OUR IMPACT

The Gambia is one of Africa’s poorest nations, ranking 175th out of 188 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index with a population of more than 1.8 million. The economy of The Gambia has stagnated for many years, which affected its development and made many youth to take the ‘backway’ to Europe.

GAM-Solar in close cooperation with its suppliers and financiers is a one-stop system supplier and installer standing for sustainable solar power and latest energy technologies. This includes innovative financing models to make the solar systems affordable and beneficial for the people of The Gambia and the region, while at the same time reducing fossil fuel imports and emissions causing climate change.   

Many homes in The Gambia, especially those in the Rural Areas lack access to electricity, clean and potable water to drink and used for their daily needs.

• To date approximately 350 village solar pumping stations installed by GAM-Solar are in full operation and provide clean potable water to more than 400,000 rural villagers. 

• GAM-Solar has implemented some 40 agricultural solar irrigation projects for development banks and foreign donor organizations. In 2013 a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture was implemented to provide 20 horticultural gardens with boreholes, fencing, reservoirs, piping, tanks and solar pumping systems.

• GAM-Solar provides customized system design and installation for power and water supplies to clinics, schools, community centers, offices, residences and agricultural purposes. Next to many private clients the company has delivered services to:

• EDF (EU)
• JICA and Japan Techno Consultants (Japanese Government)
• Canada Fund (Canadian Government)                                                                 
• National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC)
• Netherlands Embassy, Dakar
• Engineers Without Borders, USA
• UNICEF
• Action Aid, UK
• Future in our Hands, Sweden
• Sen De Gel, Turkey
• Africa Water Enterprises, UK
• org, USA
• Gamworks, Gambia Government
• DingDing Bantaba / Child Fund, USA
• MRC Holland Foundation, Netherlands
• SOS Children Village, Gambia
• UNDP / GEF-Unido
• Ministry of Water Resources, Environment
• Ministry of Health and National Aids Secretariat Village Solar water pumping System
• Ministry of Youth and Sports
• Ministry of Energy, 74-pole Solar Streetlight Project, Kotu
• Ministry of Agriculture GALDEP Horticultural Garden Project (total of 100 hectares, financed by IDB)

We will help bring Electricity, clean and potable water to all the parts of The Gambia, especially in the Rural areas. To help students who often are in the dark and cannot study with LED light bulbs and to help in reducing the usage of kerosene and improve health conditions. To also get access to modern products at low cost. These can all be afforded at a low cost.

What we understood and in most cases what happens is, electricity is inconsistent in many areas and the usage of kerosene is costly and can also cause health problems, so if light goes off at anytime, that’s the end of work for many people, thus stopping them from meeting their needs and getting satisfied with what they really want.

BUT

With solar powered electricity, households can get access to more productive hours to carry out their work and supplement their monthly income without much delay.

With the companies ‘on the ground’ expertise as social entrepreneurs since 1998 and its built technical capacity, GAM-Solar management senses a true responsibility to take the lead with an ambitious solar program with high quality, reliable products and systems through a new innovative financing model that gives responsibility to the beneficiaries to repay the investment in their solar community systems through affordable fees for water and electricity, whereby a reasonable return on investment can be guaranteed to investors though tapping of abundantly available and free solar energy.

GAM-Solar targeted Solar Projects achieving “Power to the People”

• Bundling of smaller to medium PV projects through initiating a Solar Trust Fund managed by Reliance Financial Services or any other suitable local bank that can channel foreign investment
• To initiate a low-cost affordable LED Light Program for rural villages in GAM-Solar’s Franchise concept
• Replace the existing ~4000 sodium street lights by LED armatures powered by centralized solar arrays
• Add solar arrays to the existing NAWEC borehole pumps to free up grid power during radiation hours
• Build solar parks to support the national grid (see feasibility study July 2016 for Farafenni and Basse)

Install grid-connected solar systems on schools, hospitals, clinics, offices, residences and institutions; excessive energy during weekends and holidays can be fed into the grid, thus creating income generation for the users and add to the capacity of the national grid.

To achieve all this investments are needed. Through GAM-Solar, supported by its overseas suppliers and in cooperation with the new Gambian Government, implementation of solar projects can be direct to the beneficiaries; we know the needs of so many communities and we install guaranteed sustainable solar systems that can work for many years to alleviate poverty and bring economic development.  Our Franchise concept can support an active network in the rural areas and create many jobs for the youth who we will train during the installation process. In our vision every community should have a franchise outlet that can install and sustain the solar systems in the community, including solar water pumping.

GAM-Solar Energy & Engineering Company Limited is hereby inviting investors and donors to join our efforts to further develop this wonderful peaceful country  with a new beginning of democracy, and as from the inauguration of the new President on January 19th, 2017, the truly ‘smiling coast of Africa’.