MAEVA: When Electricity and Entrepreneurship Transform the Lives of Rural Women in Côte d’Ivoire

In Côte d’Ivoire, Fondem, with the support of the Fondation Nexans, implements programs to foster the economic empowerment of women and girls. Thanks to the Marahoué Economic Empowerment and Agricultural Valorization project (MAEVA), gender inequalities are being reduced.

Energy, equality, and development: a triple challenge in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire has set a clear target: to achieve universal access to electricity by 2035. This ambition faces two key challenges:

• An increasing energy demand driven by the country’s demographic growth.
• The need to support rural populations so that access to electricity truly contributes to human development.

It is within this context that the MAEVA project – Marahoué Economic Empowerment and Agricultural Valorization was born, led by the Fondation Énergies pour le Monde (Fondem), in partnership with CIED (Côte d’Ivoire Entreprises Développement), and with the financial support of the Fondation Nexans.

Why the MAEVA roject is crucial for gender equality

The Marahoué region, in central-western Côte d’Ivoire, is a fertile agricultural area but faces poverty and a lack of infrastructure. Here, women play a major role in food production and processing, yet they remain limited in their access to training, financing, and technical professions.

The MAEVA project had a clear objective: to reinforce the economic autonomy of rural women by training them, structuring their initiatives, and enhancing their role in the local economy.

How was the MAEVA project implemented?

From 2024 to 2025, MAEVA supported three categories of beneficiaries across 19 localities in the Marahoué region:

In total, more than 43 training sessions were conducted: cooperative management, entrepreneurship, marketing, hygiene best practices, as well as technical workshops and professional internships.

👉 Discover the testimonies of several women electricians from the program.

The tangible results of the project

Despite logistical and financial challenges, MAEVA has produced visible and lasting impacts:

• Women’s groups that are now formalized and better organized.
• Local women entrepreneurs who are more skilled and independent.
• The creation of a women-led electrical company, already securing its first contracts in the region.

Beyond the numbers, MAEVA has changed how these young women are perceived—now recognized as full-fledged economic actors.

MAEVA: a model for the future

This project shows that investing in women’s training in rural areas is investing in the future. By becoming entrepreneurs, technicians, or cooperative leaders, these women are already inspiring future generations.

By supporting MAEVA, the Fondation Nexans confirms its commitment to using access to electricity as a lever for gender equality and sustainable development.

👉 In Côte d’Ivoire, the MAEVA project proves that empowering rural women means building a stronger, fairer, and more resilient economy.