A funding and coaching opportunity is offered to young African start-ups offering eco-friendly products and services. Seedstars consultancy and the Shell Foundation have just launched the Energy and Mobility Innovation Programme. The programme is aimed at young African companies that stand out in the fields of access to sustainable energy, sustainable agriculture and sustainable transport.
Applications are open since December 1st, 2020 and last for 20 days. The Energy and Mobility Innovation Programme is aimed at young African-led and African-based start-ups focusing on value chains in mobility, transport, energy or sustainable agriculture.
The focus here is on universal access to energy (domestic energy for heating, lighting and cooking, and energy for business, produced from renewable sources). With regard to sustainable mobility and transport, the focus is on clean and safe means of transport in rural areas. And the improvement of sustainable agriculture value chains discussed here concerns innovations on access to knowledge, finance, markets or knowledge for smallholder farmers.
Improving the lives of millions of Africans in a secure and sustainable way
The Energy and Mobility Innovation Programme is organised and funded by the Shell Foundation, a charity founded in the UK in 2000 by Shell to create and implement sustainable and affordable energy and transport solutions; and the Swiss company Seedstars.
Seedstars’ investment readiness programme will be open to start-ups selected following the call for applications. This three-month programme will provide entrepreneurs with one-to-one mentoring with industry experts and potential financing opportunities and will enable them to take advantage of the human resources and knowledge available within the Shell Foundation.
“We are delighted to work with Seedstars to identify and support some of the most promising African-led start-ups. With the resources and skills they acquire, these entrepreneurs will improve millions of lives on the continent over time,” says Tara Collier, Head of Market Development at the Shell Foundation. Difficulties of access to electricity are indeed worrying in Africa. According to a study conducted in 2019 in 20 African countries by World Bank experts as part of the Living Standards Measurement Study, only 43% of the population has access to electricity.
Boris Ngounou
