Evans Wadongo has spent 15 years wiring rural Kenya
By Our Reporter
In remote villages of western Kenya, when night falls there was once only darkness and kerosene‑lamp smoke. Thanks to the work of Evans Wadongo, a self-taught innovator and social entrepreneur, many rural homes now glow with a cleaner, safer, and very deliberate light.
Growing up with smoke and distance
Wadongo was born in Kakamega County, western Kenya, where neither his home nor his school had electricity. As a child, he walked more than 10 km daily to school, carrying schoolwork under kerosene lamps, whose smoke damaged his eyesight.
He later reflected:
“Many children drop out of school … I couldn’t compete effectively with other kids who had access to lighting.”
This frustration sowed the seed of change.
Inventing good light
At 19, while studying electronic and computer engineering at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Wadongo built his first solar lamp from recycled scrap metal and discarded solar panel fragments. He named it MwangaBora, Swahili for “good light.”
In his words:
“I decided to create a simple design … I wanted something that could be fabricated within minutes by somebody who doesn’t really have any technical knowledge.”
Rather than import parts, he focused on local materials: “the lamps are made from locally sourced scrap metal and fragments of solar panels … while a USB port can be built into the base … offering an easy way to charge phones and radios.”
Scaling through social enterprise
In 2006, Wadongo founded Sustainable Development For All (SDFA‑Kenya) under the banner “Use Solar, Save Lives.” Through SDFA, he trained youths to build the lamps, distributed them via women’s groups, and encouraged those groups to pool kerosene savings to start small enterprises.
He explained:
“The amount of money that every household uses to buy kerosene … if they can just save that money, they can be able to buy food.”
By 2015, more than 50,000 MwangaBora lamps were in circulation across Kenya.
Measuring impact beyond illumination
Wadongo frames the lamp not just as a tool, but as a lever for social change. Many families earning around US $2/day spend 30–40 percent of their income on kerosene; switching to solar frees up that money for entrepreneurship, education, or daily needs
Health is another major benefit. Kerosene lamps produce smoke that contributes to respiratory illness and eye damage, but the MwangaBora produces no emissions.
As Wadongo said:
“Our main component is to make sure that they use the lamps … as a tool to enable them to have a steady income.”
Building a renewable energy business
Wadongo co-founded GreenWize Energy, a for-profit clean-tech company focused on African-designed renewable energy solutions. GreenWize’s mission is “to create innovative African designed renewable energy products … that improve lives, reduce climate change, improve energy efficiency, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.”
He is also a partner at Wadson Ventures, an impact-investment firm supporting early-stage social enterprises.
Receiving recognition and awards
Wadongo’s work earned global recognition. He was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes in 2010. He has received awards from the Schwab Foundation, the Pan-Commonwealth Youth Award, and the Mikhail Gorbachev “Man Who Changed the World” award.
His lamp is in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Reflecting on ethical investment
Wadongo believes energy projects must scale ethically. He told the African Diaspora Network:
“If the cost of power is high … the only people who benefit … are the investors. … There must be a way … where we look at it in terms of ethical investment.”
Why he is a custodian of light
Evans Wadongo is more than an inventor. He is a custodian who protects and extends the gift of light, nurtures local capacity, and embeds social purpose in business. As he once said:
“Burning one litre of kerosene produces 2.6kg of CO₂ … with more than a billion people worldwide using it every day … you can imagine how much is emitted into the environment.”
In his hands, a simple lamp becomes a powerful instrument of change, illuminating homes and lives across Kenya.
