Access to reliable, affordable and clean energy is United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7. Achieving it means providing electricity to 1 billion people and clean cooking systems to 3 billion people worldwide by 2030.
Five African entrepreneurs were selected to receive the inaugural Energy Access Booster Awards. The winners were announced during the Unlocking Solar Capital: Africa conference, held in Kigali, Rwanda on November 7th and 8th, 2018.
The awards are presented to entrepreneurs who are implementing energy access projects in Africa, with a focus on four sectors: green mini-grids, sustainable mobility, refrigeration, and energy for drinking water and agriculture.
The awards are sponsored by TOTAL, ENEA Consulting, Acumen and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
The selected entrepreneurial companies are:
- Agsol, operating in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, is a product development company replacing laborious hand labor and diesel machines in rural areas with solar-powered agricultural transformation equipment.
- Kivu Green Energy, operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is developing solar mini-grids in eastern DRC.
- Mucho Mangoes operates a solar mango drying unit in Kenya and is planning to develop a cold storage facility using thermal energy storage technology to reduce post-harvest losses and increase incomes for 200 mango farmers.
- Solar Freeze markets solar-powered refrigeration solutions to Kenyan farmers based on a micro-franchising approach.
- Sunny Irrigation, operating in Kenya, is developing solar irrigation pumps for small- scale farmers through a Pay-As-You-Go model.
“We have been greatly impressed by the companies that applied to the Energy Access Booster and look forward to working with them to increase access to energy. We wish them all the success they deserve,” said the jury.
The winning entrepreneurs will be supported in their development during the next 12 months in the purpose of reaching the investment stage. They will receive strategic advisory consulting support and/or a financial contribution of up to $50,000 per entrepreneur, operational/local support, and visibility of the project.
The organizers are pleased with the first results of this initiative, and look forward to working together in the future to support energy access entrepreneurs.
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About Total
Total is a global integrated energy producer and provider, a leading international oil and gas company, a major player in low-carbon energies. Our 98,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, cleaner, more efficient, more innovative and accessible to as many people as possible. As a responsible corporate citizen, we focus on ensuring that our operations in more than 130 countries worldwide consistently deliver economic, social and environmental benefits. Learn more at www.total.com.
About ENEA Consulting
ENEA Consulting is a strategic consulting firm specialized on the energy and environmental transition, with offices in Paris, Melbourne and Hong Kong. Since 2007, ENEA Consulting is also a leading firm in energy access, through both its social entrepreneur support program and further consulting missions to investors, energy companies and government institutions.
Learn more at www.enea-consulting.com.
About Sustainable Energy for All
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) empowers leaders to broker partnerships and unlock finance to achieve universal access to sustainable energy, as a contribution to a cleaner, just and prosperous world for all. SEforALL exists to reduce the carbon intensity of energy while making it available to everyone on the planet.
For more information, visit www.SEforALL.org and follow @SEforALLorg.
About Acumen
Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. We invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services are enabling the poor to transform their lives. Founded by Jacqueline Novogratz in 2001, Acumen has invested more than $115 million in 113 companies across Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the United States. We are also developing a global community of emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills and determination to create a more inclusive world. In 2015, Acumen was named one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Not-for-Profit Companies.
Learn more at www.acumen.org and on Twitter @Acumen.