Seeds of Opportunity: The African Growth Series
February 2022 | Issue 3
In this week's issue, you will learn more about:
- Circular recycling Kenyan startup Mr. Green Africa's latest round of funding
- How 60% of sizeable global enterprises will go password-less by the end of 2022
- Energy Security in South Africa
Kenyan startup Mr. Green Africa secures latest round of funding
A circular recycling business and pioneer, Mr Green has secured another round of investment from a range of impact driven investors and key industry stakeholders to scale their business model across the African continent. Based in Kenya, Mr. Green Africa has developed a technology-driven plastics collection model that enables waste collection at the source, integrating informal waste workers, micro–entrepreneurs and consumers into the formal value chain. The start–up’s mission is to actively turn waste into value, integrating and strengthening the localised circular economy in emerging markets. Through this, Mr Green has enabled brand owners to realise their sustainability goals by accessing ethically sourced and locally produced Post Consumer Recyclate (PCR).
Initially financially backed by a Dutch family impact investor, DOB Equity and Uniliver, Mr Green has further secured additional funding from DOB Equity and Global Innovation Fund; as well as Water Unite Impact Investment Vehicle, the BESTSELLER Foundation; AlphaMundi Group; Minderoo; and DOW. This investment will allow Mr. Green Africa to scale its business model by improving its output quality of recycled plastics to a food grade standard; significantly increasing their capacity while contributing to the broader circular plastics economy.
Forget Passwords
“Hackers don’t break-in, they log in.”
These are the words of Bret Arsenault, Microsoft's Chief Information Security Officer. Mistakes are a part of life with a study by IBM stating that human error causes 95% of cyber security breaches. Verizon's annual security report specifies that compromised credentials are used in 80% of data breaches. People are not built to remember a cache of complex passwords and Gerhard Oosthuizen, Entersekt's Chief Technology Officer, suggests we “have around four or five that we simply recycle.” Other users make further password mistakes such as jotting down passwords on sticky or sharing them with other people.
There has been some progress with password management applications that allow users to create and store strong passwords. This system removes the need to remember them, but in 2021 Microsoft announced that they dropped the use of passwords catalysing Gartner's prediction that in 2022 - 60% of sizeable global enterprises will go password-less in more than 50% of use cases. This number has grown by a factor of ten from 2018.
The current ecosystem of desktops and mobile devices has various built-in device capabilities that can contribute to strong security and a good customer experience when using password-less authentication. The three possible methods are Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Mobile Push Notification Authentication, and Fast Identity Online (FIDO). People's fallible memories do not have to constantly update a variety of complex passwords or struggle to recall them. These password-less methods can be used at the same time to increase cyber-protection and reduce the likelihood of a breach. South African cyber-security firms are focusing on innovating their technology.
Energy Security in South Africa: Incorporating RE
Over the next decade, renewables will potentially play a key role in driving South Africa’s electrification and sustainable power plan. As outlined in the country’s IRP, an increase from 11% to 41% in the overall energy mix is targeted for 2030, with notable progress made to date, but several areas of improvement are present. 2022 has started off with mixed emotions, as stage 2 of load-shedding began recently. It is therefore worthwhile tracking ongoing developments in the energy sector working to address this. On one end, less than expected power will be generated from the risk mitigation independent power producer procurement program (RMIPPPP) launched by the government in 2020. Only 800 MW of the expected 2,000 MW will be achieved as some projects failed to reach a financial close. While projects in bid window 5 of the REIPPPP (finalised in October 2021) are working on reaching financial close, the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy is expected to announce bid window 6 next month. Furthermore, the Ministry is working on enabling energy reforms including gazetting a bill that will enable the licensing of an independent transmission company and promote the trade of electricity between multiple players.
Apart from national targets, exciting work is being done on a regional scale, with the City of Cape Town at the centre stage of this. Recently, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, announced the city’s plan to procure 300 MW of renewable power over the next 40 to 50 months. For the city that currently consumes 2000 MW of power daily, this is an important step in securing reliable power for business activity and economic growth. Lastly, as echoed by the mayor, this step may allow Cape Town to be the “first load-shedding free city” -something all cities can work toward.
To find out more about opportunities in Africa, please contact Lynne Martin.
Lynne Martin
Rebecca Mabika