Meet the Team – Our Trainee Carmella

When an engineering student with a strong passion for electrical engineering gets the opportunity to step outside her comfort zone and discover the solar industry abroad, it takes her to new horizons: Carmella, a student of Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy at the renowned Burkina Institute of Technology (BIT) in Burkina Faso, is currently completing a three-month internship at EWIA Ghana. She already has plans for what comes next.

Carmella comes from Koudougou, the capital of the Centre-Ouest region and Boulkiemdé Province, with a population of around 150,000, located 75 km west of the capital Ouagadougou.

Electricity has always been her passion

After completing her secondary school certificate (BEPC), she attended the Lycée Professionnel National Maurice Yaméogo (Maurice Yaméogo was the first president of Upper Volta, today's Burkina Faso, from 1960 to 1966) for four years, where she obtained a professionally qualifying Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. She is currently pursuing her three-year Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy at BIT, which she will complete in 2026. Her path to the Burkina Institute of Technology (BIT) was a natural choice, as the university combines two of her greatest interests: electrical engineering and the English language (Burkina Faso is a French-speaking country). Every day, she travels around 10 kilometres by motorcycle from her home in Koudougou to attend classes. Her older brother also completed the same degree programme at BIT and successfully graduated last year (more about our connection with BIT, which has already brought us trainees such as Ahmed, here).

Best of Both Worlds

At BIT, Carmella has already acquired a solid foundation in the sizing of photovoltaic systems, including the technical and economic design of solar systems. For her internship, however, she was looking for an opportunity to combine practical fieldwork with project work in the office, rather than having to choose between the two. Her supervisor at BIT helped her with the search and encouraged her to apply to EWIA Ghana.

Her stay in Ghana is a special milestone for Carmella and her second international experience: Previously, she completed a one-and-a-half-month internship at Africa DIGI Biotech in Lomé, Togo, where she mainly worked on practical electrical installations.

The journey to Ghana took around two days, but Carmella quickly settled in. She particularly enjoys the new surroundings, where the sun is somewhat less intense than in Burkina Faso, and she has already had the opportunity to visit the beach for the first time in her life. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country, and both in Ghana and previously in Togo, whose capital Lomé is located directly on the coast, the sea was an attraction for her.

At EWIA Ghana, in addition to the company's size and professional organisation, she particularly appreciates working as part of a team. The combination of practical assignments and technical office work in the field of solar energy for residential buildings as well as commercial and industrial facilities is bringing her closer to her professional goal. For Carmella, learning from one another is the key focus. She enjoys working with people who bring different experiences and knowledge, allowing her to learn from them and further develop her own skills.

Her own company is the goal

Her very focused path so far has a logical continuation: After graduating, Carmella wants to found her own company as an entrepreneur, supporting customers holistically, from financing and system sizing and planning through to the implementation of energy projects.

She is using her three months at EWIA Ghana intensively to gain valuable practical knowledge for this goal. The entire EWIA team is delighted with her commitment and warmly welcomes her into the company family!