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While Senegal has made significant progress in recent years in terms of building solar power plants, everything remains to be done in terms of access for the poorest households to sustainable energy. This is underlined by Mrs. Fatima Dia, Chair of the Steering Committee of the Senegalese Solar Energy Business Initiative Initiative (IEEI).
In recent years, Senegal has strongly committed to diversifying its energy mix. Today, nearly 7 solar power plants provide sustainable energy. Only the access of households to these energies is still very problematic. According to Ms. Fatima Dia, who heads the steering committee of the Senegalese solar energy business initiative platform (IEEI), several factors still explain the low level of popularization of solar energy among Senegalese households. "The platform has identified 10 constraints related to the use of solar energy," says Ms. Dia who spoke yesterday at the awards ceremony of the innovation competition for access to the solar energy. 'energy. These include the lack of skills in terms of training, but also the quality standard for import and production. In addition, the platform notes the absence of a policy of appropriate distribution of solar equipment in the country and the need for the rehabilitation of fiscal and customs policies.
Faced with all these constraints, the reflections carried out by the IEEIES platform have made it possible to identify possible solutions. For example, says Ms. Dia, the platform will offer 9 quality standards to implement for the import of solar materials in the country. Coordinator of this platform, El Hadji Diop explains that the funding problem is just as real. "We realized that when someone wants a loan to buy solar, the bank tells him that it is a consumer product that is destroyed quickly. This is why banks charge very high interest rates of 10 to 15% with a very short repayment term. It was said that we must develop appropriate financing mechanisms and banks that are in the platform have agreed to develop them, "he says, referring to the National Agricultural Credit Fund (Cncas) which has initiated a process to be accredited to the Green Climate Fund. According to Ms. Dia, even if the political will is there, there is a lot of work to be done. "We have to change paradigms. In universities, there must be training in this area and vocational training centers. Even traders and installers need to be trained, "she says.
$ 23 million each company
To strengthen the presence of these companies in the solar energy sector and their to scale up that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has put on the table subsidies for the five companies selected after an innovation contest. "You have heard a lot about the last km. So we were looking for solutions that would reach the most disadvantaged populations, "says Ms. Priya Gajraj, resident representative of UNDP in Dakar. At the end of the competition, 5 companies each received a check for 40 thousand dollars, or about 23 million CFA francs. "So we decided to select 5 companies to give 40 thousand dollars, or nearly 23 million CFA francs and it will allow them to scale and mobilize other funding," says Diop.
These award-winning companies mainly offer solutions to the rural world. Lamps, freezers, but also more elaborate solutions, allowing the use of solar ovens or millet mills. These are the innovations that have earned Suntaeg, Emerging Women's Palette, Little Sun, Nadji Bi and Bonergie to be Awarded.
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