Page 30 - Infinity Power Report

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Infinity Power 2023 Sustainability Report 30

“ We used to work outdoors and manually.

Now cashew nuts are cooked, dried and

shelled indoors, within our own unit, all

Empowering powered by solar energy. Thanks to this,

I’ve even been able to buy a refrigerator

women and set up a side business selling ice”

— FATOU DIAKHATÉ, CASHEW PROCESSOR

Investing in women’s economic Empowering women through
POWERING FEMALE-LED ENTERPRISES
empowerment supports a global business opportunities WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY

move towards gender equality,
We invested in more than 168 community projects Electric power makes all the difference to
poverty eradication and inclusive in South Africa last year. To understand the the way a business can grow. We have

economic growth. impact our community investments are having, installed solar panels and battery systems

we need good quality data from the field. at three women-owned business units in

Which is why empowering women has always The challenge is finding skilled people to carry Taiba N’Diaye in Senegal totalling 29.5 KW.

been a key focus for all our community out the detailed monitoring and evaluation This provides them with reliable, clean energy

investment projects. work. The answer? Upskill the people in the so they can save on energy bills, and invest
communities themselves. in other areas of their business to increase

Opportunities for jobs, education, and to build their income. The business units have created

technical skills can be scarce for women in the In South Africa, we have been providing support more than 70 jobs in the area, mainly for

countries we operate in. So, to make sure benefits and training to help local people set up their women. Furthermore, we offer training on how

are evenly shared, we aim for at least 50% female own small businesses, which we then contract to manage a business and handle finances

participation in all our projects. to gather and analyse impact data on our behalf. which has received overwhelmingly positive
These 100% black-owned businesses are led feedback from the participants.

Here are some examples of ways we are by majority female teams, creating jobs and
empowering women through our community employment in the areas we operate.
“ Since my solar system has been
investments.

To date, we have trained around 40 young people, installed, my energy bills have

mainly women, to run monitoring and evaluation
reduced by 90%, so I’ve been
businesses, building and diversifying their skills.
able to extend my activities,

build another poultry shed and

increase my productivity”

— AMY NDIYE, POULTRY FARMER