{"id":32139,"date":"2025-10-24T09:41:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=32139"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:22:39","slug":"rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A programme to bring electricity to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, has achieved a number of successes recently &#8211; most recently on the Island of Idjwi.<\/p>\n<p>Over forty miles long Idjwi is the tenth largest lake-island in the world. A few members of the 330,000 population had rudimentary electricity in the 1940&#8217;s &#8211; most have never had it. This 270kWp solar project alone brings domestic AC electricity to 5% of the island&#8217;s residents, for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Importantly, the General Hospital in Dikungu now benefits from a twenty-four hour power supply. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32171\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174-750x422.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_02_24_06.Still048_305076174-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dr Pengelu says that, before the arrival of this installation, night nurses were forced to care for patients by torchlight, or by using the light from their mobile phones &#8211; with many patients too frightened to spend the night in the hospital in complete darkness. But with the arrival of overnight lighting on the wards, patients no longer fear to stay &#8211; even when there is no overnight nurse.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_05_02_08.Still020_305076171.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32170\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_05_02_08.Still020_305076171.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1020\" height=\"574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_05_02_08.Still020_305076171.jpg 1020w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_05_02_08.Still020_305076171-750x422.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_05_02_08.Still020_305076171-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Apodina says that for ordinary residents, this installation brings power to their home, and street lighting in a number of location means that shops and stalls can remain open after dark &#8211; allowing people to go shopping. They can now see friends, socialise, and work late into the night.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166-750x422.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Wembonyama-4-nov-or.00_04_29_45.Still026_305076166-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Facilitated by <a href=\"https:\/\/anser.gouv.cd\" target=\"_blank\">ANSER DRC<\/a> &#8211; a government funded body whose aim is to provide electricity to all rural areas by 2050 &#8211; these significant installations were carried out by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goshop.cd\" target=\"_blank\">GoShop Energy<\/a>, who have considerable expertise in building electricity infrastructure.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32151\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1129\" height=\"847\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742.jpg 1129w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742-750x563.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Bunyakiri-6_305053742-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1129px) 100vw, 1129px\" \/><\/div><\/a> 2,500 households on the island now enjoy the availability of electricity having been connected to four mini-grids.<\/p>\n<p>Solar energy is harvested from 664 solar panels &#8211; offering almost 300kWp &#8211; by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/solar-charge-controllers\/smartsolar-mppt-ve.can\" target=\"_blank\">SmartSolar<\/a> MPPT solar charge controllers. The energy is stored in BYD lithium batteries with a capacity of 525kWh. Seven Fronius Eco 27 solar inverters provide daytime AC power; with surplus energy being directed to storage.<\/p>\n<p>Stored AC power is controlled by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/inverters-chargers\/quattro\" target=\"_blank\">Quattro<\/a> inverter\/chargers. The Quattro devices also provide AC power from battery storage &#8211; ensuring 24 hour electricity provision.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32158\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1184\" height=\"888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750.jpg 1184w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750-750x563.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IPEL-12_305053750-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1184px) 100vw, 1184px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/communication-centres\/cerbo-gx\" target=\"_blank\">Cerbo GX<\/a> communication centre device harmonises all installed equipment and make live and historic data available locally on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/display-and-panels\/gx-touch-50\" target=\"_blank\">GX Touch<\/a> screen, and provides remote engineering access via Victron&#8217;s free-to-use internet based platform Victron Remote Management &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/panel-systems-remote-monitoring\/vrm\" target=\"_blank\">VRM<\/a>.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1295_305074892.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32167\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1295_305074892.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1295_305074892.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1295_305074892-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1295_305074892-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, 1000 homes in Wembonyama, in the Sankuru province, have also been connected to a minigrid.<\/p>\n<p>The installation includes some street lighting in what is planned to be a future tourist city. Prior to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goshop.cd\" target=\"_blank\">GoShop Energy<\/a>&#8216;s installations, this region had never known electricity and the lack of electrical infrastructure had hampered the areas socio-economic development, severely limiting opportunities for residents.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32156\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1032\" height=\"581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748.jpg 1032w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748-750x422.