Seeds of Opportunity: The African Growth Series
November 2021 | Issue 3
In this week's issue, you will learn about:
- Eskom's Unbundling into 3 separate entities by the end of 2021.
- How the use of Blockchain technology will help revolutionise South Africa's recycling industry.
- Investments into sustainable innovative projects within Nigeria's temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) sector.
Eskom's Unbundling into Three Separate Entities
Eskom’s CEO Andre de Ruyter recently confirmed that the SOE is on track to unbundle the utility into three separate entities by the end of 2021. A fully functional separate transmission company has been established, with directors appointed to the “National Transmission Company of South Africa”. Separation of Eskom into three distinct divisions will come with several benefits. While all divisions will be wholly owned by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, each division will be given responsibility, isolate costs and raise funding for its separate operations. The transmission company will manage the purchase of electricity from different generators, be it solar, hydro, coal, gas, etc. and then sell it to the end users, making sure the consumer gets the best price for electricity. This will be beneficial to both the consumer and the economy. While the unbundling will not solve Eskom’s financial and operational crisis, it is a step in the right direction and could eventually minimise the utility’s operational inefficiencies and revenue losses.
Blockchain technology to revolutionise South Africa's recycling industry
Petco (the PET plastic producer responsibility organisation) is rolling out its BanQu technology to recycling buy-back centres across South Africa in an attempt to "revolutionise" how recyclable materials are traded, tracked and traced in South Africa. Using secure blockchain technology, this digital platform will track and trace recycled materials across the recycling value chain, ensuring price transparency for both buyers and sellers. The main benefit for this technology is that both waste pickers and buy-back centres can now build up permanent digital financial records which could be used to access credit to grow businesses. This system would further provide South Africa with a more accurate view of the significant contribution waste pickers make to the recycling value chain and the circular economy.
As this platform is cloud based, it can work on any device and does not require a smartphone.
BanQu was built to empower the smallholder farmers in our food supply chains and the informal waste collectors who are the key contributors to South Africa’s circular economy. Furthermore, this digital platform provides waste pickers with a real-time business management tool that enables them to better understand and manage their businesses.
Driving sustainable cooling innovation in Nigeria's TCL sector
Investments into sustainable innovative projects across various sectors are growing in Africa, which is a positive step forward. In the temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) space some game-changing investments include the IFC’s TechEmerge and Kobo360 program in Nigeria. The TechEmerge program announced in July, that it would be providing support to eleven innovators with pilot projects that will develop cost-effective, climate-smart cooling technologies to support the country’s TCL industry. For the next 12-18 months the program is partnering these innovators with 15 leading companies in Nigeria across the agriculture, food and beverage, retail, refrigeration, engineering, and logistics sectors to help develop these solutions. The $1 million total grant for the program is being provided by the UK Government's International Climate Finance. Some key outcomes of the program will be scaling and commercialising some of these sustainable cooling technologies to drive new business opportunities across the agricultural products and pharmaceutical industries. To date, the solutions like the solar-powered cooling unit mounted on a tricycle for last-mile distribution developed by Eja Ice are proving that TCL can be efficient, affordable, and sustainable and can aid in reducing product wastage.
To find out more about opportunities in Africa, please contact Lynne Martin.
