Africa’s Hidden Gems – amplifying African entrepreneurs who are tackling sustainability Sustainability challenge with innovative solutions.

From school science projects that ignited an enduring legacy to securing a place on the prestigious Siemens supported Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) Incubator Programme, Prince Essel’s journey is fuelled by a mixture of childhood curiosity, fierce determination, and an unwavering commitment to improving lives through sustainable innovation. As the co-founder of Econexus Venture Limited, he is helping to reshape how we think about waste and energy by providing comm

Enter stage left, right and centre, Clara Pinkrah-Sam! The founder, CEO and Creative Director of Clatural, the award-winning fashion brand where charisma meets creativity. She is the ninth founder in our series on Africa’s Hidden Gems – amplifying African entrepreneurs who are tackling some of the continent’s Sustainability challenge with innovative solutions. Clara has diverse interests and varied creative pursuits. She is a practicing Pharmacist, a Medical Transcriptioni

Their paths crossed at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa in 2010 and have stayed together ever since. She came from the Netherlands to study Sociology and International Development. He from Cote d’Ivoire for a degree in Chemical Engineering. Now they are a dynamic and award-winning husband and wife partnership – they got married in 2018 – with a shared vision to contribute to reshaping the agricultural landscape in Côte d’Ivoire and other countries in W

Imagine a world where every child in Africa – from the bustling cities to remote rural villages – not only connects to the digital age but thrives within it. Meet Richard, the visionary Founder of Coral Reef Innovation Hub, who is on an extraordinary mission to turn this vision into reality. He's not just opening doors to cutting-edge technology and transformative training programs, which encompass AI, coding, and robotics; he's also contributing to reshaping the very foundat

“If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow” Douglas, the force behind The MakersPlace, is steadfast in his mission. He wishes to empower the youth of Africa with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. His ultimate objective is to, “create job opportunities for young Africans to stay in Africa, work in Africa, and make it in Africa”. Douglas is the fifth founder to be featured in our series on

“I was born in a thatched hut in Kisii, Kenya, with prospectuses of Oxford and Cambridge on our bookshelf, those being vestiges of my father's dreams that were never realised”. That was the beginning of Lydiah Kemunto Bosire’s journey that took her to the halls of University of Oxford and through the United Nations to her dream of establishing 8B Education Investments. Her journey is testament to the power of perseverance and the unyielding pursuit of education. Now, as the

Tarek Mouganie is the founder and driving force behind Affinity Africa, a full-fledged digitally-driven financial institution. It provides banking products to the underserved and unbanked population in Ghana, with plans to move across the continent. Tarek is a proud and passionate fourth-generation Ghanaian. His great grandfather moved from Lebanon to Ghana in the 1920s via Italy, then Senegal. His family have been born and bred in Ghana ever since. Tarek and Affinity Africa’

This is the second in our series on Africa’s Hidden Gems–amplifying the voices of African entrepreneurs who are leading the charge in tackling some of the continent’s most pressing Sustainability challenges. Today we turn the spotlight on Felix Appiah Nyarko, founder of Trisolace Farms in Ghana. His entrepreneurship journey begun when he was 14 years old following the death of his father. As the eldest child, there was no alternative but for him to support and look after hi

Regulatory moves in Brussels matter in [Congo] Brazzaville. The EU’s impending regulations on forced labour, which include child labour, could place some African businesses that export to the EU in a sticky mix of law, culture, and human rights. Unlike previous voluntary guidelines, some of these new regulations will establish legally binding standards for worker protection. Despite an increase in intra-African trade and closer ties with China, the EU still remains Africa’s

“I had a Eureka moment about single-use plastics and plastic pollution after surviving a flood and fire disaster around Kwame Nkrumah interchange in Accra, Ghana on 3rd June 2015, when floodwater engulfed the city center and claimed over 230 lives.” That moment was the beginning of a journey for Derrick Sarfo, founder of Dercolbags and later SPEX Africa, providing an entrepreneurial solution to one of Africa’s Sustainability challenges – waste management. Today we are beginni

It’s been nearly two weeks since COP27 – dubbed the “African COP” – ended. It’s also been two weeks since we posted the first article in our series on “A Pathway to Net Zero for SMEs” in which we summarised what Net Zero is and why it’s important for SMEs to embark on carbon reduction initiatives. In response to our article, a few people reached out to us. Their comments predominantly focused on how the situation differs for African SMEs compared to, say, European SMEs. Que

Recently, I listened to a webinar on opportunities for the automotive industry in Africa. I learned that Africa currently accounts for only 1% of the global car market and that roughly 85% of new cars sold in Africa are sold in South Africa; 85% of the cars sold in sub–Saharan Africa are second hand; and there will be a doubling of the population in Africa, which currently stands at 1.3 billion, over the next decade. All this adds up to a huge market opportunity for car manuf

At the start of this Reflection series, I asked “What will it take?” for African businesses to ‘step up, scale up and scale out’© and contribute to making their countries and the continent more self-sufficient. As my last Reflection in this series, I want to return briefly to this original question. Previously, I have discussed how Sustainability — or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) best practice — creates value for African businesses. In these Reflections, there h

In my last Reflection, I wrote about how African companies should view sustainability — or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) best practice — as a tool for creating value, rather than a form of risk mitigation or compliance with standards imposed by investors and lenders. I define ESG simply as a company taking care of its surroundings and natural environment (E); taking care of those impacted by their business operations, including their employees (S) and; doing busi

In my last Reflection, I gave examples of African companies that have stepped up to provide essential items for their countries and neighbouring countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. To maintain this momentum, both during and after this crisis, African companies will need to invest in scaling up and improving their standards of operations. This would mean, in addition to the usual technical, commercial and financial requirements for any successful business, making Sustainab

In my last Reflection, I wrote about the importance of the ‘S’ in environmental, social and governance (ESG) and how employee welfare and development benefits African companies. This Reflection builds on the ‘S’ by focusing on how gender diversity creates value for individual companies. The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting women and girls. The limited gains that have been made in recent years on gender equality within Africa’s business sector are at risk and

Africa’s corporates, regardless of their size or sector, have a transformative role to play in shaping the continent’s sustainable future and, despite the undeniable tragedies of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing signs of this potential. There is no doubt that many African companies have been or will be hit hard by the coronavirus, and many may not recover. However, there are beacons of hope and there is a growing opportunity for Africa’s home-grown corporates to step up,