The Africa Business Angel Network (ABAN) has launched a new thematic network aimed at supporting startups in the Clean Technology sector in Africa. The network, which is one of four thematic networks announced by ABAN last year; including Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities and Digital Trade – will focus on educating and supporting angel investors interested in Cleantech, and encourage growth among startups with a specific focus on this sector.
The new network will be championed by Yemi Keri, who is an ABAN board member and Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa. She will be supported by ABAN President Tomi Davies and ABAN Secretary General Fadilah Tchoumba.
“We are pleased to announce Yemi Keri as a champion for the Cleantech network, which is one of our four newly formed thematic Angel Networks. These networks are aimed at supporting startups that are focused on the thematic sectors to drive their growth by unlocking local capital that attracts international support,” said Tomi Davies.
The programme to launch these four thematic networks is supported by the AEDIB|Net network.
Clean technology refers to any measure taken to reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts, while encouraging economic development. The world’s current environmental challenges are occasioned by climate change, pollution, food waste and biodiversity loss. This has produced a need for clean tech to reduce these effects, and as such, it is becoming a growing focus for African startups.
“Clean Technology is synonymous with striking a sustainable balance in our environment. This is vital, if as a people we must act responsibly in ensuring a great future for the next generation. Clean technology is increasingly becoming of interest to socially responsible investors,” noted network champion Yemi Keri.
It is estimated by the World Bank that air pollution cost the globe an estimated $8.1 trillion in 2019, which was 61% of the global GDP, while 95% of deaths caused by air pollution occur in low and middle-income countries. This explains why tech start-ups in Africa are at the forefront of offering solutions such as hydroponics, solar power, sustainable transportation and recycling.
One such startup that is offering these solutions is SunFi, a technology platform, which has devised tailor-made solutions for people who want to get solar energy – and without prohibitive costs.
“A bottleneck for us was access to finance. We had to use our own balance sheet to fund customers who wanted solar solutions – that is how we started doing what we do. We started with solar but hope to venture into more cleantech solutions in future.” Rotimi Thomas, SunFi CEO stated recently.
Khaled Ismail, of the Egyptian Angel Network HimAngel, believes increased investment will help to grow this sector in Africa, and create much needed solutions for the future.
“With impact investing fast becoming a trend in clean technology, the time to capitalise in the sector is now. Following an annual impact survey conducted in 2020, the impact investor market was estimated to be worth $715 Billion. With the rapid growth of cleaner technology, impact investment is projected to grow to an advanced level.”
Africa will need as much as $1.6 trillion between now and 2030 to supplement its efforts to limit climate change and cope with the adverse effects that are already apparent. This was the main focus at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (or COP 27); where a call-to-action was made on showcasing the immense potential of renewable energy mini-grids to boost climate action, livelihoods and development across Africa – which accounts for just 3.8% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Concerted effort to achieve this could well involve an angel network dedicated to channeling funds and expertise to counter the effects of climate change.
ABAN and partners are encouraging interested investors to sign up to be part of this clean tech network and other specialised networks, by contacting the ABAN Secretariat at secretariat@abanangels.org.
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About ABAN:
African Business Angel Network (ABAN) is the largest pan-African organisation of Angel investors in Africa. Established in 2015, ABAN represents the growing number of business angel groups in the African early-stage ecosystems’ future, providing vital human and financial capital to African startup companies creating jobs across the continent. Today ABAN is a 61-member network with a presence in 35 African countries and the Diaspora representing over 1400 angel investors.
About AEDIB|NET:
African European Digital Innovation Bridge Network (AEDIB|NET) is the first step of a broader approach to the African-European collaboration on digitalization and innovation. The project, launched under the broader political initiative AEDIB, was initiated by EU Member states (France, Belgium and Germany) and the European Commission to the EC’s Digital Development process (D4D). AEDIB|NET brings together a network of strong partners from Africa and the European innovation ecosystem with the aim of inspiring the ecosystem actors by developing a supportive innovation policy framework for innovation, building the capacity of marginalised groups and enhancing digital and entrepreneurship skills via Digital Entrepreneur Skills Academy.
