How Habiba Ali is Using Solar to Uplift Women in Northern Nigeria, Gaining Global Recognition from Ashden

In a world racing against the climate clock, stories of hope often emerge from the most overlooked corners.

One of such stories belongs to a Nigerian entrepreneur from Kaduna State, Habiba Ali, whose work is not only lighting homes but changing lives especially for women in Northern Nigeria..

And this month, her mission received international recognition at the prestigious Ashden Awards in London.

Standing on the stage of the Royal Geographical Society, with African and global leaders in the audience, Habiba shared the personal story that led her to found Sosai Renewable Energies, a clean energy enterprise now transforming rural communities across Nigeria.

“Growing up, my mom owned a roadside restaurant where we cooked on open fires by the light of kerosene lanterns. And then in my adulthood that for every two hours you spent in such a situation, you had smoked an equivalent of a pack of cigarettes.

And this truly scared me because it came with attendant health problems. Just before this revelation, about three years before I lost my sister Rokia to breathing problems”.

That painful revelation sparked what would become a life-changing journey not just for her and thousands of women like her across the region. She started small, distributing solar lanterns to households that had no access to electricity. But her dream was bigger, it was to end energy poverty and give women the power literally and economically to take charge of their futures.

Through Sosai Renewable Energies, Habiba began building Climate Smart Villages powered by solar mini-grids. These systems now provide clean electricity to health centres, tailoring shops, bakeries, schools, and even cold storage businesses.

Crucially, women are at the centre of it all not just as beneficiaries, but as entrepreneurs and decision-makers.

At the 2025 Ashden Awards, Sosai won the “Breaking Barriers Award, which celebrates organisations creating real opportunities for marginalised groups. In Habiba’s case, that means women in some of Nigeria’s poorest and most remote communities places often forgotten in energy policy discussions.

Take Karimi, a widow from one of Sosai’s solar-powered villages. With a solar refrigerator provided through the initiative, Karimi now sells chilled drinks and preserves food for local farmers. Her business supports not only her five children, but also the two children of her late husband’s second wife.

Habiba informed in her speech that they want to help many women like Karimi “We do not want to help only one Karimi, we want to help hundreds of Karimi”.

So far, Sosai has reached over 2.5 million people, and there’s a pipeline of 78 more communities waiting to receive the same support. But Habiba is clear that the journey is far from over.

Ashden, a UK-based climate charity, has been recognising and supporting innovative climate solutions for 25 years. Its annual awards celebrate projects that cut emissions while also improving lives.

Past winners have gone on to secure investment, influence policy, and scale their impact globally. This year, alongside Sosai, BURN Manufacturing from Kenya and SELCO from India were also honoured.

The CEO of Ashden, Dr. Ashok Sinha commended their work saying, “In a world often clouded by fear and frustration, these inspiring organisations offer bold, practical visions that can unite people across political and cultural divides”.

The 2025 awards, sponsored by organisations including LinkedIn, BloombergNEF, The Linbury Trust, Impax Asset Management and NextEnergy Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation and The Mark Leonard Trust.

The award also highlighted other UK-based projects focused on sustainable buildings and community energy.

For Habiba, this international spotlight is more than just an honour, it’s a platform to scale impact and attract investment into communities that need it most.

“Northern Nigeria should not remain in energy poverty”. The energy transition often feels distant in rural Africa, where power cuts are routine and kerosene lamps still light up the night. But Sosai is changing that reality, one village, one woman.