Solar clothes, the idea of an Ethiopian student
(Ecofin agency) - Faced with the challenge of access to electricity, Derese Tucha, student and Ethiopian inventor, offers clothing and accessories with integrated solar technology allowing to recharge devices.
The fashion industry has integrated sustainable solutions for a few years in order to meet the needs of consumers more and more concerned with respect for the environment.If the concept of solar accessories is already experienced in the West, it is still little known to Africans.
In Ethiopia, Derese Tucha, a young student, embarked on the manufacture of fashion accessories equipped with solar technologies.Hats, clothes, bags, all its creations aim to facilitate the daily lives of populations, electronic devices having become essential.
"What pushed me to create these products was the lack of access to electricity, specifically in rural areas," he said.
In the megalopolises of sub -Saharan Africa, electricity cuts are frequent.Access to an electrical source is rare in rural areas.In Ethiopia, half of the population (56 million inhabitants) does not easily access it.The country has started operations on the Nile dam in order to achieve its objectives to generalize the electric coverage by 2025.
Many foreign designers, like Mae Yokoyama and his solar panel necklaces, Tommy Hilfiger and his collection of sunscreen jackets, or Pauline Van Dongen and her sewing collection, have been offering this guy for over a decadeaccessories.If the Tucha Derese products are still manually manufactured, the young designer is the first to offer this style in Ethiopia, even in Africa.
Although solar fashion is a practically non -existent market on the continent, it could help meet electricity challenges.Derese Tucha thus promotes an avant-garde fashion that could cause a sensation, especially since it will solve one of the biggest problems on the continent.
Aïsha Moyouzame
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