Lekela recently welcomed 200 members of the local community in Taiba N’Diaye, Senegal, to an inauguration ceremony for the newly built Mbayenne marketplace, which was carried out as part of Lekela’s community investment programme.

With the wind farm recently celebrating a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction, the day provided the opportunity for the project company to hand the newly built marketplace to the local Women’s Association. to the women of the community.

Attendees of the ceremony included the Deputy Mayor of Taiba, the Head if the Village Chiefs, the Local Women’s Association and wider community members, who gathered for speeches, pictures and the mounting of a plaque on the marketplace wall.

An extensive social investment programme in Taiba N’Diaye is already underway, which forms a key part of Lekela’s strategy to create long-term value for the communities it operates in with a focus on education, enterprise and environmental initiatives. The project will commit up to $20m towards creating sustainable livelihoods in the local community over the life of the wind farm.

The refurbishment of the marketplace is part of Lekela’s community investment programme and has a focus on promoting enterprise development and job creation. Previously, the women in Taiba traded their produce from the side of the road.

The refurbished marketplace will create a safe place to trade from and will also contribute to further job creation. The refurbishment of the marketplace will also boost the local region’s mango economy, which are frequently traded in Taiba N’Diaye.

Jennifer Boca, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance at Lekela said, “In all of our projects across Africa, we aim to make a meaningful impact across society and the environment through the projects we develop and operate. As a long-term operator, creating lasting value for the local community is a central commitment.

The new local marketplace will not only encourage enterprise development and job creation in the Taiba N’Diaye community but will also provide a safe place for the local women to trade.”