MIGA’s support for the 158.8-megawatt Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye wind farm will provide 450,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year to 2 million people and help avoid over 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Equally important, the environmental and social performance commitments of the project include empowering women in local communities.
Working with over 35 local women’s associations, the project sponsor, Lekela Power, is helping to improve the lives of thousands of women through various initiatives: two new marketplaces in the Taiba N’diaye Commune are already up and running, and future projects include improvements to a local cereal mill and development of a women's literacy center that will run on solar power. As the brainchild of representatives of local women’s associations, the marketplaces offer over 100 new vending spaces and serve two villages in the area.
The 158.8-megawatt Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye wind farm will provide 450,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year to 2 million people and help avoid over 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
The project works with over 35 local women’s associations in the Taiba N’Diaye commune.
A marketplace during construction
A woman in the Taiba N’Diaye Commune sells her fresh produce at a new marketplace provided by the Lekela project.
The Lekela project is helping to empower women in Taiba N’Diaye, Senegal. (From left to right) Mme. Wade, Mme. Ndiaye, and Mme. Mame Seye Gueye are proud to sell their vegetables at the market stalls.
(From left to right) Mme. Khady Ndiaye and Mme. Seye Gueye are two vegetable sellers at Mbayenne Market, one of the marketplaces supported by the project.
Local produce sold at the market includes items such as: legumes, root vegetables, tomatoes, garlic and onions. Here, Mme. Maty Mbaye waits for a client while she cuts green onions.
The women have said the marketplace provides a new sanctuary.
Mme. Astou Gueye sells product at her stall with two clients.
Earlier, women in the community were struggling to earn a living because a portion of their fresh inventories would spoil in dusty and exposed environments. However, the new marketplaces now provide a safe, sheltered space, combining economic and well-being benefits for both vendors and customers. Businesswomen have celebrated being able to enjoy a clean, shaded environment where they can conduct business and that allows them to interact and collaborate with their peers.