Brazil
Health
A digital platform makes donating surplus medicines to vulnerable populations in Brazil easier
Providing sustainable energy to rural communities in Congo
- Completed project
The project developed by the NGO Pot@maï aims to improve access to essential services in rural areas without electricity along the Congo River basin. Using a solution combining a submerged tidal turbine and photovoltaic panels, the initiative powers a hub providing essential services such as access to drinking water, device charging, processing and storage of agricultural and fishery products, craft and IT equipment, as well as vocational training, particularly for women and young people. In this context, the FID is supporting the development of the study design, carried out in partnership with Eval-Lab, to document the social impacts and implementation costs of this project.
Project ported by:
Context
Access to electricity remains a key issue in sub-Saharan Africa, with only 50% of the population having access to an energy supply in 2022, compared with over 90% in all other regions of the world since 2015 (International Energy Agency, 2022). Of the 760 million people worldwide without electricity, 79% live in sub-Saharan Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the overall percentage is 50.6%, but this figure masks huge disparities between urban (67.5%) and rural (12.4%) areas (World Bank, 2022).
Decentralized solutions, identified as the most affordable, could electrify more than half of the unserved population whilst generating local jobs, modernizing essential services and sustainably improving the well-being of communities (International Energy Agency, 2022). Electrification also helps improve general health, children's education and women's employment, while reducing social inequalities (Dinkelman 2011, Barron, Khandker et al. 2014).
In this context, Pot@Maï has been developing Essential Services Units (ESUs) powered by a tidal turbine since 2021. With support from the FID, the project is experimenting gradually, starting with an initial pilot site on Mbamou Island, followed by new units at other locations. The challenge is to offer a solution tailored to local conditions, capable of meeting several basic needs whilst remaining sustainable in the long term.
Innovation
The Pot@maï project is based on a technological solution developed by L'Aquaphile, that combines a submerged water turbine and an above-water maintenance system. This solution powers an Essential Services Unit, co-designed with women from neighboring villages to meet their priority needs: access to drinking water, refrigeration and food processing, lighting, telecommunications and handicraft development.
The project aims to improve food security and energy self-sufficiency in remote villages, while promoting skills transfer to local communities, most of which are made up of women.
Through the partnership with Eval-Lab, the project’s social impact and implementation costs will be documented. FID will finance this joint mission to evaluate the results produced by existing Essential Services Units, as well as those currently under construction, and other pre-selected sites. The study will assess the impact of the “Essential Services Unit + New and Renewable Energy” solution on the living conditions of local communities.
Results and lessons learned
The project confirmed the significant potential of Essential Services Units as an integrated response to the needs of isolated rural communities. On Mbamou Island, the analysis helped Pot@Maï to better understand its potential impacts, its theory of change and a clarification of the mechanisms linking the services provided to the expected outcomes. The project also helped to establish an initial monitoring and evaluation framework, with updated indicators on water production, distribution and consumption.
Building on these lessons, Pot@Maï has begun to develop operational, financial and technical monitoring tools that are now in use or being rolled out across the various sites. A field survey conducted in five villages provided a better understanding of the barriers to household adoption of the service. One of the key lessons is that sustainable social impact depends not only on technical innovation, but also on operational organisation, user ownership and the ability to regularly document results. These findings provide a solid foundation for broader funding from the FFEM.
Projects
Projects funded by FID
