the African Uptimist

Two African solar companies win Ashden Awards

Well, once again I was the happy recipient today--via email from Dr. Ben Essel-Hagan, Director of Ghana's Institute of Industrial Research--of the good news about the uptake of solar photovoltaic technology in Africa:  Two African solar energy companies won Ashden Award prizes last week. Tanzania's  Zara Solar Ltd. won the first prize for the Africa Award (£30,000) for providing high-quality, reliable solar-home-systems at affordable prices to communities lacking access to a reliable source of energy.  The second prize for the Africa Award (£10,000) was snatched by Deng Ltd of Ghana for "developing a viable and sustainable business for the provision of solar-home-systems to rural areas where access to grid supply is limited." The African companies shared the limelight with nine other international winners at an awards ceremony on June 22 at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Addressing the participants, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said he was most impressed by the fact that the award winning projects "...are becoming the change that's needed in the world. These awards tell us how to illuminate the path to a sustainable future together."  The Patron of the Ashden Awards, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales congratulated all the winners in a separate private ceremony.  He is also reported to have been "highly impressed by the diverse range of outstanding sustainable energy solutions from the UK and across the globe. His Royal Highness was particularly encouraged by the fact that these pioneering initiatives offer practical, simple and economical solutions that others can easily follow."

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy were created in 2001 by the Ashden Trust. The 2006 Awards are funded by nine Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts along with the John Ellerman Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust and Climate Care.

Simple Solar Assembling Project of Kenya wins award

Thanks to GreenBiz news for pointing us to Kenya's Simple Solar Assembling Project (SSAP), which today won the inaugural 2007 World Clean Energy Award in the products category.  The project was initiated through the help of Fredrick Ouko (passport photo above), who facilitated the beginning of a technological transfer training through a linkage to a volunteer from the United Kingdom.  The project now "...employs primarily young people in Kibera, one of Sub-Saharan Africa's largest slums, to build photovoltaic power panels that are then used throughout the area to provide affordable renewable power to residents, as well as giving economic opportunities to the region." Mr. Ouko's project was one of the over 70 other clean energy achievements from 20 countries that had been nominated by Worldwatch Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and other well-known institutions.  An eight-member jury of experts selected the winners, listed here.

The World Clean Energy Awards was created by the Swiss group the Transatlantic21 Association, and will take place in a different country every year.  Designed to set new standards in seven categories, these awards "celebrate applied clean and renewable energy solutions. They honor innovative projects that move Clean Energy from scientific and experimental applications into integrated, broad-based use."  This aspect--the transition from experiment to broad based application--is precisely what i find most appealing about the SSAP.  The majority of us are accustomed to thinking of solar PV technology as something that is simply too expensive for general, broad-based use.  So it is quite refreshing to discover a project like SSAP that makes solar PV accessible to low-income earners, to the extent that "even though the project has been undertaken in the Kibera Slum, use of the solar panels made there has spread to all parts of Kenya, and even to neighbouring countries where groups have requested trainings to undertake similar projects in their own localities"!

Congratulations to Ouko and all members of the Kibera Community Youth Programme Team.

Some news out of Sudan--its not what you think!

Yes, its not about Darfur atrocities.  Writing under the caption "War-torn Sudan to become major sugar, ethanol producer", Biopact reported last week that:

...Darfur aside, things are changing very rapidly in this nation of 40 million people, 80% of who make a living in agriculture. The South of the country, enjoying a fragile peace and political autonomy after 25 years of civil war with the North, is actually very lush, green and suitable for a range of crops. South Sudan is only now beginning to understand that it can become a major agricultural producer.

While I am by no means suggesting turning a blind eye on the Darfur atrocities, it is a fact that there is more, a lot more happening in Sudan.  It is also "a country that has just come out of a devastating civil war and that is rebuilding its society."  Agricultural reforms now underway are expected to create 700,000 jobs and to improve health and education for at least three million people within 10 years.  Commenting on the vast potential of this largest of African countries, Biopact observes that:

Sudan has around 86 million hectares of arable land available for rainfed agriculture (roughly three times the size of the United Kingdom, twice the size of California), some 17 million (slightly less than 20%) is currently under cultivation. Even with rapid population growth, Sudan can easily feed its population and neighboring countries, while sustainably growing a vast amount of energy crops for biofuels.

