The Solar Market at Yakawlang

The Yakawlang Female Entrepreneurs Market in Bamyan province houses 35 women-owned businesses in a part of Afghanistan with no reliable electricity. In March 2024 an off-grid solar photovoltaic system was installed across the market, generating over 58,000 kWh a year and replacing the diesel and generator costs that had been eating the traders' margins — a saving of around $87,500 in electricity expenses. For women running businesses under a government that has closed most other doors to them, a market that stays open after dark and can run a freezer or a sewing machine is not a marginal improvement. The project is one of the few routes by which Afghan women still access independent income.