Enterprise Brief: Dagoretti Market Biogas Latrine
Published: 05 July 2016
Dagoretti Market Biogas Latrine is a female-run, community-based initiative that uses renewable energy options (biogas and solar) to address multiple community needs in sanitation and energy under one roof. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Eco-Shoes
Published: 05 July 2016
Eco-Shoes hires and trains physically disabled artisans to manufacture durable and versatile footwear made from upcycled tires and fabric waste, thereby empowering the disabled and lifting them out of poverty, while at the same time reducing waste. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Green Acre Living
Published: 05 July 2016
Green Acre Living provides organic farming training to emerging farmers in urban areas and promotes the establishment of urban food micro-enterprises. The focus is on biodiversity, promoting indigenous foods and increasing organic production to achieve food security. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Green Road
Published: 05 July 2016
Green Road Ltd is piloting the construction of polymerised bitumen roads from recycled plastic and asphalt. They provide marginalised groups with employment in plastic collection and reduce the amount of plastic waste that would have otherwise ended up in landfills or be incinerated. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Jardin Green Hope
Published: 05 July 2016
Jardin Green Hope uses innovative manufacturing processes to convert water hyacinths and organic waste into quality natural fertilisers. By adding value to organic waste, the company supplies farmers with cheaper inputs, allowing them to increase their revenues and regenerate their soils. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Magiro Hydro Electric Limited (MHEL)
Published: 05 July 2016
Magiro Hydro Electricity Limited (MHEL) uses modified bicycle parts and simple motors to generate hydropower from a local waterfall, supplying inexpensive, renewable energy to rural village residents who would otherwise use kerosene and firewood. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Safi Organics
Published: 05 July 2016
Safi Organics provides an organic fertiliser for rural smallholder farmers, contributing to soil carbon storage. The Safi Sarvi® blend is derived from various types of local organic farm waste, and is transformed into a soil conditioner through low-cost production. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Sahelia Solar
Published: 05 July 2016
A leading solar company in Burkina Faso, Sahelia Solar is now starting to provide solar energy systems to off-grid agro-processing plants managed by rural cooperatives. The pay-as-you-go model provides people in rural areas with readily available, reliable, and affordable energy. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: SolarTurtle
Published: 05 July 2016
SolarTurtle converts shipping containers into mobile solar power stations and solar kiosks called “Turtles”. The company empowers women entrepreneurs to operate these secure fold-away power stations in order to sell clean and affordable energy to off-grid schools, clinics and individual community members. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: SPOUTS of Water
Published: 05 July 2016
To improve access to safe drinking water, SPOUTS manufactures and supplies an affordable ceramic water filter, called the Purifaaya, which is made with local resources and materials easily found in Uganda. SPOUTS is the sole manufacturer of water filtration products in Uganda. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Sustainable Options
Published: 05 July 2016
SRGDI facilitates the wide distribution of solar lighting technology to the rural population of Malawi. By providing training and promoting self-financing schemes of local youth associations, the enterprise acts as a facilitator between suppliers and customers and promotes entrepreneurship in rural Malawi. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: YICE Uganda
Published: 05 July 2016
YICEUganda provides rural smallholder farmers in Uganda with flexible farm loans, inputs and training services to reduce hunger and poverty. With its network of local farm agents, YICEUganda facilitates farmers’ access to bundled agricultural services at various levels of the farming value chain. Read more
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SEED Winners expanding access to electricity in Uganda
Published: 28 June 2016
Green Heat Ltd, a 2014 SEED Low Carbon Award Winner, and GRS Commodities Ltd, a 2013 SEED Africa Award Winner, were both winning recipients in the recent Off-Grid Energy Challenge hosted by the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) in Uganda in February. These two enterprises improve access to electricity in off-grid areas of Uganda with renewable energies as the solution. Read more
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A perspective from India
Published: 10 May 2016 Allison Robertshaw
This past month, it was India’s turn, as SEED hosted an event around investment in the low-carbon, green SME sector. Whilst it’s fair to say that every region and country has its own challenges, it remains surprising how similar the discussion is and how clearly certain interventions are necessary in order to make the green SME space both more resilient and scalable. Read more
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SEED shares experience at the 2016 Tech4Dev Conference
Published: 05 May 2016
SEED is invited to participate in the panel discussion “Social Innovations for Energy Access: Organizing Sustainable Energy for All" at this year's International Tech4Dev Conference in Lausanne. Read more
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Women-to-women energy networks: essential piece of the puzzle for SE4All
Published: 04 May 2016 Amélie Heuër
Over the last three days, I’ve had the pleasure of attending the 2016 International Tech4Dev Conference, which focussed on innovation to achieve social impact. Read more
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SEED hosts Cleantech Investment Forum Asia
Published: 13 April 2016
SMEs will play a vital role in the development of the clean tech industry, and on April 22nd at the Lalit Hotel in Mumbai, SEED will host a full day of discussions surrounding how to encourage investment in this key area. Read more
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SEED South Africa Symposium 2016
Published: 21 March 2016
More than 200 entrepreneurs, practitioners, investors and policymakers made the SEED South Africa Symposium on March 15-16th 2016 a great success. Read more
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9 SEED winners ready to raise funds at Pretoria Investor Forum
Published: 03 March 2016
SEED and the Inclusive Business Accelerator have launched Deal Ready Programme to support selected SEED winners in the capturing of investment finance. Read more
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Social Enterprise in Latin America - A frontier market on the cusp of going mainstream
Published: 24 February 2016 Allison Robertshaw
Last week I had the pleasure of attending New Ventures’ Foro Latinoamericano de Inversion Impacto in Merida, Mexico. It was an inspiring few days unpicking the latest developments in social entrepreneurship in the region and proved an interesting opportunity to compare to recent developments in Africa where I attended SEED’s African Symposium just a few months ago. Read more
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Launch of the SAG-SEED Starter Months in Mauritius
Published: 22 February 2016
Want to become an eco-entrepreneur? Apply now for the SAG-SEED Starter, the three challenges are: Sustainable Agriculture, Manufacturing and Tourism Read more
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Launch of the SAG-SEED Starter Months in South Africa
Published: 09 February 2016
The Switch Africa Green-SEED Starter Months invite entries from teams who develop green and inclusive business solutions to one of the key social and environmental challenges in South Africa. Read more
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SEED Awards 2016 - Apply by 31 March 2016!
Published: 26 January 2016
SEED has opened the Call for Applications for the 2016 Switch Africa Green-SEED Awards, SEED Africa Awards and SEED Gender Equality Awards. Read more
Financing for the ‘Missing Middle’ in South Africa
Published: 12 January 2016 Jana Rudnik, Mirko Zürker
Financing! 20k-200k USD is needed for the ‘missing middle’ is one of ten critical aspects that SEED emphasises as crucial for the growth of SMMEs. Read more
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Tools, Tools, Tools – the SEED Training of Trainers (TOT) in South Africa created a sound support base for green, inclusive SMEs
Published: 18 December 2015 Jana Rudnik, Magdalena Kloibhofer
As part of its extensive programme that has been built around an annual awards scheme promoting social and environmental entrepreneurship in developing countries, SEED developed a unique toolkit that addresses these key issues and lays out guidelines how to strategically integrate the imperatives of sustainability into businesses. Read more
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