For Raowia Lamhar, time is money and she really does not like to waste it. At just 27 years old, this young lady from Morocco has already personally revolutionised energy usage in rural areas. A real favourite at the COP 22 in 2016, she left a deep impression with her idea for a natural refrigerator for rural areas requiring no electricity: Fresh’it. Ingenious! The idea came about when Raowia, accompanied by her ENACTUS partners, visited some of the most remote rural regions of Morocco to identify the difficulties the inhabitants of these villages endure on a daily basis and to put forward tailored future-proof solutions.

During these field trips, Raowia discovered that many households were not connected to the electricity network. In 45°C heat, a lack of refrigeration meant food was regularly spoiled, and the risk of toxic and infectious disease increased. Added to that, the average loss constituted 20% of their monthly income. Things were no easier in areas with electricity because some families were forced to rent a space in the refrigerator of a community member. Others had their own appliance but seldom used it because of the hefty electricity bill. That is when Raowia decided to set up Fresh’it, a natural refrigerator, inspired by techniques used in the Sahara, made from clay and sand. With this ecological refrigerator, her GO Energyless Solutions startup, set up in 2016, achieved phenomenal success, equipping over 100,000 rural and urban households on a national and international level.