Gaspar Makale

Who was Gaspar Makale?

Gaspar Makale was one of the pioneers of solar electrification in East Africa. During the 1990s he was the Chief Solar Technician at the KARADEA Solar Training Facility in Karagwe district, Kagera region in Northern Tanzania, situated between Lake Victoria and Rwanda.

KSTF, the first dedicated training centre for solar energy technology in East Africa, was founded by Oswald Kasazi in 1993. During the following decade KSTF gave regular three-week long training courses which were attended by people from all over East Africa as well as from further afield. The courses were held in partnership with Alternative Energy Africa, run by Mark Hankins and Daniel Kithokoi, who were based in Nairobi, Kenya. Gaspar Makale managed the practical sessions as well as arranging for the field-trips during which course participants installed solar electric domestic systems in the Karagwe district.

KSTF also ran a solar apprentice scheme for which Gaspar Makale was responsible. He was also involved in other solar training courses in Tanzania, such as the one held at Wasso Hospital, Maasailand, Tanzania. Course participants, many of whom later went on to set up solar businesses and work in the growing East African solar industry, got their first hands-on experience of installing solar electric systems under Gaspar Makale's experienced and expert guidance. He installed an Ampair Hawk 100 wind turbine at KSTF for charging batteries, the first wind turbine installed in that part of Tanzania. He also ran his own solar business.