AFRICA: green start-up bosses at the school of innovation and networking

Two months. That’s how long the GreenTech Afruca 2024: the future of sustainability programme will last. The initiative is aimed exclusively at the heads of green start-ups. Between August and September, pre-selected entrepreneurs will meet for three online workshops. “They will work closely with industry experts, investors, ecosystem partners and an investment analyst who will coach them”, explains the American platform Village Capital, which is organising the concept with the support of the New York-based Moody’s Foundation.

Learners will be given specific tools for setting up projects, building a financial model, raising funds on the capital market and networking to help them achieve their goals. With digital dynamism and the rise of globalisation, entrepreneurial and business techniques are also constantly evolving. And these start-ups, whose innovations are intended to transform their ecosystems, have a duty to keep abreast of these changes and innovative approaches in all areas of sustainable development.

To this end, the GreenTech Africa 2024 call for applications, which closes on 10 May, is aimed at leaders in “cleantech and climate tech” (platforms that design and exploit technological solutions to combat global warming), “agritech”, which develop applications to promote food security, and the “circular and regenerative economy” for start-ups whose ideas promote the sustainable use of resources to reduce waste and air pollution.

These companies must be operational in Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal or Nigeria, where the winner of the last edition AACE Foods is from. The start-up provides around 10,000 small-scale farmers with storage technologies and inputs to boost value chains (maize, ginger, turmeric, onions, soya beans and peanuts) in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cover photo: By AFRIK21