She is a Princess. But far from staying in a Castle, the Chief Executive Officer of AbzeSolar is helping women and youngsters in her country. Let’s meet Her Royal Highness Princess Abzeita Djigma of Burkina Faso who founded the MAMA-LIGHT® initiative.
Talking to Inspir’Action.news, at the Africa Partnership Conference organised by the Board of Investment in Mauritius, she explained that her project is to empower the bottom of the social pyramid. “I myself came from a rural area of Africa. My parents sent me to study in Europe and I came back to help my people after studying finance, accounting and engineering (solar).”
But, why did she get into this business? “As a Mossi princess and direct descendant from Princess Yennenga I want to stand my responsibility to provide tools and means for the people in the old Mossi Kingdom to develop and to empower themselves. I realized that the lack of light and energy are factors that hinder the development of my people.”
Therefore, she created ‘MAMA-LIGHT ® Initiative for Sustainable Energy’ to provide light to students and energy (power) to women and small businesses to build a good and sustainable future for themselves and their children.
The ‘MAMA-LIGHT® Initiative for Sustainable Energy’ transforms solar light into energy. Princess Abze Djigma has developed various products which can be used in and around the house as well as for business activities. The main products are Solar Water Heaters, Solar Water Pumps, Portable Solar Lamp, Solar Home Systems, Solar Streetlights and Solar Panels.
When you give autonomy to women, you give it to all humanity – Princess Djigma
AbzeSolar is headquartered in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The business, first, began to develop in western Africa then to other landlocked developing countries on the continent. “The starting point for me is to respect the local people, to identify and know what they do, what they can do and what they want to do to develop energy solutions to help them be more independent. When you give autonomy to women, you give it to all humanity,” Princess Djigma told.
She noticed that the impact of her involvement is at different levels. “By providing light (a lamp), life changes significantly locally. Families have a more comfortable environment in the evening; children can study at night and parents can go to work to earn money. Pollution and fire hazards are reduced. You also have a feeling that the people in your country are proud that one of them is helping them”.
The initiative and actions of Her Royal Highness have attracted international organizations especially the United Nations. “As I am a woman from a rural area, I represent and protect women from developing countries at international summits. I know what they need and I talk with international organizations to make them go in the right direction,” the Princess concluded.
