Norah Magero

Norah Magero is a Kenyan Mechanical Engineer and a Renewable Energy Expert with experience in the design and management of off-grid renewable energy technologies. She is passionate about energy access in Africa with a keen focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Economic Development. She has spent the past 10 years innovating decentralized solutions for use in rural communities and promoting gender inclusion and equality within the space. In 2016, Norah co-founded the Cool Green Campaign, an initiative to promote sustainability in Kenyan High Schools through clean energy adoption. She led the construction of one of the first Solar PV systems to be installed in a Kenyan High School, at Starehe Girls School and Center. The Cool Green Campaign also provided STEM mentorship for the high school students and sparked her passion to educate more Kenyan students and communities on renewable energy technologies. Norah is the Co-founder and CEO of Drop Access, a social enterprise that develops and provides practical and affordable energy solutions for rural, remote, off-grid and low-income communities in Kenya. Drop Access Organization, the non-profit entity, promotes productive use of energy, PUE, by providing access to financed solar water pumping for rural farmers. It also promotes the adoption of clean cooking through the sale and distribution of clean cookstoves to underserved communities, targeting women and youth. Drop Access Limited, the commercial entity, provides Vaccibox, a portable solar powered healthcare refrigerator that has been innovated and is manufactured in Kenya. Today, VacciBox is serving over 100 rural communities in Kenya, bridging the cold chain gaps affordably and sustainably for human and animal health institutions. Nurses and veterinary personnel can easily mount the fridge on a motorbike, bicycle or boat, to store and transport heat-sensitive medical items like vaccines to any hard-to-reach community. VacciBox is IoT-integrated. It has a real-time data monitoring and reporting capability for temperature, location, battery voltage, inventory management and door status. The IoT allows healthcare managers and institution owners to track and manage inventory, reducing loss and saving them money. To date, VacciBox has stored and issued close to one million vaccines and drugs in Kenya under Norah’s leadership. Drop Access is scaling operations into Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Cote d’Ivoire. Norah is a 2024 TED Fellow and IFCs She Wins Africa . She is an alumna of the Young African Leaders Initiative, YALI, the Microgrid Academy by RES4Africa Foundation, the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR), Future Females Business School by UK-Kenya Tech Hub, Techwomen and Acumen. She holds several awards and recognitions: Women in Energy, Philanthropy Award 2017, Social Impact Award and Energy Champion of the year Award 2020 by the World Energy Day-Kenya, the Microgrid Academy Award 2020 by the Res4Africa Foundation, Innovation Award 2021 by Africa Queen of Energy, Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award 2023 DIAR Awards, Engineering Innovation Award 2023 by the Institute of Engineers Kenya. This year, Norah has been selected as one of the Top 40 Under 40 women in Kenya, an initiative run by Business Daily Africa. Norah is the first Kenyan and the second woman globally to win the Africa Prize by the Royal Academy of Engineers, UK. Her work has been featured in numerous local and international publications such as The Guardian, BBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, Euro News, FOCUS, Ingenia UK. She was also featured in the UK Tube Map, among other leading global engineers, during UK’s National Engineering Day 2023. Norah sits in the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET), which reports to the UN Secretary General as well as the international board for RES4Africa Foundation. She was named Top 40 Under 40 Women Awardee in 2024 by Business Daily Africa. Norah’s work has been publicly commended by the former President of Kenya, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, and the USAID Administrator, Samantha Powers, for her effort to bring energy access in rural communities in Kenya.