There is no shortage of information about clean energy on today’s global information superhighway. As one of the most powerful forces for environmental conservation and combating climate change, the clean energy revolution is in full swing. According to emergentdigital.com, for the first time, more renewable energy sources were installed globally in 2016 than those extracting fossil fuels from the Earth.

In honor of the Environmental Month celebrations, which are surrounded by more debates about sustainability and eco-friendly solutions which not only make life easier, especially in countries still under development like Mozambique, but also preserve and protect the environment contributing to the fight against climate change, we present you the Girafa Solar project.

The Girafa Solar, or Solar Giraffe in English, is a Solar Powered community station where the residents gather to listen to music and information and debate the issues of the district and the country while charging their cell phones using sustainable sources of energy.

Promoted by the Carlos Morgado Foundation in partnership with the Nykani Mavoko Association, the Irish Embassy in Mozambique financed the project and has the support of Logos Indústrias, in the solar technology sector, Vodacom, in the mobile technology sector and Mozambique Women for Energy (MWE), in the part of community engagement.

After several months of interruption due to the problematic year caused by the pandemic, Girafa Solar was finally installed in Mangunze, Gaza province, in December 2020. It was received with delight and excitement by the residents of the locality district of Chongoene. Speaking moments after the inauguration, the District Administrator, Carlos Buchili, said:

“It is a project that will have a huge impact, considering that in this town in Mangunze, we do not have energy from the national grid, and one of the alternatives that the Government uses is solar panels. This project brings clean, renewable energy, and now our population can charge phones, listen to the radio, and it is a space for the social exchange of ideas”.

The project’s promoter, the Carlos Morgado Foundation, represented by Ruben Morgado, revealed that this is an initiative that had been developed for a long time and that it was only possible with funding from the Irish Embassy, ​​represented at the ceremony by Ambassador Nuala O ‘Brien, worth 400 000 meticais.

Ruben Morgado stated that at Girafa Solar, only cell phones should be charged and appealed to the population of Mangunze to maintain and preserve the equipment. The people of Mangunze, the primary beneficiary of the Girafa Solar project, were quite satisfied with the initiative and thanked the funders and the priest of the local church, who has done a lot for developing that community.

The Girafa Solar is one of the many sustainable projects in the renewable energies industry being installed in Mozambique; these not only bring hope to solving the electricity crisis faced by many families in the country, especially in the rural areas but also shine light into promoting actions that help fight climate change and minimize the consumption of the few remaining natural resources the Earth still has.