This Nigerian Businessman is Betting on Creating over a 1000 New Jobs for Solar Engineers in South Africa

• Nigerian businessman and CEO, WiSolar, Tonye Irims is spearheading a drive to create jobs for Solar engineers in South Africa
• A wide gap exists between individuals with theoretical knowledge and high skilled solar engineers
• Tonye Irims’s WiSolar is a clean alternative energy company providing business and residential prepaid solar electrification in South Africa
• South Africa’s joblessness rate according to Bloomberg stands at 20% for more than two decades

 

With a commendable knowledge of electrical engineering, all Donald needed was the right
environment to nurture his skills for employability. He had this unrelenting curiosity about
sustainable and eco-friendly power generation methods. But there was a knowledge gap between
theoretical electrical engineering and practical solar engineering that needed to be filled.

In 2019, Donald Nyathi joined Wisolar. Donald was put through practical hands-on training on
solar engineering and electrification. Two years later, he was fit to join the effective and active
service of the company.

“There is a learning opportunity every day at the company, opportunity to work with different
clients and leverage an environment where teamwork, personal and career growth are a priority.
I began active service in 2021 after joining in 2019 and working as a solar engineer at WiSolar
has been a fantastic experience.” Donald revealed.

South Africa is Africa’s most industralised economy. Yet, the rate of joblessness is over 20% for
about two decades, according to a Bloomberg report. The country and its well-meaning citizens
cannot fold their arms and do nothing over the projection that it is likely to reach 38.6% in 2026,
according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Would the narrative change if there were individuals with valuable and employable skill sets?
Yes!

For example, there’s need for highly skilled solar engineers with shared knowledge across the
industry. But, there exists a wide gap between theoretical and practical solar engineering.
Thus, as the youths unemployment rate continues to increase, Nigerian businessman and CEO of
WiSolar, Tonye Irims, is prepared to create over a 1000 new jobs for solar engineers in South
Africa.

“There are many more people like Donald that we are creating this opportunity for to address the
skills shortage in solar engineering in South Africa. Currently, we have about 40 trained
engineers with another 50 in reserve nationwide.

“We will be investing heavily in their training and development. In-house and on-site training,
solar training courses, sponsored solar conferences, and business-customer relationship
management skills are some of the opportunities made available to these engineers.” Mr Irims
said while speaking on the intention of the company.

Born in 1970, Irims studied Clean Power from the Imperial College London, and he is a
University of Port Harcourt alumnus.

WiSolar is a clean alternative energy company in business and residential prepaid solar
electrification based in South Africa with patent registration 2020/08052.

The company was founded to ensure every household enjoys unhindered access to electricity
while promoting sustainable living by eradicating pollution caused by power-generating methods
and helping users save about 70% on electricity bill every month.

Also, WiSolar has a pan-African vision. Currently, it is the largest residential solar electricity
company in South Africa with solar installers and channel partners in every province of South
Africa.

About 3000 customers in South Africa have approximately 9MW decentralized clean solar
electricity installed at their residential. And the company plans to deliver up to 80MW of solar
power across residential developments in South Africa over the next four years. Already, as at
January 2022, WiSolar began deployment of low-cost prepaid solar electricity for variable loads
to homes in South Africa.

Still, there is room for highly effective solar engineers that fit WiSolar’s ethos and are willing to
learn and grow.
The ultimate goal for SA engineers and South Africa…

“At WiSolar, highly trained solar engineers play critical roles in the kind of users’ experience we
create for our customer base in South Africa. To achieve our goals through them, we need to
provide them with employable skills that extend beyond our company.

“So, as you can see, we don’t just want them to be useful to WiSolar alone. If that’s the case, our
role in dealing with South Africa’s growing unemployment rate is defeated. We want to nurture
their skills and experiences such that when they choose to move on, they won’t return to being
redundant.

“Mind you, we are not only focused on male engineers in our hiring and training processes.
Gender inclusion is the foundation of this mission and anyone is pre-qualified as long as the
person’s interest and preferences match the available opportunity.” The founder explained.
As WiSolar aims to contribute to job creation in South Africa for solar engineers, especially
those with lowest employment prospects, this is projected to reduce unemployment rate and
promote economic growth.

Ultimately, creating new jobs will enhance a social environment free from depression, suicide,
crime, and alcohol abuses that prolong unemployment promotes.

Recently, Futurology listed WiSolar as one of the 15 Most Innovative Johannesburg Based
Renewable Energy Companies and Startups.