What ever happened to: Margreth - Still dreams of opening her own solar shop!

Last year we introduced you to a young solar entrepreneur Margreth Msumi (29) from Morogoro, Tanzania who set up her own solar PV installation business following the completion of an OYE training course.

We recently caught up with this innovative young woman to see how she is getting on in life, with her solar enterprise and also if she has managed to achieve her dream of opening her own shop.

We were pleased to discover that Margreth is doing really well! She is currently working as a retailer for SunKing, a solar company that is based in Morogoro (central Tanzania). During the dry season she succeeds in selling up to 20 solar products a day - which is an amazing achievement. During the others seasons she manages to sell 5 up to 10 solar products.

Margareth actually buys her solar products in bulk from SunKing and then travels to the nearby villages on foot or catches the local minibus where she sells the products either door-to-door or sometimes in a market. Also, when she visits the villages she endeavours to buys crops in bulk which she transports back to town to sell and generate additional income.

Since we last spoke to Margreth she has made the decision to move from her village to her local town to be closer to her work place but also so that her 5 year old daughter can access a good school. However, she still loves the village she grew up in and hopes with the profit she has made from her enterprises to buy a 24 acre plot of land where she can build a house and set up a small farm.

In addition, Margareth has taken up a leadership position in a Group Saving and Loan Association (YSLA). She, in collaboration with other members of the organisation run a poultry enterprise and they have managed to establish a bank account for their new venture.

Margareth is very happy and proud of how far she has reached with her businesses. We were delighted to learn that she has also found happiness in her personal life too and has recently got married. For the future she hopes of being able to take her daughter to the best possible school and to further improve her family’s quality of life and living conditions. In terms of her business, she still holds her dreams of setting up a solar shop close to her heart so that customers could come to her instead of the hassle of having to travel long distances. We are convinced that this driven young woman will be running her own shop in the not so distant future!

About OYE

SNV implements the OYE project in Rwanda, Tanzania and Mozambique with the aim of improving the livelihoods of 27,050 rural, out-of- school young people. This is achieved through skills training in a way that fuels their own aspirations as well as the needs of local agriculture, renewable energy and water & sanitation businesses. At least 37% of those involved in the OYE programme are young women.

To learn more about SNV’s OYE programme please visit our project page.