“Contributing to mitigating climate change” is the great challenge that Aziza Sidi Bouna, a 32-year-old Mauritanian renewable energy engineer, has set for herself. To achieve this, she has developed an innovative solution: producing biogas from animal, plant, and domestic waste. She is a pioneer in her field and is determined to revolutionize this sector in Mauritania. In 2019, she launched SBGAZ, a start-up specialized in valorizing agricultural and livestock by-products.
Regularly, she roams the markets of Nouakchott, the capital, in search of this precious raw material. “Until today, cow dung, excrement from certain ruminants like camels, were undervalued in my country. I wanted to change that,” explains this dynamic entrepreneur. “You can find the raw material everywhere: on the farm, in the village, at the slaughterhouse, and of course, at home. It is an almost inexhaustible source,” she adds. In fact, in Mauritania, livestock production is one of the pillars of the national economy. It represents more than 15% of GDP, which is thousands of tons of animal waste per year. It is more than enough to produce huge quantities of biogas.
A Source of Clean Energy
Once collected, livestock manure is placed in a biodigester, a natural solution for recycling organic waste, which allows for the production of a combustible gas, biogas, and also a highly effective fertilizer, digestate. “Production lasts between 15 and 45 days, depending on the season,” explains Aziza Sidi Bouna.
“Our biogas has the advantage of being carbon neutral. We don’t use any fossil energy to extract the gas. It’s called methanization, and it’s 100% carbon natural.”
Aziza Sidi Bouna, Founder and CEO of SB-GAZ
“We started designing several biodigester prototypes in 2019,” she continues. “The resulting biogas is a clean energy that can be produced cheaply. It’s much less expensive than propane gas traditionally used for cooking.” And to demonstrate this, the engineer highlights an irrefutable argument: with one kilogram of cow dung, according to her, one can produce gas for one to two hours of gentle cooking.
But that’s not all. Aziza Sidi Bouna’s biodigesters also transform organic waste and excrement into biological fertilizer, which is excellent for increasing agricultural yields. And she affirms, “Out of 100 kilograms of organic waste digested by the machine, we recover 10 kilograms of manure that is as good as or even more effective than chemical fertilizer.”
It Runs in the Family
Aziza Sidi Bouna is not alone in her ambitious project. Her right-hand man and the technical director of SBGAZ is none other than her father, Ahmed Sidi Bouna. As a rural economics engineer, he is particularly proud of his daughter, whom he has always supported, especially in a country where women are often confined to domestic work. Together, they aim to popularize biodigesters throughout society. Thanks to funding from the International Committee of the Red Cross, they have installed several biodigesters in the Mbera refugee camp, providing relief for families in their daily struggles. In Bassikounou, in the southeast of the country, SBGAZ’s first industrial biodigester is up and running, and “almost daily, more than 200 households come to fill their biogas bottles,” says Aziza. “With a USD150,000 grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), I hope to achieve my dream of providing a clean and accessible source of energy to all Mauritanian and Sahelian households in the future,” she adds.
An Alternative to Fossil Fuels
This dream is within reach and, if realized, would have a tangible impact. In fact, the widespread use of biodigesters in Mauritanian households would reduce dependence on fossil fuels such as oil or coal, which are imported mainly from abroad. This would also reduce the emissions of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. “With my project, I want to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the future of our children and our planet. This is the challenge of our century, and it is my responsibility as an entrepreneur,” says Aziza.
Protecting the environment by producing green energy is thus Aziza Sidi Bouna’s promise, and she hopes to create hundreds of new jobs through the development of this new sector. The young woman already employs five workers aged 28 to 45, including two women, “and many more in the future,” she says confidently. Aziza believes in the future, not just for herself but for all her country’s youth. She wants her journey to serve as an example for all the young people in Mauritania and beyond. “I want to change the mindset of the youth here, in the Sahel, and even in Africa. We, young people, have the power to make a difference,” concludes Aziza Sidi Bouna.
source/content: undp.org (headline edited)
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Photo: UNDP WACA
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MAURITANIA
