I stumbled on PIND’s Youth Employment Pathways (YEP) project through a Facebook-sponsored ad in 2019. I was studying Public Administration at Abia State University and looking for an organization for my one-year industrial attachment. I was also hoping to raise money to complete my studies. I applied for YEP and was selected. I trained in Computed Aided Design at Clintonel Innovation Hub. Without a background in the STEM field, I initially struggled.
However, the training was enlightening, and I soon adapted to the world of digital technology. I also received soft skills training in communication, team building, and conflict management. After the program, Clintonel Innovation Hub offered me full-time employment. With my income, I finally finished school. In 2021, a few of my colleagues and I formed a consortium and applied for the YEP Challenge Fund.
We received a one million naira grant, which I used to start my company, Solaris GreenTech Hub. It is a start-up based in Aba, Abia State, that designs solar booths and installs them in communities that do not have access to electricity due to being off the national grid.
Our booths are close to schools and other crowded places where people can easily access them. Each one currently provides power solutions to over 400 students, 400 direct customers, and 1,500 indirect beneficiaries (usually other household members who benefit from the electricity). Besides the solar booths, we also sell and install micropower chips. Our services are available in Abia, Enugu, and Ebonyi States. But we plan to extend our solar booth technology to other states and, eventually, other parts of the world. The solar booth innovation has garnered interest from organizations like the West for Africa Foundation, Westerwell Foundation, Nigerian Climate Innovation Center, and All On, an energy investment company in Nigeria.
In 2021, we received $20,000 in equity investment from Hardware Garage. In 2022, we won the All On and NTIT Energy Challenge Fund and received a $10,000 grant to scale up our work. We also received the MicroGrid Young Talent of the Year Award hosted by RES4Africa Foundation in collaboration with Enel Green Power and the European Investment Bank (EIB), including a prize of €5,000. Finally, we won the two million naira Wimbiz Investment Grant 2022. In total, Solaris has raised about NGN 10 million in grants. Through RES4Africa Foundation’s sponsorship, we attended the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt. We participated in Westerwell Foundation’s six months acceleration program. And we are one of the ten founders attending the Berlin Conference in Germany in May 2023. Everything we have built and achieved in my company is thanks to the initial grant from PIND’s Challenge Fund, which allowed us to roll out the prototype of our solar booths. PIND believed in my dream and changed my life.