Smiling Through Light’s work to increase jobs and income generating opportunities for women in Sierra Leone has the aim of dramatically improving their lives and livelihoods, lifting themselves, and their communities, out of poverty.

Currently, only 26% of the population have access to electricity, with this figure dropping to 6% in rural areas. Women are disproportionately impacted by energy poverty, and many are forced to rely on toxic and expensive kerosene lanterns as their primary source of light.

Access to safe, clean and affordable energy can help break this cycle and open up a range of benefits including better healthcare and education, as well as increased job prospects.

The organisation’s female-led local networks coordinate the distribution and sale of Solar Home Systems (SHS) focusing on the last mile. Profits are reinvested in this social enterprise to increase capacity and provide additional support to the women.

After the scheme started in 2018, there were a series of issues with their business approach to enable poor households to acquire SHSs through flexible repayment schemes. The first assessment policy didn’t take into account the customer’s credit history and it was difficult to track and collect payments from those who defaulted. Sales agents were forced to track non-paying customers, with functioning products, who kept changing addresses.

As this was losing Smiling Through Light vital funding, they worked hard to solve this issue. This included interviewing customers and agents and, as a result, they recently published a learning report, outlining their new policies and the improvements these have made. This explored the customer journey, levels of awareness, purchase process, costs, and usage alongside key recommendations to increase gender equality.

Through their new digital Pay as You Go (PAYG) billing system, Smiling Through Light now has a 100% collection rate, significantly improving revenue and staff working conditions.

Mariama Kamara, founder of Smiling Through Light, said: “PAYG solar systems have emerged as a transformative solution to the energy poverty crisis in Sierra Leone. By providing affordable and clean energy access, these systems are improving the quality of life, education, and economic prospects of individuals and communities.

“As the PAYG solar sector continues to evolve and overcome challenges, it holds the promise of bringing sustainable and reliable electricity to millions more across Africa, ultimately contributing to a brighter and more prosperous future.”

You can read the full learning report here - /s/Smiling-Through-Light-Learning-Report_Final-May-2023.pdf