This week, we’re joined by Sunil Lalvani, the founder of Project Maji which seeks to bring sustainable access to safe water across rural sub-Saharan Africa through solar-powered water kiosks.
Sunil shares his experience on starting & operating a social enterprise in the region and the overall impact having safe drinking water has on the youth and their quality of life.
Eradicating water poverty in Africa became Sunil Lalvani’s life’s calling after a ride on Ghana’s dirt roads brought him to witness a shocking, but all too common, scene.
At the time, Sunil had been leading his family’s consumer electronics business for 20 years, traveling frequently in sub-Saharan Africa. While journeying between cities, his driver suddenly stopped the SUV to avoid a group of children collecting water from a dirty puddle in the middle of the road.
“I really felt a responsibility to do something,” Sunil explains, “I felt that, given my business background, there was something I could do to help them.”
And so Sunil founded Project Maji (Swahili for water), initially as part of the corporate social responsibility efforts of his family’s business.
