Lighting the Way
Fatoumata Diarrassouba Amoussou describes herself as an entrepreneur, and as a fervent advocate of youth socioeconomic empowerment.
She is an economist and a founder. An adviser and a strategist.
Just shy of 33 years old, Amoussou is also one of the Georgia State Alumni Association’s 40 Under 40. And though she left her native Côte d'Ivoire in 2012 — at least as a permanent resident — everywhere she goes, her vision settles back on West Africa.
In her late 20s, Amoussou was in New York, caring for a relative in hospice. In the quiet hours she found herself reading economic forecasts and U.N. reports. The International Energy Agency’s “Africa Energy Outlook” was troubling.
“Basically, one out of two people in Africa don’t have access to electricity,” she says. “As an economist, for me, that got my attention.”
She and a Liberian friend began talking and decided they could change that, at least in part. By 2020, they had set up Afrik’Energy Connect (AEC) to provide light, mobile charging and cooking energy, she says.
Amoussou travels the region, assessing who needs what and what they can afford. The energy is clean, and from renewable solar power.
Almost never can a family afford the equipment outright. A set of solar bulbs might cost $70, she says, so a family will make monthly payments — perhaps $5 a month. Just last month she began a non-governmental organization, Renewables for Energy Empowerment, to source funding for more of Africa on a larger scale.
“What I hope for my continent is to be developed,” Amoussou says. “But we cannot even talk about development if people don’t have light. How are they going to be educated? How are they going to do their daily activities?”
Abidjan, a southern port city and Côte d'Ivoire’s most populous, was Amoussou’s home for the first 20 years of her life. As cosmopolitan as the city may be, the Ivory Coast is a developing country, which sharpened her motivations and focused her perspectives.
“I was always thinking about ways to improve my community, even as a little girl,” she says.
Amoussou entered college knowing exactly what she wanted, and why. She wanted to discover the world, and to do that, she knew she’d need English.
The year she finished high school she enrolled at the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB). Students of the school, 30 miles east of Abidjan, hailed from 23 countries, from all corners of Africa, and from Asia and South America, too.
IUGB offered Amoussou a path to the rest of the world. Georgia State University has been counted among the school’s dozens of worldwide business and academic partners, bringing American contacts and experiences to Côte d’Ivoire.
Amoussou spent two years in Grand Bassam working on a Bachelor of Business Administration. A visiting professor from Georgia State, Sally Wallace, impressed Amoussou as knowledgeable and kind. She was someone to admire and someone whose advice to heed. At the time, Wallace was chair of the Economics Department at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.
Within a few years, Amoussou came to Atlanta to complete her bachelor’s degree and begin a master’s in economics.
She stayed busy in Atlanta, taking in the city while concentrating on her studies. She worked as a student aid, held a position at the Housing Authority of DeKalb County for her graduate research assistantship, and bulked up on training and experience.
“I was always thinking about ways to improve my community, even as a little girl.”
As graduation drew near, Amoussou considered moving on to doctoral studies, but the professional world won out. She worked first as a junior economist in Paris at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), then, through contacts at the OECD, she returned home to work as a government adviser in Cote d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Planning and Development.
With experience built from government work, the OECD and Afrik’Energy Connect have come invitations to share her knowledge. She speaks on panels. She offers her economic insight. She also offers a voice for the youth of Africa, for women, and for those trying to improve their lives and their countries.
“One thing I noticed in the U.S. is that entrepreneurs are empowered here. It’s not something that’s happening in Africa, especially among young entrepreneurs,” she says. “The majority of the population in Africa is less than 35 years old and young entrepreneurs in Africa are struggling even to finance their projects.”
The best and brightest sometimes wind up leaving because they can’t get funding or training in their home countries. Amoussou wants that to change.
“I have had people from my circle tell me, ‘You can do this and you can do that and make much more money,’” Amoussou says. “But I tell them, for me, it’s a purpose. I just want to make my community a better place. This is how I’ve always been.”
Images courtesy of Fatoumata Diarrassouba Amoussou
