Creating livelihood opportunities for women in the cook stove and fuel value chain in Uganda

AEST

 

Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies (AEST) creates livelihood opportunities for women in the cook stove and fuel value chain in Uganda.

AEST’s founder, Betty Ikalany, took part in Social Entrepreneurship Forum’s SE Outreach Accelerator in 2015, at a time when Betty was thinking of giving up her business idea. She was getting frustrated as she didn’t have capital and things were not working out. She discussed this with her mentor during the Accelerator, Karin Ruiz, and when they looked into the reasons for her struggles, Betty realised her costs were too high as she was buying everything from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. When Betty returned following the Accelerator, she looked into her community in Soroti to see what was available locally. She managed to greatly reduce the costs of her production, which allowed her to focus on other things in her business.

Betty also came to the realisation that she didn’t have to carry the whole business by herself as she had her team. Betty asked her mentor to become a member of her Advisory Board, which has meant they are able to continue their communication.

AEST is now a profitable company with the surplus re-invested in further organisation development.

 

 

“The SE Outreach Accelerator was very beneficial to be as a participant and most importantly as a woman with no background in business administration. I gained a lot of knowledge and skills, which shaped me as a person and my business as well. It contributed to my winning the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award and other prestigious awards I have received to date” – Betty Ikalany, Founder, AEST

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