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/ISTM-2_305053748-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1032px) 100vw, 1032px\" \/><\/div><\/a> Some households were unaware how to use electricity, with the result that their access to modern devices and services were almost non-existent.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1305_305074891.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32166\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1305_305074891.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1305_305074891.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1305_305074891-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/IDJWI_1305_305074891-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>ANSER instructed GoShop Energy to build four solar photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 270 kWp, and the project was completed last year. The work provided 900 single-phase connections to homes, together with another 100 three-phase connections. Residents are able to purchase energy using a smart meter payment system.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32155\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1032\" height=\"774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg 1032w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747-750x563.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1032px) 100vw, 1032px\" \/><\/div><\/a> These installations also improve the well-being of Wembonyama\u2019s residents, who now feel able to fulfil their goals.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><div class=\"full-size-image container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32165\" src=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1256\" height=\"837\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888.jpg 1256w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/Agemira_kavumuDSC_3645_305074888-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1256px) 100vw, 1256px\" \/><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Everybody wins with this boost to the local economy having provided the means to allow commercial development. This is a significant development for an area with the ambition to become a tourist hub and the initiative is set to transform the lives of the community now that they are provided with a clean and reliable energy.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at the difference these installations are making to the lives of local people:<\/p>\n\n<!-- iframe plugin v.6.0 wordpress.org\/plugins\/iframe\/ -->\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" 0=\"src=&quot;&lt;iframe\" width=\"100%\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ndkHoftBjpA?si=gC2qEO81nFKp0Otr\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" 1=\"allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&quot;\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\"><\/iframe>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A programme to bring electricity to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, has achieved a number of successes recently &#8211; most recently on the Island of Idjwi. Over forty miles long Idjwi is the tenth largest lake-island in the world. A few members of the 330,000 population had rudimentary electricity in the 1940&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[318,197,316,205,317],"class_list":["post-32139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-users-stories","tag-development","tag-pay-as-you-go","tag-remote-power","tag-remote-village","tag-village-empowerment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A programme to bring electricity to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, has achieved a number of successes recently &#8211; most recently on the Island of Idjwi. Over forty miles long Idjwi is the tenth largest lake-island in the world. A few members of the 330,000 population had rudimentary electricity in the 1940&#8217;s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Victron Energy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VictronEnergy.BV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"774\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"justin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Victron_Energy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Victron_Energy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"justin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"justin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad9b873a3dd66b91438394aecb8767bd\"},\"headline\":\"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":641,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"development\",\"pay-as-you-go\",\"remote power\",\"remote village\",\"village empowerment\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Users stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg\",\"width\":1032,\"height\":774},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/24\\\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Victron Energy\",\"description\":\"Blue power\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Victron Energy\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/victron-energy-logo_125887203.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/victron-energy-logo_125887203.png\",\"width\":404,\"height\":125,\"caption\":\"Victron Energy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/VictronEnergy.BV\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Victron_Energy\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/victron-energy\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/VictronEnergyBV\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ad9b873a3dd66b91438394aecb8767bd\",\"name\":\"justin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"justin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.victronenergy.