“Light don go!”-a familiar chorus of dismay as oil lamps are brought out, and kerosene is poured into the burners. Dim oil lamps and candles welcome the evening, as children gather around the light to study, play and find safety from the darkness. Night descends early. This is the childhood in Sierra Leone that Mariama Kamara remembers, which is why she founded the solar energy company, Smiling Through Light.

Kamara moved from Freetown to London in the early nineties, at the age of nine, and was immediately lurched into an unfamiliar new home of cold winters and rainy summers. She always had a sense of longing for home and when the opportunity presented itself in 2011, through a development feasibility project, she seized it and returned to Sierra Leone. It was during this trip that she was transported back to her childhood of hot evenings spent with family around dimly lit kerosene lamps, as young boys walked around peddling the cherished oil “kerosene dee.” Kamara couldn’t believe that so little had changed in the energy sector in Sierra Leone, and it seemed coming back home had brought her full circle-she knew she had to do something to help solve the problem.

Clean, Renewable, and Affordable Energy

According to a 2020 report by the World Bank, only 26.1% of Sierra Leoneans had access to electricity as of 2018, which is below the average of 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many low-income earners, such as market workers, farmers and petty traders do not have clean and financially sustainable renewable energy. Although the rate of energy access in urban areas reached 46%, it remains mostly absent in the rural areas of Sierra Leone. The energy sector in the country has faced a myriad of challenges over the years, including a struggling transmission and distribution system, low voltage quality in some areas of the capital city, and seasonal variability in hydro electric energy supply. The government also plans to deliver basic power to all of Sierra Leone by 2025, a process that will involve introducing household solar energy throughout the country within the next four years, as well as eliminating import duties and value-added tax on internationally certified solar products. Despite the government’s efforts to tackle the problem, access to full coverage is still frustratingly slow.

Queen Bee: How Metsana Kojane is Creating Sustainable Food Solutions Through Beekeeping

It is within this context that Kamara started thinking about the most practical energy solutions to help fix the problem, and provide clean, renewable, and affordable energy to low-income communities. Smiling Through Light was born out of a need to bring solar energy to poor communities, and place the solution firmly in the hands of low-income Sierra Leoneans. However, this was not how Kamara had initially envisioned giving back to her country of birth.

From Sierra Leone to the UK, and back

During her formative years in the UK, Kamara’s dream job was to be a surgeon. She quickly switched to a Psychology degree, when she realised how much she hated the sight of blood. “Initially, I wanted to work with women amputees and trauma victims after the civil war, so I studied psychology.” After her first degree, she worked for the non-profit; Africa HIV Policy Network (AHPN,) and earned her master’s degree in Development Studies from Birkbeck, University of London. Even during her work at AHPN, she knew she wanted to do some work in Sierra Leone.

In 2008 the Department for International Development (DFID,) which has now been replaced by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, started a programme called Diaspora Volunteering; where skilled people in the diaspora were sent to different countries on the continent to work on specific projects. In 2011, a trip came up for Sierra Leone, as a Technical Assistant to develop a Sexual & Reproductive Health Curriculum. Kamara applied and was accepted on a three months placement working with Restless Development.

“I always knew somehow that my destiny was in Sierra Leone. My country always gives me this warm feeling, and I remember kissing the tarmac at the airport when I returned,” she gushes as she describes her experience of going back home that year. The project gave her the opportunity to work all over the country, from Kambia in the north to Kenema in the south-east region. It was during her travels around Sierra Leone, that the shocking lack of access to electricity became clear.“

Everywhere I went, I just saw people using kerosene lamps and candles. I kept thinking ‘oh my God, this is crazy.’ It took me back to when I was a kid, and that was exactly what we were using-kerosene lamps and candles.”

She finished the project and returned to London, but the images of what she saw didn’t go away. So, Kamara started doing research into the clean energy sector. She came back to Sierra Leone in April 2014, to do the first pilot study in Kroo Bay, an informal settlement in Freetown. For Kamara, it was imperative that the idea was rooted in community solutions, because they would have the answers. During the focus group, she realised the women had a range of issues with the alternative energy methods they were using due to regular power cuts. They would show her dilapidated houses in the community “oh look at that house, a candle caused a fire,” they’d say, or “Oh my ceiling is so black, it is from the kerosene lamp.” 

These alternative power sources were unhealthy, and not sustainable. Kamara realised that not only did they need urgent solutions, they needed clean energy solutions as well. However, two things were certain; she knew she did not want to set up a charity, because she believed that a social enterprise would create more employment and reinvest in the community and the business. The other factor was her desire to see women play a pivotal role in the business model. Through her focus groups, she noticed that women not only endured the burden of using non-renewable energy in the homes but also suffered the greatest costs.

Women as agents of change and innovation

To start the business, she enrolled in a business incubator in London, at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, which sponsored the pilot project where she bought her first set of solar products. She went back to Kroo Bay Community to test them out and observe how the women in the community would respond to them. “We asked the women to compare kerosene prices and calculate how much they spend and compare how much they spend on a solar product,” Kamara explains.

The community realised that they spent a lot of money on kerosene, and it was cheaper to use the solar products. After that pilot, Kamara knew she had found a sliver of hope, and Smiling Through Light was born.

