“After 6pm prayers, everyone stayed at home — there was nothing to do,” said Kantcho, a 35-year-old farmer. Locally generated power is far cheaper than connecting remote villages to a central grid — and helps to wean Togo off energy imported from Ghana and Nigeria, which provide half of its electricity needs. Half of Togo’s population lives on less than US$1.90 per day, the threshold of extreme poverty, the World Bank has said. The kit is enough to power lights, a radio and a small TV for several hours a day. “It operates a bit like microcredit,” Bboxx marketing director for Togo Alexandre Kouigan said.

Source: Taipei Times February 26, 2020 15:56 UTC