We need to put Darfur in the context of this larger picture of Sudan, instead of the other way round.  The Chinese, it seems, get it, not only for Sudan but for Africa as a whole.  Howard W. French eloquently makes the point like this:

Chinese people today look at Africa and see opportunity, promise and a fertile field upon which their energies, mercantile and otherwise, can be given full play. Too often, the West looks at Africa and sees a problematic pupil, a sickly patient, and a zone of pestilence, where failure looms in the air like a curse.

The Western media has a lot to do with the perpetuation of these modern myths, and there is little indication that the Western business community is as balanced in their perception of Africa as the Chinese appear to be.  Apparently, making the needed shift in mindset--as noted here by White African--is just too difficult. Old mindsets, like habits, die hard.

PS: Many thanks to White African for pointing me to the French article.

"Web2fordev" movement gathers momentum

Web2fordev is not just another blog on Web 2.0.  As the name suggests, it "deals with web2.0 - within the context of rural and agricultural development..."  Even more significant, Web2fordev is a stage-setter for the Web2fordev Conference scheduled for 25-27 September in Rome.  More than 80 participants will explore "...ways in which international development actors can take advantage of the technical and organizational opportunities provided by Web 2.0."  In addition to the Web2fordev Blog, I would consider "The Power of the Social Web for African Civil Society" on Kabissa a must-read for all prospective conference participants, especially those actively engaged in African development work.

Presumably, the conference will showcase concrete examples of Web 2.0 applications.  One of my personal favorites --a smart application that integrates Web 2.0 with mobile phones in the context of rural micro-finance projects--was covered on this blog several months ago.  Novelties of this kind and the potential for their replication will undoubtedly be on the menu at Web2fordev 2007.  When the talking is over, it will be interesting to see how the revolutionary momentum of Web2.0 translates into more effective development strategies in Africa and elsewhere.

New 250kW solar PV plant for Rwanda

Matthew Sparkes at Treehugger reports that a new solar powered plant with a capacity of 250 kW has been unveiled in Rwanda.  Funded jointly by the German and Rwandan governments, the 1 million Euro facility increases the country's generating capacity to 50 MW.  But this is only 50% of the generation capacity needed to meet Rwanda's growing demand for power, so the obvious question is where the additional generation capacity is going to come from.  The Rwandan government appears determined to make maximum use of solar technology for this purpose.  Electrogaz, the national utility has plans to expand the capacity of the newly installed solar system as more funds become available, and the government has said that it will install similar plants in rural areas where there is little chance of grid connection in the near future.  In addition, Rwanda plans to harness the large methane reserves found under Lake Kivu, which straddles Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Lester Haines, citing Reuters, reports that a four megawatt methane-powered pilot plant is nearing completion, to be followed by a 25-megawatt facility.  Indeed, some "experts reckon the lake's reserves might one day provide 700 megawatts."

What was special about TED Global Conference 2007?

Thanks to tireless Ethan Zuckerman, Erik Hersman, Jennifer Rea and all the other bloggers who provided such fascinating coverage of the just-ended TED Global Conference 2007.  Jennifer made my day with her post - "Writing a new story about Africa," in which she invites the reader to "imagine four days where you only use the good words to talk about Africa: words of forward motion, words of change...[four days of hearing] from the mouths of people who are out there living it, building it, succeeding (and quite possibly getting very rich) in Africa."  I think it is safe to say that TED Global Conference 2007 was special in that it marked a turning point towards the 're-branding' of Africa.

Free math programs for teachers and students

Perhaps you're one of those people who get suspicious when the word "free" and something of value-- lunch, say--are used in the same sentence.  Well, then you might be as pleasantly surprised as i was to discover Antonio's posting about free math programs over at the Math Blog.  They are:

• Maxima, an open source, general purpose CAS (Computer Algebra System) program "that’s able to perform symbolic manipulation for the resolution of common problems."  The 3D plot illustrated here was generated by Maxima.
• Scilab, a numerical computing tool that stands out as the best among currently available clones and alternatives to the much more expensive Mathlab.
• R is a programming language and environment for statistical computing and analysis. It "enables you to do pretty much anything that the commercial software (S-Plus) does.

In a thoughtful follow-up posting on the Math Blog (June 4), Antonio offers practical guidance on the use of Maxima for those who may not be acquainted with CAS software. In his own words:

Maxima may appear very complicated and difficult to use, even for the resolution of simple high school or calculus problems. This doesn’t have to be the case though, Maxima is very friendly and this 10 minute tutorial will get you started right away.

Great job, Antonio!