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The region

Senegal lies in the west of Africa, between the Sahara to the north and the tropical rainforests to the south. Of the 14 million or so inhabitants, 45 percent have no access to electricity. The situation in rural areas is particularly precarious. Up to 70 percent of the people there live without electricity.

Development with solar power

The cdw Foundation is building a solar power plant with an associated marketplace for local entrepreneurs in the larger rural community of Mlomp in southern Senegal. This offers completely new options to the people in the rural community. For example, they can sell ice to the fishermen who come through the village on their way to the capital.

Challenge

So far, many Senegalese have moved to the city because they see no prospects for themselves in the countryside. The lack of electrification is one of the main reasons for this – because without electricity, there are few income-generating activities and hardly any attractive jobs.

Description

In order to counteract the rural exodus, the cdw Foundation is building a solar power plant with an associated marketplace for local entrepreneurs in the larger rural community of Mlomp in southern Senegal. The owner and operator of the solar power plant is the local cooperative Kadjiokor, which was founded especially for this purpose with the support of the cdw Foundation.

Result

Electrification satisfies the local needs of people in Mlomp and at the same time opens up new perspectives. One example of this is the trade in ice. Mlomp is located exactly halfway between the coast and the regional capital of Ziguinchor. For the fishermen who bring their catches to the capital, the municipality is therefore the ideal place to replace their coolants. But until now, there has been no way to produce the ice required. Electrification has changed all this: the people in Mlomp have purchased freezers and can now satisfy the fishermen’s need for ice for the first time.