Search Results for: solar

High Tech Solar pumps for underground freshwater

Dianne Jacobs
pump

High-tech solar pumps mapping underground freshwater reservoirs across Africa are collecting data that can help prevent them running dry, the project’s developers said on Tuesday. Manufactured by British social enterprise Futurepump, the solar pumps are being used by thousands of small-scale farmers in 15 African nations, including Kenya and Uganda, as a cleaner, cheaper option to diesel and gasoline-powered ones. The pumps’ sensors record real-time data such as energy usage and pump speed in each location, which is shared with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to calculate groundwater extraction…

TECNO new innovations to meet Africans needs

Editor

  For the past 15 years, many aspects contributed to Africa’s rapid economic growth. Mobile phones were critical in leading to this growth. Transsion, a Chinese-led group that started in Africa and focuses on emerging markets outside of China. Its brands, such as TECNO, are household names on the continent, where it is today the single biggest smartphone seller. Transsion’s vice-president, Stephen Ha, puts this down to designing phones specifically for the needs of the African consumers. In 2008, it made a strategic decision to focus exclusively on Africa, before…

Venture Vaya Africa, launches an electric taxi service

Dianne Jacobs
Vaya Africa, a ride-hail mobility venture founded by Zimbabwean mogul Strive Masiyiwa, has launched an electric taxi service and charging network in Zimbabwe with plans to expand across the continent.

Venture Vaya Africa, launches an electric taxi service Vaya Africa, a ride-hail mobility venture founded by Zimbabwean mogul Strive Masiyiwa, has launched an electric taxi service and charging network in Zimbabwe with plans to expand across the continent. Vaya Africa, a company registered in Mauritius, responsible for the transport of people and goods in Africa and the generation of adjacent revenues in this sector, launched a new product on the Zimbabwean market. It is the electric vehicle called “Vaya Electric”. The South African headquarters of Vaya Africa has acquired a…

Kenyan Industries Partner with Distributed Power Africa

Dianne Jacobs
DPA

Kenyan industries are set to benefit by saving a minimum of 30% on their current cost grid consumption following a partnership between Distributed Power Africa (DPA) and Canadian Solar company. Currently, Kenyan companies lose nearly 10% of their production because of power outages and fluctuations. The deal is expected to help DPA provide top tier PV panels from the company that is estimated to be over 60,000 KuMax and KiKu  which would quite easily construct 50 large industrial solar plants. The PV panels will be made available to DPA customers…

African Startups in the credit scoring space

Dianne Jacobs
Buy on Google ,Commission feesgoogle waive

African startups with solutions in the credit scoring and financing space will have the chance to secure a testing phase for their technologies with French utility company ENGIE at Africa Tech Summit Kigali in February. Taking place for the third time on February 4-6, Africa Tech Summit Kigali brings together tech leaders, MNOs, banks, investors, entrepreneurs, governments, trade bodies and media to drive investment and collaboration in the African tech space. For the second year, Disrupt Africa has reprised its partnership with Africa Tech Summit Kigali to host the two-day Africa Startup Summit,…

New off-grid and mini-grid technologies to extend energy

Dianne Jacobs
DPA

Investing in new off-grid and mini-grid technologies to extend energy access across Africa will be instrumental in helping smallholder farmers to meet rising food demand, according to a new report. Africa accounts for just six per cent of the world’s  demand, despite hosting 20 per cent of the global population, leaving rural areas relying on manpower for as much as 80 per cent of the energy used in farming.  In Energized: Policy innovation to power the transformation of Africa’s agriculture and food system, experts from the Malabo Montpellier Panel highlighted opportunities…

Mali based insurtech startup OKO Finance helps rural farmers access crop insurance

Mali based insurtech startup OKO Finance helps rural farmers access crop insurance innovation

Malian insurtech startup OKO Finance has helped many rural farmers to access crop insurance for the first time ever. Founded in 2017, OKO develops affordable mobile-based crop insurance products to provide smallholder farmers with the financial security they need, regardless of unstable climate trends. CEO Simon Schwall, spoke to ITBusinessDirect about their plans and activites, here is the conversation What is the story behind OKO Finance? Before starting OKO I worked for a very successful micro-insurance provider called BIMA. I was their local CEO in Papua New Guinea and Fiji…

Innovation that will help with the provision of clean water

Dianne Jacobs
DPA

Kenya’s quest to fulfill the need for clean water mainly in rural areas could be finally met after five university students invented a solar-powered water desalinator. The group calling itself, The Greatest of All Time (Goat), which comprises students from Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi and Strathmore University was unveiled at this year’s IBM Digital-Nation Africa: Smart Water Challenge. Goat’s innovation also uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to prevent water pipes from bursting by keeping the piping system fully functional. The team which won a paid internships with IBM…

Green Energy: Is it too late to tame Climate Change?

Dianne Jacobs
Airlines

Wind and solar energy have become significant participants in primary energy mix, with the new electric battery storage technology poised to remove the continuity of solar and wind energy to provide uninterrupted day and night, all weather grid supplies. Battery storage combinations of up to 100mw capacities have been achieved. Last month a game-changing solar energy concentration technology was unveiled by Heliogen, a startup company backed by Bill Gates capital. It will concentrate solar energy to a temperature as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius by aligning large mirrors on a…

Distribution Is The Real Disruption, Mobile phones game-changing agri-tech in Africa

Editor
Farmers

While emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence can capture our imagination, some of the most game-changing innovations for smallholder farmers are more modest. Seeds. Roads. Electricity. While such technologies may seem mundane, they are anything but. Reaching smallholder farmers in rural areas takes a nuanced combination of appropriate innovations, sophisticated distribution systems, and a human touch. One organization celebrated for its approach is One Acre Fund, a non-profit social enterprise working with 600,000 farmers in East Africa. I spoke with Ilana Kessler, Impact Ventures Growth Director, about scaling innovative approaches to help…