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/justin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy","og_description":"A programme to bring electricity to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, has achieved a number of successes recently &#8211; most recently on the Island of Idjwi. Over forty miles long Idjwi is the tenth largest lake-island in the world. A few members of the 330,000 population had rudimentary electricity in the 1940&#8217;s [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/","og_site_name":"Victron Energy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VictronEnergy.BV","article_published_time":"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1032,"height":774,"url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"justin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Victron_Energy","twitter_site":"@Victron_Energy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"justin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/"},"author":{"name":"justin","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad9b873a3dd66b91438394aecb8767bd"},"headline":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa","datePublished":"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/"},"wordCount":641,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg","keywords":["development","pay-as-you-go","remote power","remote village","village empowerment"],"articleSection":["Users stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/","name":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa - Victron Energy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-24T07:41:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-05T15:22:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/GE_Idjwi_Ngula-17_305053747.jpg","width":1032,"height":774},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/rural-electrification-allows-personal-enterprise-in-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/","name":"Victron Energy","description":"Blue power","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Victron Energy","url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/02\/victron-energy-logo_125887203.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/02\/victron-energy-logo_125887203.png","width":404,"height":125,"caption":"Victron Energy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VictronEnergy.BV","https:\/\/x.com\/Victron_Energy","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/victron-energy\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/VictronEnergyBV"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ad9b873a3dd66b91438394aecb8767bd","name":"justin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"justin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/author\/justin\/"}]}},"popularity_stats":{"1_day_stats":1,"7_day_stats":7,"30_day_stats":30,"all_time_stats":1259},"author_name":"justin","title_plain_text":"Rural electrification allows personal enterprise in Africa","excerpt_plain_text":"A programme to bring electricity to communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, has achieved a number of successes recently \u2013 most recently on the Island of Idjwi. Over forty miles long Idjwi is the tenth largest lake-island in the world. A few members of the 330,000 population had rudimentary electricity in the 1940\u2019s [\u2026]","subtitle":"Electricity arrives in parts of DRC for the first time ","related_posts":[{"id":33633,"slug":"mobile-workshop-untethers-saddle-maker","title":"Mobile workshop untethers saddle maker","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/22\/mobile-workshop-untethers-saddle-maker\/","excerpt":"In spite of starting at 4:30 am every day, renowned saddle maker Cary Schwarz has, until now, found it hard to take a break. Order books are full for a couple of years ahead and the work just keeps coming. He and his wife live in the mountains in Salmon, Idaho, U.S., and for years&hellip;","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-15-at-16.57.03_327976806-150x150.png","author_name":"justin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/author\/justin\/","author_avatar":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=24","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=48","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=96"},"categories":[{"name":"Users stories","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/category\/users-stories\/"}],"date":"2026-07-22T08:48:19+02:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T06:48:19+00:00"},{"id":33591,"slug":"chicken-farmer-in-turkey-gets-goose-bumps","title":"Chicken farmer in Turkey gets Goose bumps","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/13\/chicken-farmer-in-turkey-gets-goose-bumps\/","excerpt":"After years of disappointment a chicken farmer in Turkey is thrilled with the remodelling of his solar power system. What began as a small chicken rearing operation 55 years ago in Arnavutk\u00f6y, T\u00fcrkiye has grown into a large farm business housing 110,000 chickens and 100,000 chicks at any one time. It also produces around 3,200&hellip;","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-13-at-12.12.53_327782222-150x150.jpeg","author_name":"justin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/author\/justin\/","author_avatar":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=24","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=48","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=96"},"categories":[{"name":"Users stories","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/category\/users-stories\/"}],"date":"2026-07-13T15:58:17+02:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T13:58:17+00:00"},{"id":33532,"slug":"narrow-boaters-upgrade-to-lithium","title":"Narrow boaters upgrade to lithium","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/26\/narrow-boaters-upgrade-to-lithium\/","excerpt":"After eight years living aboard their narrow boat Welsh Wizard, Dave and Paula Hill reflect on their experience of off-grid power - Lead acid, and Lithium - as they slowly explore Britain's 4000km of inland waterways. Dave says: As a retired mechanic and former garage owner, I've spent most of my working life being sceptical&hellip;","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/06\/1000133462_326250758-150x150.jpg","author_name":"justin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/author\/justin\/","author_avatar":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=24","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=48","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc1aee15dc88b16fe8302452197d07d203697be68b3ea32d831473d70ae3026b?s=96&d=mm&r=g&s=96"},"categories":[{"name":"Users stories","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/category\/users-stories\/"}],"date":"2026-06-26T13:27:39+02:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T11:27:39+00:00"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32139"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32174,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32139\/revisions\/32174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}