We were thrilled to have Gibson Tawago, a trailblazer for a sustainable business idea that is much needed for our world, visit us in the Twin Cities from Tanzania in August of 2024. He is the founder and CEO of WAGA, which provides a clean and affordable energy solution to low-income rural communities in Tanzania. Gibson met with both Community Power and our partner organization, Cooperative Energy Futures as part of a fellowship. Community Power matched the spirit of his work with decentralized renewable energy solutions while CEF's commitment to sustainability and affordability at the same time also provided a good match for the fellowship. For the previous few months, he was participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship, to study about Leadership in Business at the University of Nevada in Reno. Gibson did not initially go to business school. But he came up with his idea organically of repurposing recycled laptop batteries into portable power packs equipped with solar panels first. Then he wanted to acquire advanced skills and knowledge in sustainable energy solutions, socially responsible entrepreneurship, financial management, and innovative business strategies.

(Gibson standing at the Cooperative Energy Futures community solar array in downtown Minneapolis

Click image above to watch a video of Gibson being interviewed at the site)

The story started around 2010 when mobile phones started to become more commonplace in sub-Saharan Africa. In the following few years, I-Phones that were much more user friendly for texting and internet replaced flip phones providing a connection with the world. The issue at that time was that charging the phones was a challenge. In numerous places in Tanzania, there is no electric grid infrastructure that we take for granted in almost all corners of the US. Gibson got his start when he used to bike for 32 miles to deliver multiple phones to a charging station that would charge 50 phones at the same time. The people had to limit the usage of their phones and often had to turn them off when not in use to conserve battery.  From this experience, Gibson was determined to develop a solution. He eventually started WAGA in 2022 that provides people in Tanzania access to solar power to both charge mobile phones more frequently as well as for indoor light during nighttime, which helps school children study for example without having to rely upon Kerosene lamps like before.. The product WAGA sells is a solar panel (as in just one solar panel, rather the multipanel solar arrays you’d more commonly see in the US) installed on a roof while the battery pack and the lights are inside a home.

And now we get to the most interesting part of all- the battery packs which are needed to store the solar power. The ingenious solution is that they are made from old, repurposed laptop battery cells. Laptops that are older models are a bit thicker than the thin newer models of today and have larger batteries that include 6 cells. If one of those 6 cells in the larger laptop battery goes down, the whole battery is not useful for the laptop even if 5 of the 6 cells are good. And sometimes the circuit which protects the cells has an issue meaning that all of the individual cells are still good when the laptop is taken to a repair shop. So rather than letting these usable battery cells go to waste, a team with WAGA has a use for them and tests each battery cell before placing them in the housing for their battery packs. This is a win-win solution that not only solves the E-Waste issue, but it makes it so that battery packs are affordable and accessible. Note that the batteries in the thinner laptop models are not feasible for this project because they are more expensive and would not be affordable for their customer base.

WAGA petitions repair computer shops to donate their batteries by offering them a small amount of money (about $1 per battery) as an incentive and to be taken seriously. The company also does community engagement in Universities where their environmental clubs collect them.    

Gibson is also interested in developing Community Solar arrays as a way to supply the energy to pump water out of the ground to grow avocados, strawberries and other crops. A next step would be solar ovens for cooking. But Gibson stated that the ones which are effective are not affordable for most people and would need to be subsidized.

Despite only starting in 2022, WAGA is expanding to more countries and is about to ship their first battery pack to the Congo. The new and promising company also does outreach programs in order to grow and for people to understand how it could meet their needs. WAGA also establishes partnerships with local government and community orgs like farmers communities. They also train local technicians to troubleshoot any issues with their products so that the company would not have to send someone there which would be unaffordable. Another part of making it affordable is training local technicians and installers.

For these purposes, Gibson will actively mentor young entrepreneurs, advocates for clean energy solutions, and supports digital literacy programs in his community. 

Thank you, Gibson, for sharing your truly inspiring journey, enriching insights, experiences, passion and expertise with us and for your dedication to making a positive impact in the world!