Economic crisis in Kédougou hits hard on micro energy businesses
12 May 2017Due to the economic crisis that hit the region of Kédougou last year, Energy 4 Impact was forced to end its operations in the area. The region’s economy depends mostly on gold mining, but with one of the main mines closing in 2016, the area’s economic stability took a hit, making it a challenge for entrepreneurs to sell clean energy products to customers in their local communities. Fatoumata and the other 50 women entrepreneurs that we supported in the region could no longer sustain their businesses. Very few of them could provide the minimum required up-front capital or collaterals (25%) to enable them to get a loan or repay credit to the suppliers. Energy 4 Impact now concentrates its efforts on neighbouring Tambacounda, supporting 160 women in the sale of energy services and products, as well as productive use of energy through solar refrigeration. Click here to follow the stories of Germaine Dione and Oumy Ngom in Tambacounda.
Read morePoor weather conditions and waning gold industry affect Fatoumata’s solar lamp business
25 August 2016
Fatoumata has been facing challenges most of her life, but has always shown determination to overcome them. So when economic crisis hit her region a few months ago, she fought to find ways to keep her business going and continue spreading the word about the benefits of solar lighting. How has the business been going since you started your activities in spring? Things have been going quite slow. Unfortunately, nobody can predict how the economy will go and the region I live in, Kedougou, has taken quite a big hit. Weather conditions led to poor harvests for farmers over winter, and also affected the gold panning industry, one of the main sources of income in the region. Despite this, I am very happy that I still managed to make some sales! To date, I have managed to sell a third of the lamps I initially ordered and am now working on ways to sell the remaining products. What are your future plans to increase sales? I think support in marketing may well increase my sales; with support from Energy 4 Impact I would like to develop advertisements and posters with information about my location, my contact details and even my picture, so that people can recognise me! Villages are quite far from one another in this area – so this kind of promotional material will help me expand my client base. I am also considering investing in a motorcycle, so I can start delivering products to the most remote areas….
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