Louise Williamson Is Saving Lives, Time, and Trees in Africa

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South African changemaker, Louise Williamson, is working directly with underprivileged communities that still depend on polluting fuels for cooking by providing sustainable, clean cooking solutions that transform lives, save precious time, and protect our environment.

South Africa (18 August 2025) – There are people who demand change and those who push boundaries to make it happen – Louise Williamson is the latter. Although she describes herself as an environmentalist committed to the green revolution, Louise could also be described as an innovator, social entrepreneur, and community development specialist with 25 years of experience in the renewable and sustainable energy markets.

Having recognised the grave concern of billions of people worldwide who still rely on cooking with wood, charcoal, or kerosene and suffer as a result of the air pollution, Louise is actively rewriting this narrative through green solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The South African inventor is addressing this silent killer and environmental issue directly by developing African-made, field-tested clean cooking solutions that save lives, time, and trees.

Currently, she serves as Africa Projects and Implementation Manager for Ener-G-Africa (EGA), a multi-faceted company tackling the challenges of climate change through research, development and the manufacturing of clean energy products that enrich lives across the African continent.

While she focuses largely on project development, research, development and implementation, a significant component of Louise’s work is in community and stakeholder engagement – something very close to her heart.

In rural Ghana, she often cooks alongside local women to introduce improved stove technologies, an experience she finds both meaningful and humbling.

“But above all, the most important part is taking the time to listen,” she says.

“Women face similar challenges regardless of geography or context,” she explains.

“At the end of the day, people are people. It’s a privilege to collaborate with women in the community, to truly understand their needs, and to co-create sustainable solutions. Too often, environmental initiatives introduce technologies without adequate research to ensure they’re appropriate for the local context.”
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Louise believes in identifying the right stove for the right situation, taking the time to ask the right questions and listen carefully to effectively support communities, while reducing emissions.

“The impact is immediate when they start using an improved cookstove,” she says.

“It takes half the time or less to collect firewood and to cook, which frees women up to do other things, as well as improving their health. In fact, providing cleaner cooking equipment contributes to six Sustainable Development Goals: access to affordable and clean energy, gender equality, mitigating climate change, responsible consumption and production, sustainable communities and life on land. It’s very satisfying work.”

Beyond her clean cooking solutions, Louise has been recognised by various organisations for her work. In July 2022, she was named a finalist in the prestigious Santam Woman of the Future Awards in the social entrepreneur category. In 2016, she received both the Global Cleantech Innovation Social Impact Award and the GIBS Festival of Ideas Social Impact Award for the invention of the Mashesha stove. In the following year, she was awarded the African Entrepreneurship Award in Morocco.

She has also represented South Africa in the Women in Clean Cooking programme, joining a cohort of 59 inspiring women changemakers from Asia, Haiti and Africa.

For Lousie, a life dedicated to positively impacting the planet and its communities is one well lived.

“I am deeply passionate about empowering individuals to lead sustainable, fulfilling lives, a philosophy that permeates my personal and professional endeavours,” she says.