The programme, to be conducted in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, will focus on energy professionals and policy makers from the target countries, and proposes a first stage institutional training course in June- July, followed by a vocational mini-grid focused training course in September-October.

As part of the Power Africa initiative, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing a $2.3 million grant to six providers of off-grid solar energy systems. The devices will be used to electrify health care facilities in five sub-Saharan African countries.

The merger is effective immediately and combines Solar Sister’s operations in Nigeria and Tanzania, with LivelyHoods’ network in Kenya. The move, rare in the social enterprise sector, builds on the successes of the two organizations to drive impact in the three most important issues of our time: gender equity, climate justice, and energy access.