Eight African solutions selected for "SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023": Boosting access to renewable energy
The Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) consortium is delighted to announce the selected enterprises for the 2nd SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023. After a rigorous selection process led by SESA partner Siemens Stiftung, eight local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from Cote D’Ivoire, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania have been chosen to drive forward access to sustainable energy solutions across Africa .
Project
Sustainable energy solutions
The SESA project, funded by the European Commission, operates across nine African
countries with local and international partners. The initiative aims to test and validate sustainable energy solutions and business models that can be replicated and generate local opportunities for economic development on the African continent.
The selected SMEs demonstrated expertise in addressing Africa’s energy access challenges, particularly in rural and off-grid communities. Their initiatives encompass a range of technologies, including innovative solar home systems, solar irrigation solutions for small-holder farmers, waste-to-energy solutions for clean cooking, and solar cold chain technologies.
Each enterprise has received between €50,000 and €100,000 in service agreements to boost the replication and take up of the most promising business models and technologies developed throughout the SESA project and its livings labs. The SESA project’s initial Call for Entrepreneurs in 2022 validated several business models and technologies. Now with the 2nd Call for Entrepreneurs 2023, the aim is to build upon these validated results and outcomes to boost replication of the SESA oncepts more widely across Africa.
Additionally, the selected companies will have the opportunity to participate in the SESA Incubator/Accelerator Programme run by SESA partner Smart Innovation Norway (SIN), which includes mentorship, coaching, and access to networks of industry experts. The eight selected SMEs will be presented during the SESA Rwanda Regional Event at Kigali (Rwanda) on 24th April 2024, at the ‘SESA Procurement & Venture Summit’ where they will have the opportunity to present their ventures to investors and engage with stakeholders from across the energy sector.
Meet the selected enterprises:
COOL LION ENERGIES specializes in offering innovative cooling-as-a-service solutions tailored for smallholder farmers’ cooperatives across Africa. Their comprehensive approach integrates clean energy access—leveraging solar and hybrid power—with digital solutions to address the pressing need for efficient cooling infrastructure in the agricultural sector.
Dritoven Engineering provides project management, fabrication, installation, maintenance, procurement, and project cost, engineering services on both electrical, civil, and mechanical engineering trades. Dritoven provides a core selection of engineering design, manufacturing, construction, LV (Low Voltage) and MV (Medium Voltage) electrical equipment, protection, control, and automation, renewable energy, and energy audits, civil works, and design. Dritoven Engineering aspires to be one of the fastest-growing technical engineering companies in Namibia, which is owned by young Namibian graduated engineers and artisans who came together with a common goal.
Ohengo Investments CC has ventured into the renewable energy industry to contribute to the social and economic upliftment of people living without basic amenities like electricity. The company focuses on rural and infrastructural development in disadvantaged areas. One of the main goals is to speed up the development of semi-urban areas by providing them with affordable energy solutions.
Havenhill is on a mission to create and deploy world-class, efficient renewable energy solutions that guarantee the customer’s peace of mind through operating practices that conform to international standards. Their renewable energy solutions help to run a more profitable business, have more comfort and convenience at work or home, while also making the environment clean, safe, and better to live in.
In 2018, Powerstove was founded on a lean budget, starting in a makeshift garage in Abuja, Nigeria. They aim emerge as the leading Clean Cookstove company in Nigeria by 2023. Today, Powerstove stands as the largest Clean Cookstove provider in Nigeria, having sold over 100,000 products (3% exported), positively impacting 500,000 households across 30 states in the country. Renowned for their innovative approach, they lead as the most technologically advanced clean cookstove company in Africa, integrating Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Mobile, and Blockchain technologies. These advancements aim to enhance consumer behavior, financing options, and contribute to carbon offsetting within the Voluntary Carbon Market.
EcoGreen Solutions Ltd., a privately owned Rwandan company led by two young women, specializes in manufacturing, distributing, and researching improved cook stoves certified from Tier 3 to Tier 5 by the Rwanda Standard Board.
SLS Energy focuses on tackling battery waste and enhancing power supply reliability. They leverage expertise in battery functioning and aging patterns to effectively repurpose retired batteries until their true end of life, contributing to sustainable energy adoption. Their core mission involves constructing energy storage solutions sourced from e-waste or retired electric vehicle batteries. They tailor battery packs for diverse market segments, offering power backup and cost savings through peak shaving and load-shifting applications. SLS Energy adopts a battery-as-a-service model to ensure the affordability and accessibility of their battery solutions.
Simusolar is the leading productivity-enhancing agricultural equipment provider for East Africa’s rural economy. Across Uganda and Tanzania, Simusolar is a business that increases productivity and incomes. At the last mile, they distribute equipment solutions that farmers, livestock keepers, and fishermen use in their work. Solutions include solar water pumps, solar generator replacement, cold chain, solar fishing lights, and more. They make equipment affordable through lease-to-own payment plans.
For more information about the SESA project, its living labs and future opportunities,
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Partners
Strong international partnership
The SESA project will run for 48 months from October 2021 to September 2025 and is based on a strong partnership between leading African and European universities, research centers, industry players, local governments, knowledge and implementation organizations and networks. The consortium is funded by the HORIZON2020 program of the European Commission.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101037141. This material reflects only the views of the Con-sortium, and the EC cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information in it.
Contact
Would you like to find out more? Or do you have any questions?
Project Manager Siemens Stiftung
Elisabeth Biber
elisabeth.biber@siemens-stiftung.org
+49 8954 0487 304