barefoot Solar Mamas, deploying solar components and teaching methodology, designed by non-formally educated, semi-literate, members of the Barefoot College Solar & Education teams.
Attendees will include Hogan Lovells Africa Practice partner, Kevin Pietersen, and Enel Green Power East African Business development partner, Matteo Cavadini. Both companies have significantly contributed to the funding of renewable energy technology, which is deployed throughout Africa and which the solar engineers fabricate, install and maintain.
Read & watch this coverage via The Indian Express
For further information please contact:
Meagan Fallone, CEO, Barefoot College International
Rachael Droog, Senior PR Adviser, Hogan Lovells
rachael.droog@hoganlovells.com
Martina Stefani, Enel Green Power
Deepika Nath, UN Women, Tanzania
Hogan Lovells (www.hoganlovells.com): 3 years. 1 initiative. To empower, advance and protect the rights of women and girls globally. Our Empowering Girls and Women Initiative will transform lives – supporting survivors of gender-based violence, creating fertile ground for women-owned business to prosper, and educating the women of tomorrow. See more here: http://www.hoganlovells.com/en/citizenship/empowering-girls-and-women-initiative.
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Enel Green Power (www.enelgreenpower.com): “EMPOWERING AFRICA WITH CLEAN ENERGY” Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company entirely dedicated to the development and management of energy generation from renewable sources at a global level, with a presence in Europe, the American continent, Africa and Asia. Thanks to its technological and geographical diversification, EGP is a unique case in the field of renewables, worldwide.
In Africa Enel Green Power operates in different countries. In South Africa, EGP RSA currently owns and operates three photovoltaic power plants (Tom Burke, 66 MW, Paleisheuwel, 82.5 MW and Upington, 10 MW) for a total installed capacity of 159 MW. Enel Green Power RSA has a further 364 MW of projects currently under construction. In relation to the above plants, both in construction and in operation, EGP is fostering CSV initiatives. This year Enel has launched a retail activity, through its subsidiary Enel Energy South Africa, for the sale of photovoltaic systems coupled with storage systems and energy solutions aimed at the residential and commercial market. In Kenya, EGP is developing a mini-grid projects for providing access to electricity for Kenyan people. In June 2016 Enel Green Power has been awarded a 34 MW PV solar project (Mosi-oa-Tunya) in Zambia following the Scaling Solar programme first round tender launched by the state-owned investment holding company Industrial Development Corporation Limited (IDC).
