RENAFF Sénégal

Senegal

More than a network: building skills, confidence and opportunities

Across Senegal, women help install, maintain and improve the refrigeration and air-conditioning systems on which everyday life depends. They work on domestic refrigerators, commercial equipment, cold rooms, building air conditioning and vehicle air-conditioning systems. Some are students or teachers; others are technicians, consultants or business owners.

The Réseau National des Femmes Frigoristes du Sénégal—RENAFF Sénégal—brings many of these women together.

President Sokhna Fall Diawara’s career spans industrial, commercial and domestic refrigeration, as well as vehicle air conditioning. An entrepreneur, trainer and consultant, she brings practical experience to the network’s work.

That experience is shared across the community. Ndeye Sanou Loum, a refrigeration and air-conditioning teacher and RENAFF’s communications lead, describes how training organised with GIZ and the Ministry of the Environment strengthened her technical and environmental knowledge.

For her, the network has also brought greater confidence, opportunities to exchange experiences and connections with other women working in refrigeration.

Established on 22 June 2018, RENAFF provides a space where women working or studying in refrigeration and air conditioning can exchange experiences, share technical knowledge and support one another’s professional development. Today, it has 223 members across nine of Senegal’s 14 regions.

Its membership reflects the breadth of the sector. The network connects women at different stages of their careers, from students beginning technical training to experienced technicians, teachers and entrepreneurs. Their qualifications range from vocational certificates to higher technical and university qualifications.

This diversity is one of the network’s strengths. A student beginning her training can meet women who have already established their careers. More experienced members can pass on their knowledge, encourage newcomers and make the routes into the profession more visible.

Creating a community in a predominately male profession

Women remain a small minority in Senegal’s refrigeration and air-conditioning sector. According to the latest estimate supplied by RENAFF, they represent around 5% of the country’s refrigeration technicians.

The numerical imbalance is only part of the challenge. Women choosing this profession can encounter the persistent belief that technical trades are reserved for men. Some struggle to have their abilities taken seriously by employers or customers. Others find it difficult to obtain practical experience, suitable employment, essential equipment or finance to establish their own businesses.

Family and social expectations can also influence a young woman’s decision to pursue technical training. They may affect a qualified woman’s ability to sustain her professional career.

RENAFF offers a collective response to these barriers. It creates a space where members can share information and opportunities, discover new technologies and learn from one another. The network also helps make women technicians’ skills more visible to employers, customers, institutions and the wider public.

For its president, Sokhna Fall Diawara, this mission draws on personal experience. After studying physics and chemistry at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, she obtained a higher technician diploma in refrigeration and air conditioning in 2000. She went on to build a career encompassing industrial, commercial and domestic refrigeration, as well as vehicle air conditioning. She became an entrepreneur, trainer and consultant, pursuing her ambitions within a predominately male profession.

Her career provides a powerful example, but RENAFF’s story extends beyond any one individual. It is the story of a growing community of women with different qualifications, experiences and ambitions, united by their commitment to their profession.

Ndeye Sanou Loum, a teacher specialising in refrigeration and air conditioning and RENAFF’s communications lead, describes the importance of the network in her own development. Through training organised with GIZ and the Ministry of the Environment, she has strengthened her technical and environmental knowledge. RENAFF has also helped her gain confidence, share experiences and meet inspiring women refrigeration professionals. For her, the network supports professional and personal development while helping women’s contributions gain recognition within the sector.

Turning training into practical skills

Developing technical skills is central to RENAFF’s activities. In February 2023, 21 members participated in training through the GIZ-supported ROCA project, in cooperation with Senegal’s Agence Nationale de la Maison de l’Outil. The programme covered energy efficiency, natural refrigerants and entrepreneurship.

This combination of technical and business skills is essential. Technical knowledge helps meet Senegal’s growing cooling needs while reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of equipment. Entrepreneurial skills help women turn their expertise into employment, independent work and sustainable businesses.

RENAFF members have also participated in vehicle air-conditioning training, activities marking World Ozone Day and programmes supported by Senegal’s National Ozone Unit. Regular exchanges within the network allow learning to continue well beyond formal training sessions.

At its General Assembly in December 2023, RENAFF presented a particularly tangible example of its members’ abilities: a team had designed and built a self-contained air conditioner using R290 refrigerant.

The project combined practical learning with an educational purpose. The technicians installed the air conditioner in a transparent Plexiglas enclosure, making its components and operation visible. The equipment serves as a demonstration resource for learners, technicians and the public.

Using R290, a flammable refrigerant with a low climate impact, gave participants practical experience of the safety measures required during equipment design, charging and operation. They took part in every stage of construction: fabricating the metal support, shaping and assembling copper pipework, electrical installation, assembly, testing and painting.

The experience strengthened their technical skills, their ability to work with R290 and their capacity to build a complete refrigeration system together. Photographs show the finished equipment and the principal stages of its construction.

Within RENAFF, training is also something members contribute to. They are encouraged to share what they learn, put their knowledge into practice and help other women develop their skills.

Putting skills at the service of the community

One of RENAFF’s recent activities illustrates this approach. To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March 2026, members offered the public free vehicle air-conditioning services, including fault diagnosis, maintenance, refrigerant charging and recovery.

The activity took place at a reference centre established by the Environment Directorate through its National Ozone Office. The centre provides refrigeration technicians in Senegal with a place for meetings, training, technical information and practical activities, together with access to appropriate servicing equipment.

The day served two purposes. Technicians contributed their skills to the community, while members less familiar with vehicle air conditioning gained practical experience alongside more experienced colleagues.

