Somalilandsun: Growth, Enterprise, Employment, and Livelihoods (GEEL) project ‘is a USAID funded program which promotes inclusive economic growth throughout Somalia and Somaliland
Through GEEL, USAID accelerates Somaliland’s growing integration into the global economy through a combination of initiatives that improve the country’s competitiveness; spur new investments; and increase market linkages and business partnerships.
In Somaliland Geel is currently undertaking a project geared towards availing the country access to sustainable renewable energy source.
In this aspect a local concern Golis Energy is supporting the project that is availing citizen’s sufficient solar power for household and commercial use.
With the ultimate aim of reducing reliance on imports, and increase jobs in regions recovering from years of conflict and recurrent natural disasters, the energy project is helping dig water sources and establishing solar tapping plants for conversion into electricity.
The Geel fronted energy project has employed a novel strategy in which locals are not only beneficiaries but contributors as well.
With the USAID chipping 30% of the overall project cost beneficiaries contribute the bulk of 50% while Golis Energy avails the remaining 20%.
According to USAID the choice of solar oriented power is due to its ease of availability, cheap installation and non-regular maintenance as opposed to reliance on machine generated electricity which is costly to consumers and expensive to install and maintain.
“We are very grateful to both USAID funded Geel project and Golis Energy for availing us cheap and sufficient electricity that is accrued from the sun formerly an unused commodity” says beneficiary Abdi Asad
Golis Energy is a local company that supplies solar power equipment to the entire country.
Since its entry of Golis energy into the market a couple of years back the Somaliland has seen a tremendous increase in the number of households, companies, public and private institutions as well as international and local organizations switching from machine generated electricity to solar powered one.
Of most import is the numbers of these concerns from the rural area hitherto in darkness that now are fully electrified by access to unlimited solar powered energy.
