For Eunice Adewale, clean energy is not an abstract climate concept or a distant policy goal. It is deeply personal. As the Founder and CEO of Smokeless Briqs Energy Solutions, a Nigerian clean energy startup, Eunice is building practical, affordable solutions that sit at the intersection of health, gender equity, and environmental protection. Through eco-friendly smokeless briquettes and innovative stove technologies, her work is helping households cook safely, breathe cleaner air, and access basic electricity in communities that have long been left behind.
Across Nigeria, millions of families still rely on firewood and charcoal for daily cooking. The consequences are severe: toxic indoor air pollution, widespread deforestation, and a heavy burden placed on women and children who spend hours sourcing fuel and cooking in smoke-filled spaces. For Eunice, this challenge matters deeply because she has seen its effects up close. Energy poverty, she explains, is not just about fuel. It is about health, safety, lost opportunities, and dignity.
The defining moment that pushed her into this work came after the loss of her father. In the aftermath, her mother returned to cooking with firewood in a poorly ventilated home, exposing herself daily to harmful smoke. Watching her health and quality of life decline was a painful awakening. Eunice realized that her family’s experience reflected the reality of millions of households across Nigeria. In that moment, she understood that affordable clean energy could be a powerful lever for change, capable of improving health outcomes, protecting the environment, and strengthening household economies at the same time.
Through Smokeless Briqs Energy Solutions, Eunice has translated this conviction into tangible impact. The company has provided clean cooking energy to over 25,000 users across 43 rural communities, reducing fuel consumption by up to 60 percent and cutting smoke emissions by as much as 90 percent. Beyond cooking, Smokeless Briqs’ thermoelectric generator–powered stoves have enabled 5,000 households to generate small amounts of electricity for lighting and mobile phone charging, a critical lifeline for off-grid families. The enterprise has also created direct jobs and trained women artisans, building women-led distribution networks that strengthen local economies and expand access simultaneously.
Despite this progress, Eunice often encounters the misconception that clean energy solutions are too expensive or impractical for rural communities. Her experience tells a different story. When products are locally produced, thoughtfully designed, and distributed through trusted community networks, clean energy can be both affordable and scalable. The key, she emphasizes, is context-driven innovation rather than one-size-fits-all technology.
One of the hardest challenges on her journey has been balancing affordability with sustainability. Producing high-quality, eco-friendly briquettes and stoves while keeping prices within reach for low-income households required constant iteration. Eunice navigated this tension by listening closely to users, forming local partnerships, and experimenting with innovative financing and distribution models. Persistence and community engagement became as important as technical design.
On days when progress feels slow, Eunice draws strength from the people her work touches. Seeing women breathe easier, children study under electric light, and households save money on fuel reminds her why the work matters. Looking ahead three to five years, she envisions millions of households using clean energy, rural women thriving as energy entrepreneurs, and Nigeria emerging as a hub for scalable, sustainable energy solutions across Africa.
At the heart of Eunice’s philosophy is a lesson she believes more people need to understand about impact: technology alone does not solve problems. True change comes from listening, understanding context, and designing solutions with communities rather than for them. Her thinking has been shaped by social entrepreneurs and climate innovators who prove that profit and purpose can coexist. Success, for her, is measured not just in revenue, but in healthier families, empowered women, cleaner communities, and reduced carbon emissions.
For those hoping to create change in the clean energy space, Eunice’s advice is clear and grounded. Start by understanding real needs. Build with communities from the beginning. And collaborate relentlessly, because no single actor can scale impact alone. NGOs, governments, local artisans, investors, and technologists all play critical roles in building sustainable ecosystems.
If given a minute with policymakers or investors, Eunice would ask for policies and funding that prioritize clean energy access for rural and underserved communities. What excites her most about the future is the possibility of clean energy becoming ubiquitous and affordable, transforming health outcomes, education, and climate resilience across the continent.
Much of Eunice’s journey happens far from the spotlight. It is defined by trial and error, late nights in labs and rural communities, setbacks, and hard-won breakthroughs. She stays grounded by staying close to the people she serves, celebrating small wins, and reconnecting daily impact with purpose. If her work is remembered in one sentence, she hopes it will be this: Smokeless Briqs helped catalyze cleaner energy, healthier homes, and empowered communities across Nigeria and Africa.
This article is part of a special spotlight series produced through a partnership between Savvy Fellowship and Opportunity Desk, showcasing the Top 12 finalists of the Opportunity Desk Impact Challenge (ODIC) 2025 and amplifying community-driven solutions making measurable impact across Africa.