By Yodit
Admasu
For African View
In the quiet corners of rural South Africa, where daily life is shaped by power cuts, long hours of unpaid labor, and the rising costs of fuel, one woman sparked a revolution: using nothing more than a memory, a vision, and a bag.
Sarah Collins, the creator of the Wonderbag, has become a symbol of what’s possible when innovation meets empathy. Her journey, which began on a farm in apartheid-era KwaZulu-Natal, has since touched the lives of millions across the African continent and beyond.
“I wouldn’t accept the status quo,” Sarah recalls. “By the time I was 14, I enrolled in an Afrikaans school to understand the mindset of those enforcing apartheid. At 16, I was already involved in political activism.”
This rebellious spirit would later fuel her mission to solve one of Africa’s most persistent problems: energy poverty.
The idea for the Wonderbag was born during South Africa’s 2008 energy crisis. Struck by the memory of her grandmother insulating pots in cushions to save fuel, Sarah began to experiment. She created an insulated, portable cooking bag that allows food to continue cooking after being removed from a heat source, requiring no additional electricity or firewood.
Today, the Wonderbag is more than a clever invention. It’s a lifeline. It reduces fuel usage by up to 80%, preserving trees and family incomes. It saves women an estimated 6 hours a day that would otherwise be spent cooking or gathering firewood. It cuts exposure to harmful indoor smoke and reduces the risk of violence during firewood collection.
“It is a human right to cook, to have time to look after one’s family and to have some time for yourself,” says Sarah.
At the heart of the Wonderbag’s success is its model of women-led empowerment. In communities from South Africa to Ghana, women known as "Wonderpreneurs" use the bags to launch businesses, selling cooked meals, catering for schools, or distributing the bags themselves.
In Ghana, women using Wonderbags increased their daily income from less than 20 cents to $2. In South Africa, entire cooperatives have formed around the product.
“Unless we empower women, we are not empowering societies,” Sarah explains. “Women are the guardians of our future generations.”
Sarah’s impact has earned her recognition among global giants. The Wonderbag was named one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Most Genius Companies. Sarah has been honored by the World Economic Forum and featured at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP). Corporate partnerships with Unilever, Microsoft, and philanthropic organizations have helped expand the product to over 3 million households in 52 countries.
But despite this global footprint, the soul of the Wonderbag remains firmly rooted in Africa.
“I am driven by a deep sense that every human needs to make a contribution and leave this world a better place,” Sarah says.
The Wonderbag does more than cook food. It helps families breathe cleaner air. It frees girls to attend school. It gives women the dignity of choice: how to spend their time, their money, and their energy.
By converting fuel savings into carbon credits, Sarah has created a unique business model that funds production and measures real-world impact; data on health, nutrition, time savings, and income. This makes the Wonderbag not just an innovation, but a tool for sustainable development.
Sarah’s journey hasn’t been easy. She’s faced funding gaps, bureaucratic red tape, and skepticism. But her belief in the power of simple, practical solutions has never wavered.
“Every one of us is an entrepreneur at heart,” she says. “We just need the courage to make it happen.”
As she moves toward her next goal, distributing 10 million Wonderbags, Sarah remains focused on the heart of her mission: empowering women, protecting the planet, and changing lives.
In a world obsessed with high-tech solutions, Sarah Collins reminds us that the most transformative ideas often come from looking back, honoring ancestral wisdom and adapting it for today’s challenges.
Her story is not just about an invention. It’s about reimagining what’s possible when women are trusted, supported, and inspired to lead.
One meal at a time, Sarah Collins is helping Africa cook up a better future.
Sarah Collins /Photo credit: BizCommunity (May 2025) Wonderbag Photo Credit The Borgen Project
Source Wonderbag Official Website
Comments