The headoffice of Yeelen Kura is located in Koutiala, in the region Sikasso. In the bigger villages in the region are energy stores, where, depending on the number of clients, one or more staff members are stationed. These employees are responsible for the installation, maintenance and, if necessary, reparation of the systems and accounting.

In 2008 FRES opened her first solar plant in Kimparana. This solar plant is the first solar plant in Mali and the biggest of West-Africa. In 2011, two more solar plants will be built for the replacement of diesel generators. We applied for a subsidy at the World Bank. We expect to sign the subsidy contract within a short time span and we started the construction mid 2011.

Fewer than 10% of the inhabitants of Mali have access to electricity and in rural areas the figure is even less than 1%. The predominantly farming population of Mali use batteries, candles and paraffin as a source of energy for light and car batteries to power radio and television. These are expensive and non-sustainable solutions that damage the environment and the health of the people.

The head office of Yeelen Kura is in the city of Koutiala in the Sikasso region, a cotton-growing area of Mali. Yeelen Kura has set up energy shops in the bigger villages in the region.

• Target

  Yeelen Kura wants to supply 10,000 clients with electricity in 2015. The growth of the number of clients will mostly be due to the minigrids. The minigrids are fed by diesel generators and solar plants. We have an investment program to replace the diesel generators by solar plants, with diesel as a back-up.

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• Facts & figures

  Year of foundation		2001
  Stakeholders		100% FRES
  Services		SHS & Minigrid
  Number of clients (1/1/2011)		2,766
  Number of sales points		14
  Number of people employed		40
  Capacity SHS		85 kWp
  Electricity production solar plant		91,000 kWh
  Electricity production diesel generators		656,356 kWh

• Management Yeelen Kura

  Djibril Séméga	General Director
  Rob Costermans	President
  Hans de Vries	Member