Where the Solar Energy Becomes a Strategy

Traore A. Tidiane is the visionary behind 2T Solar Innovations, a company that harnesses Burkina Faso’s abundant solar energy to address the country’s chronic electricity shortages. In rural areas, health centres run on generators, markets close at dusk, and students study by candlelight. For Tidiane, whose name defines the enterprise, these challenges were not setbacks—they were opportunities to innovate and serve his community.

He connected with AJAN through its youth formation programme at L’Association les Bénévoles de l’Espérance (ABE) in Ouagadougou, participating in workshops on “entrepreneurship as vocation.” Although trained in electrical engineering at the technical university, Tidiane had struggled to find opportunities in an industry dominated by large foreign contractors. Recognizing his technical skills and commitment to community engagement, AJAN’s programme coordinator invited him to develop a business concept under the network’s incubation support.

2T Solar Innovations was officially registered. Its initial focus was the installation and maintenance of solar lighting systems for households, small businesses, and community institutions in peri-urban and rural communities surrounding Ouagadougou. AJAN provided seed capital and offered intensive business mentorship. Critically, the network also helped 2T navigate the complex administrative landscape of business registration in Burkina Faso, a barrier that defeats many young entrepreneurs before their establishment.

What makes 2T Solar Innovations a true Ignatian enterprise is its embedded social mission. A tiered pricing structure means that community institutions like family-scale receive installations at affordable rates, while commercial clients like agro-food processors pay full market price, cross-funding the social work.

He just began operation, and 2T Solar Innovations had completed several installations, created direct jobs, two of them for young men trained as installation technicians, and was generating sufficient revenue to fund its own expansion. Tidiane is targeting three rural districts, households where education is most at risk from the absence of evening lighting, and religious establishments. This establishment taps into the ecological mandate of AJAN, as it exemplifies the care for our common home in providing stable electricity.