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#ImpactStory Ramata Sou – Economic Empowerment Through Local Women's Association

Marie
May 13, 2022

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In today's #ImpactStory we would like to introduce Ramata Sou. In cooperation with the local organisation Bogojef – an association for women in business – Ramata runs a grocery shop in N'diob, Senegal.

Everything from rice, oil and vegetables to sweet treats and drinks can be found there. The women's association, of which Ramata is chairperson, has been running the shop for five years now. The women take turns with the management: each woman is given the management for three months and has full responsibility for running the shop. Then there is a swap. 

Part of the income is given to other women of the association, who then have the opportunity to invest in their own business and thus enrich the village. 50 women are currently enrolled in the association and the cohesion among them is enormous:

I am very happy to be the chairperson of the association because it allows me to see and feel the potential of mutual empowerment every day. We women in particular share the same problems and challenges and should therefore support each other even more. I am very happy that we founded the association because it empowers us to become self-sufficient in terms of economy.

Ramata Sou
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The electricity from Africa GreenTec will change things in N'diob

New Opportunities Through Sustainable Electricity

Currently there is no electricity in the shop. The women close the shop already in the afternoon, because as soon as it gets dark, it is no longer so safe in the area. Ramata hopes that the electricity from Africa GreenTec will bring some changes:

First of all, I hope it will allow us to keep the shop open in the evenings and late into the night. Our shop is right in the centre of the village, so it has the best prerequisites to become the centre of village life. The young people could get together here in the evenings, drink, eat and have fun together. But since we don't have electricity, there is currently nothing going on here as soon as it gets dark. I think that's just a shame. Hopefully the electricity from Africa GreenTec will change that.

There is still a high demand for ice cream in the village. Chilled soft drinks and cold specialities such as sow (dessert) are very popular, especially at festivals and ceremonies. Unfortunately, there is currently no one who can meet the demand for cooling facilities. People have to travel kilometres to get ice cream. Ramata wants to change this. With the electricity from Africa GreenTec, she would be able to run a refrigerator in which she could refrigerate not only ice cream but also fish and meat, for example, and thus diversify her product range.

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Upward Economic Spiral As a Matter of Course

These new opportunities would in turn generate more income for the shop, which would mean that more money could be made available to the women in the association, who could then reinvest more in new branches of business. This would create an upward economic spiral in the village, benefiting the whole community. 

When we ask Ramata at the end of the interview about the impact she has in the village through her shop, she replies:

The shop is the life of the town. If we weren't here, people would have to go all the way to another village just to cook something for their families. We provide the people here with everyday food. I think we are indispensable for the village! As I said before, I am convinced that the shop has a lot of untapped potential. We can enliven the village even more with the power of Africa GreenTec. I'm looking forward to seeing that happen!

We are happy about the electrification of N'Diob village is supported by the Renewable Energy Solutions program of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs' Export­initiative Energie, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, by Wilo as well as AGT Foundation e.V.. With the support of our strong partners, we can truly achieve great things together.