RENAFF identifies vehicle air conditioning as an area of refrigeration in which women have particularly limited practical involvement. Working together gave participants opportunities to build their confidence and knowledge through hands-on sessions supported by explanations from experienced members.

Sixteen women participated, and around 15 vehicles were repaired. The press was invited, and the activity received coverage across the national press.

The day brought together public service, technical learning, environmental responsibility and recognition of women’s abilities.

“During the day on 8 March, I chose to celebrate women’s rights through action and practical skills, by working on vehicle air conditioning—a field still too often considered reserved for men. This experience allowed me to demonstrate that technical ability has no gender and to convey a strong message: women can, women know how, women dare.”

Zahrata Sokhna
General Treasurer, RENAFF

RENAFF also marked International Women’s Day on 8 March 2025 through an energy-efficiency awareness activity involving badiénou gokh: women who support, guide and advise other women within their neighbourhoods.

Members shared practical advice and leaflets about the use and maintenance of refrigerators and air conditioners, helping households reduce electricity consumption and extend the life of their equipment. Through their close relationships with local families, these community contacts can pass the advice on more widely.

Recognising the importance of refrigeration

RENAFF’s advocacy extends beyond equality between women and men. The network also seeks greater recognition of refrigeration and air conditioning as essential contributors to Senegal’s economic and social development.

Refrigeration protects food after harvesting and helps preserve fish and other produce throughout the supply chain. It supports healthcare through temperature-controlled storage of medicines, vaccines and blood supplies. It is also essential to commerce, industry, buildings and people’s wellbeing.

According to RENAFF, the sector does not always receive recognition, investment and institutional support proportionate to its importance. The network calls for greater investment in equipment and training, improved access to finance and stronger support for women wishing to establish refrigeration businesses.

RENAFF’s work therefore contributes to a wider national ambition. Supporting women technicians increases the number of skilled professionals able to meet Senegal’s growing needs and strengthens the country’s capacity to develop safer, more efficient and environmentally responsible systems.

Senegalese experience connecting with the world

Although firmly rooted in Senegal, RENAFF is developing relationships beyond the country’s borders. It is a member of U-3ARC, the Union of Associations of African Actors in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, and several members participate in the International Network of Women in Cooling—INWIC.

At U-3ARC’s General Assemblies in Ouagadougou in 2023 and 2025, RENAFF received the distinction of “Best National Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Association of the Year”. In 2023, its president was also among the winners of U-3ARC’s “Dr Charity Kpabep” competition receiving a prize from World Refrigeration Day.

These recognitions were a source of pride for members and encouragement to continue their work in training, mutual support and the advancement of women in refrigeration and air conditioning.

At RENAFF’s own General Assembly in December 2023, the network welcomed a delegation led by Binta Koïta, President of the Association of Women Refrigeration Technicians of Mali, and another led by Ellen Sambou, President of The Gambia’s women refrigeration technicians’ association. Their meeting demonstrated how women’s groups can learn from and encourage one another across national borders.

RENAFF’s president also brought Senegalese women’s experiences to an international policy audience. On 3 July 2023, she presented “The challenges facing Senegalese women in refrigeration and how to address them” at a side event during the 45th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Bangkok. She participated at GIZ’s invitation through the PROCLIMA project.

In September 2025, RENAFF members met INWIC President Ina Colombo in Dakar. Their discussions covered knowledge sharing, new refrigeration technologies and opportunities to increase Senegalese women’s international visibility through the International Institute of Refrigeration’s Women in Cooling database.

These relationships reflect the spirit of Global HVACR Women Week: local voices connecting across borders, sharing knowledge and helping other women progress.

Preparing for the future

RENAFF has brought together 223 women, improved access to training and demonstrated the practical and technical skills women contribute to the sector. Its ambitions extend further.

The network wants more girls and young women to see refrigeration and air conditioning as a rewarding career with a future. It wants qualified women to earn the trust of employers and customers, access employment and receive fair pay. It also wants women entrepreneurs to obtain the finance, tools and opportunities they need, and refrigeration to receive recognition for its essential contribution to Senegal’s future.

Over the coming years, RENAFF will focus on three priorities: training, social protection and access to employment.

The network is seeking partnerships to secure scholarships that enable members facing financial difficulties to continue their studies in Senegal. It also hopes to help some technicians access certified training abroad.

Practical support is already developing. Several members benefit from a mutual health scheme and participate in a housing cooperative that enables them to acquire land through instalment payments.

RENAFF will continue seeking finance to support business creation and developing partnerships with employers to improve access to work placements and employment.

The network shows what becomes possible when women come together within their profession. Collectively, they strengthen their visibility, develop their skills, support one another’s careers and open paths for those who follow.

Their message is clear: women are already working in refrigeration and air conditioning, developing its skills and helping build its future.

“In Africa, and particularly in Senegal, refrigeration is essential to preserving food, medicines and vaccines, to developing agriculture, fisheries and industry, and to adapting to extreme heat. Yet we cannot meet these needs sustainably while leaving women on the sidelines. The women of RENAFF have the skills, commitment and determination to contribute fully to this transformation. We ask employers and decision-makers to give them greater access to training, work placements, employment, positions of responsibility and finance. Supporting women refrigeration technicians means more than promoting equality: it strengthens Africa’s food security, health, economy and climate transition.”

Sokhna Fall
President, RENAFF

Connect with RENAFF Sénégal

RENAFF welcomes opportunities to build partnerships that support technical training, practical experience, employment and women’s entrepreneurship in refrigeration and air conditioning. Discover the community, follow its activities and connect with women working across Ireland’s HVACR industry through its LinkedIn profile