Village Head Nayupe of Mang’omba village, Traditional Authority Kapeni, in Blantyre Rural, has become one of the many Malawians who have demonstrated that solar power is viable and can improve people’s lives.
Using solar energy, he has set up a number of businesses and his family has improved from the proceeds he is making.
Nayupe says as Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi power lines were very far from his area, which borders Thyolo District, he decided to use solar power.
He began in 2013 with a 15-watt solar panel and after realising it could charge more than ten mobile phones, he opened a barbershop.
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Nayupe added that in 2021 he realised the power from his 15-watt solar panel was becoming insufficient for both his house and the barbershop.
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His family refused to be among the Malawians experiencing energy poverty when there are alternatives to hydro power, which has not reached the majority.
“On a daily basis, I operate a barbershop, charge mobile phones and also run a video show. My life has improved with the money I save from these businesses.
“For example, I have managed to construct a house and bought three motorbikes and goats, which have now multiplied to 24,” the local leader says.
According to Nayupe, people should realise that solar power is beneficial, including for those in rural areas.
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“Using solar is profitable because we can use it for lighting the house, phone charging or watching television. There are no challenges since we rely on the sun,” he explains.
Nayupe upgraded his power from 15 to 200 watts and taught his wife Tisungane to shave customers in the barbershop, as he is sometimes occupied with other activities.
Tisungane believes women can do what men can do and she is happy to help her husband.
“I was trained by my husband on how to operate a shaving machine when he became too busy with other economic activities. I decided to learn and make use of the machines and I operate without any challenges,” she says.
Most Malawians experience energy poverty, meaning they lack access to sustainable and affordable modern energy services and products.
Malawi has a very low national electrification rate, estimated at 12.4 percent, the lowest in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region.
The electrification rates for rural and urban areas are estimated at 3.9 percent and 48.7 per cent, respectively.
The most commonly used energy sources in Malawi are hydroelectricity, fossil fuels and biomass.
Sustainable energy is derived from resources that can maintain current operations without jeopardising the energy needs or climate of future generations.
Executive Director of the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy, Herbert Mwalukomo, has commended the chief, calling his move a sign that it is possible for Malawians, regardless of their location, to invest in and adopt alternative energy sources, especially sustainable ones like solar.
Mwalukomo calls upon the government to promote the adoption of such energy sources by creating an enabling environment, for instance, ensuring that the private sector can make these products readily available to consumers.
He stresses that this would require the government to motivate the private sector through favourable taxation regimes.
He also acknowledges that there have been some efforts in the past to reduce import tax on certain products, but he urged the government to do more.
“The reason we don’t see them more on the market is because the market is still not as enabling as one would like.
“We are still calling upon the government to go the extra mile to ensure that whatever is required by the private sector to source these energy products and make them available to customers is done,” Mwalukomo says.
He adds that beyond that, the private sector itself must ensure they develop products tailored to different sectors of the economy and target groups with varying earning capacities.
Mwalukomo then appeals to regulatory institutions, such as the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority, to establish distribution channels for products, similar to what they have done with liquefied petroleum gas.
He further calls on the government to scale up such efforts by facilitating the establishment of distribution channels and motivating the private sector through an enabling tax regime for sustainable energy products, such as solar equipment and appliances.
“Financial institutions should also develop financing products that will ease access to alternative energy solutions tailored to people with different income levels.
“Alternative energy options are available and the adoption of such options is possible for all; it starts with a change of mindset,” Mwalukomo explains.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 7, which addresses affordable and clean energy, requires countries to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
And Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola insists that the government is striving to ensure that more people have access to electricity by making sustainable energy equipment affordable.
“With the help of other development partners like the World Bank, we are doing our best to connect more Malawians to electricity, apart from promoting other sources,” Matola says.
