The Association of Dynamische Kameroense Vrouwen (DKV) of Ostend, with the support of Urban Product vzw, is pleased with the installation of solar panels in the school “L’Œil de l’avenir” in Cameroon, providing sustainable access to electricity in the school and the neighborhood.
The primary school with 300 pupils on the outskirts of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, was founded in 2017 and is funded by the diaspora organisation Dynamische Kameroense Vrouwen (DKV) in Ostend. DKV approached Energise Cameroon to find a solution to the inadequate electricity supply. The existing electricity grid is unreliable and regularly failed. Thanks to this initiative, these problems have been solved and there is constant access to electricity for the school and the surrounding community.
This is the first result of the “Energise Cameroon”, a collaboration between Urban Product in Brussels and the installer Solarly in Cameroon, which offers the Cameroonian diaspora in Europe the opportunity to invest in green and reliable energy. The social and financial innovation project “Energise Cameroon” is supported by the Business Partnership Facility, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, Belgium.
The total investment for this project was €6,500, and DKV collected €1,655 in donations from the diaspora and other Belgians with the support of Energise Cameroon. The Province of West Flanders contributed to the financing for the remainder of the project’s realisation.
This fundraising has allowed the installation of photovoltaic panels (3,710 Wp), a 5000 VA hybrid inverter and a 100 AH/48V lithium battery, as well as an integrated monitoring system with a SIM card to monitor production and consumption remotely. This solar installation not only meets the school’s energy needs (including a computer lab), but also pumps water for the sanitary facilities and local residents.
“Energise Cameroon” thus brings together the efforts of the diaspora and other Belgians for green and stable electricity, a lever for a socio-economic impact there and a better coexistence here.
This project was the subject of a dissertation ‘Energise Cameroon’: A new avenue for green remittances?, The migration-development nexus in practice: A Stakeholder Analysis.” by Hannah Downes, University of Antwerp, Master of Globalisation and Development. For her analysis, she received the 2023 Global Research Prize from the Province of Antwerp, Belgium.