Knowing that the main customers would be low-income, Kamara knew the business model of Smiling Through Light had to be simple. Smiling Through Light purchases the Fosera Spark 20 wholesale from certified global solar manufacturers. The Fosera Spark 20 provides customers with a reliable, durable microgrid of LED lamps and USB ports to charge phones. The products are delivered to their head office in Freetown, and Smiling Through Light distributes them to the hubs in Western Area, Tombo, Lunsar, and Kamakwie. What makes Smiling Through Light stand out is the fact that their ‘agents’ are paid salaries, complete with benefits and social security. This form of employment ensures that the agents are employees and don’t just rely on commissions from the sales of the solar products, a common model for other solar companies in the region. Another unique feature is that all their agents are women, and they serve as distributors. So far, they have collectively sold over 800 solar products in their communities. The company sees the solar agents as mediums of change in their community, and their lives have also changed. “I remember when we were doing recruitment, we asked them ‘do you all have bank accounts?’ They said ‘yes,’ Kamara recalls. “The next day they all came with their husbands’ bank accounts.” 

To ensure the women had their own bank accounts, Smiling Through Light developed partnerships with United Bank of Africa and Guarantee Trust Bank, so the women could open and have access to individual bank accounts. “I’m so proud of how far they’ve come,” Kamara says. “Empowering women was always a key pillar of the business plan, and I’m happy to see it come to pass.”

Building a community

However, the biggest win for Smiling Through Light is the collective social impact on communities. Its business model takes into consideration the demographic of their clientele; farmers, petty traders, and students. Thus, they have a hybrid of cash and sales credit. Customers pay an initial deposit and can pay the rest in three months. Getting community members to change their energy mediums was initially difficult. However, a key feature of Smiling Through Light’s model is for community members to feel a sense of ownership and inclusion in this solution.

“We do a lot of storytelling with the communities we work with,” says Kamara. To get the community members to understand the importance of alternative solar energy, Smiling Through Light uses stories from the community. Kamara shares a beautiful story about using fireflies as an analogy to the solar lamp in one community. Fireflies dance around at dusk, especially during the rainy season, supplementing candles, and kerosene lamps. In one village in Kamakwie, her team likened the solar lamps to the fireflies, albeit much brighter, and this idea intrigued the community members. 

Yvette Gayle On Making Entrepreneurship Work For You

 “When we go into any community, we spend a month meeting chiefs and community leaders, and seeing what the business opportunities are in that community.” Once the initial meetings have been held, Smiling Through Light identifies key community champions, employs sales agents, and then opens shop. The company ensures that everyone who works at the outlet is from that community, ensuring job creation for them.

While Smiling Through Light has experienced success in the communities it serves, a key challenge Kamara has to deal with is the scepticism from international investors, who are not used to seeing the face of an African woman as the owner of a renewable energy company. Seeking investments has therefore been an issue. But Kamara strongly believes in her company’s model - which is high quality solar products with an affordable price, rooted in community-centred ownership. Students who use the solar home products on average spend more time studying in the evenings, and this improves grades and input in school. Petty traders and shop owners can also extend their hours of sale, therefore bringing in more income, basically, the nights can go on longer. These products are not only a healthier alternative than candles or kerosene lamps, they are also cost effective, with a significant social impact.

Kamara no longer feels lonely in the business space as a woman. For her, this is an exciting time for African women to be in business, despite the stereotypes of us being “NGO-ized,” stripped of agency, and always handed down solutions. “It’s really important for us to take up space in business,” says Kamara. “It encourages other young women to see that it is possible for African women to thrive in business, and we can serve as mentors and role models.” 

We still have a long way to go, but showing the impact that women-led businesses can bring is important. “We should mobilise ourselves to do more partnerships, and our focus should always be within the continent first,” she adds.

Looking to the future

Smiling Through Light plans to shine beyond Sierra Leone’s borders and expand to neighbouring Guinea and Liberia, and tap into the Mano River Union synergy. This is significant, as the Mano River Union (including Côte d’Ivoire) adopted the Freetown Declaration on Clean Energy and Renewable Cooking in 2019. This is an important move to attract private investment in the energy sector in the region and address the funding gap for local renewable energy companies like Smiling Through Light.

A more recent exciting venture is the introduction of a digital platform that will make payments and reach easier for solar energy customers in Sierra Leone. Smiling Through Light is now trialling NIWA solar products, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer who is piloting a new premium portable solar LED and phone charger called the NIWA Multi 300 XL, that is both water and dust protected. The new product can produce up to 70 hours of light at a time and has enough backup power which will be handy during the rains. This addresses the challenge that solar products have during Sierra Leone’s familiar intense rainy season, which runs from May to October. NIWA Multi 300 XL also has a unique system in which clients can pay through mobile money as they use the product. This form of digital innovation protects the company and ensures a system that encourages consumers to become digitally savvy. “Solar is going to be the primary medium of energy in Africa in the coming years, so we have to prepare our customers for the future,” says Kamara. 

Kamara knows that for innovation to make an impact, it shouldn’t be overly complex. The business model should be a simple formula for the company to follow, and the product should also be easy to use for the customer. “If I meet a 90-year-old grandma in the village and a 5-year-old in school, and they can’t understand what Smiling Through Light’s work is about and how, then we need to go back to the drawing board and simplify our model.”