Alex Rose-Innes
Norah Magero, Elly Kevin Oriko and Eileen Phoebe Lara, three young African innovators had received the Top Talent of 2021 award for their high quality renewable energy projects which benefited their respective communities on the continent.
Norah, with three colleagues, developed Koyo, (meaning “cold” in the Luo language), in Kenya. The Koyo is a light-weight, small and affordable solar-powered fridge which can be mounted on bicycles and motorbikes. It features a detachable battery and doubles as a power bank and a home lighting station. Koyo is specifically aimed at small poultry and dairy farmers making a living by cycling their wares to clients.
Based on Koyo, Magero also developed VacciBox, which can be used to distribute vaccines to remote rural areas, providing an answer to cold chain issues, the main hindrances to equal vaccine access for all.
With a degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering, Magero is also co-founder of Drop Access, an organisation supporting rural communities to become sustainable through access to energy.
Elly Kevin Oriko designed a solar electrification plant for the Juja Farm Health Centre, a non-profit clinic in Kiambu, also in Kenya. In this area, just as in South Africa, regular blackouts negatively impact on peoples’ livelihood and backup generators run on diesel, which is harmful to the environment.
This project will benefit more than 20 000 people to have better access to medical care, especially during COVID-19. Elly worked with a team of former Micro-Grid Academy students to also establish a local start-up “Raynow Energy” to supply green energy to local health centres, schools and small businesses.
Eileen Phoebe Lara, another graduate in electrical engineering, is the founder of Uganda’s Women in Renewable Energy Association (WREAU), a platform for empowering women to acquire skills in the renewable energy sector.
Half of Africa’s population does not have access to electricity and 90% of women need to collect wood for cooking, further contributing to harmful deforestation.
Realising the vision, passion and dedication to create smart, sustainable and efficient renewable energy solutions for their communities, the RES4Africa Foundation would promote their projects with other strategic partners and donate 5,000 Euros to each of them. These three young women will join the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition event in Milan, Italy during September, ensuring that the world takes notice of the talent on the African continent.
