Solar minigrid brings light and hope to a Goma neighborhood, offering blueprint for rest of Congo

Street lights erase the shadows where attackers once hid. Noisy, polluting diesel generators have gone silent. New businesses are taking root.

In several Goma neighborhoods where almost nobody had electricity just five years ago, a small solar network is offering a flicker of hope despite widespread poverty and the city's violent takeover by Congolese rebels early this year.