Solar electrification by the concession approach in rural Limpopo ...

AcknowledgementsWe acknowledge the advice and many discussions held with the DME and the NER in the course ofthis research.In the forefront, recognition must be given of the work of Yaw Afrane-Okese for the immensepreparatory work and fieldwork he accomplished until August 2003. He was initially helped byCecile Thom (who initiated the project) and Njeri Wamukonya in preparing a very detailedprogramme and research design that steered the research over the years.Our special thanks must be extended to Solarvision and their staff who devoted much of their time toanswering our questions and keeping us informed of the Company’s development. They providedinvaluable assistance in locating a large sample of their customers and assisting us with the initialvisits in 2002 and return visits made in 2004.We also thank the Outlet staff for their help.Our special thanks go to the team of interviewers who had to work exceptionally hard, to thecommunity leaders who gave us much of their time and to all the households who so generouslyprovided the answers to a large number of questions.We must extend our thanks to the research team, especially to Nthabiseng Mohlakoana and JocelynMuller who prepared and assisted in not only the long field trips but assisted in the training ofinterviewers and the data capture. Margaret Matinga assisted in the initial stages of compiling thereport.Our thanks go to all members of the research team that was led by Gisela Prasad and Bill Cowan.Gisela Prasad deserves particular mention for providing detailed comments for the improvement ofthe draft report. Hazel Ranninger did much to provide the template and valuable guidance on whichthis report is based.The research would not have been possible without initial funding from the Shell Foundation andour gratitude goes to the Foundation for its initial support.Last but perhaps most of all thanks must go to the local leadership and households in Limpopoprovince who make this type of research possible by willingly receiving the research teams andsubmitting to exhaustive interviews. We hope that our endeavours will contribute to the delivery ofbetter services that more effectively meet their needs.Maxwell Mapako was responsible for the data analysis and writing of this report.x