To mobilise the women to lead the demand for increased access to clean energy products, RUWES created the ‘Gender Social Enterprise Model’, which aims to make access to energy easier and more cost effective for the rural woman, and change the attitude of rural dwellers to embrace new forms of safe energy. This is done through lowering market entry barriers in the clean energy sphere by working directly with manufacturers and distributors of clean energy products, financial institutions and government ministries, departments and agencies to ensure reliable, practical and affordable clean energy products are readily available to the rural poor. The intention of this is to mobilise the women to lead the demand for increased access to clean energy products by using these rural women to market the clean energy products.

RUWES works by identifying female-based Business membership organisations (BMOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Faith Based Organizations (FBOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs), and other related organisations [with a largely female based membership] whose activities dwell around the rural women/dwellers.

RUWES provide these organisations with access to clean cooking alternatives such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stoves, improved clean cookstoves, solar lighting accessories and small Household Stand-alone solar solutions. These goods are given to the organisations collateral free, at a single digit interest rate, on a two-year repayment period to enable resale to rural dwellers on a flexible and long-term basis.

The female-based organisations act as market leaders and are expected to recruit more women [from rural areas] who will also benefit from the RUWES initiative, either by forming their own organisations and becoming retailers of clean energy products, or by undergoing training on assembly and maintenance of the clean energy products.

Looking into the future, RUWES is aiming at manufacturing clean energy technologies locally for cooking, heating and lighting solutions.