Africa is rich with innovation when it comes to sustainable development, environmental protection, and renewable energies. Here’s how three promising start-ups – accelerated by Orange Fab and the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East – are proving just that every day.
Green Energy (Mali): smart and sustainable ovens
Founded in 2021, Green Energy Mali develops innovative solutions to transform residual waste into renewable energy sources. Its founder, Abdoulaye Souaré, has developed a household cooker that uses 80% fuel from municipal solid waste and biomass. The solution removes the need for wood or charcoal, energy sources still used by 92% of Malian households despite the health and environmental risks.
Households can use the “Eco Stove” to cook food four times faster while also generating electricity that can be used to power other appliances (television, radio, LED bulbs, etc.) or charge phones using the integrated USB and DC ports.
The Green Energy oven is also a smart device so can send household consumption data (emissions, biomass, etc.) to the cloud in real time. This means users can set up a “Pay-As-You-Go” payment model and pay less for reducing their CO₂ emissions. Green Energy received an Orange Social Venture Prize in 2021 for its contribution to green energy production on the African continent.
Kumulus (Tunisia): improving access to drinking water
Access to drinking water is a problem for millions of people in Africa. The technology developed by the start-up Kumulus offers a solution that is eco-friendly while broadening access to as many people as possible.
The system is the same size as a mini fridge and produces between 25 and 30 liters of water per day, at a cost of less than 8 cents per liter (compared to the cost of mineral water of around 10 cents in Tunisia and Egypt or more than 15 cents in Morocco). Kumulus’ technology literally pulls water out of thin air! It replicates the morning dew to generate drinking water from solar panels and the humidity in the air. The entire system (panels, batteries, filters, mineralizers, etc.) can be controlled remotely, and predictive algorithms enable the quality and quantity of water production to be managed according to weather conditions.
A first “Proof Of Concept” prototype was installed in April 2021 in Tunis and produces 20 to 30 liters of water per day. Other projects are underway in Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, and the south of France. Kumulus won second prize in the Orange Social Venture Prize in 2021 and also took part in Orange Fab Tunisia’s start-up pre-acceleration program.
mLouma (Senegal): developing inclusive agriculture through digital
In Africa, farmers need to become more resilient to economic and environmental challenges. Digital can help, as we can see from the solution developed in Senegal by mLouma.
Since its creation in 2012, the start-up has won numerous international awards through technology that enables producers to publish their crop availability and market prices in real time via a simple telephone, even without internet connectivity.
Accelerated by Orange Fab Senegal and supported by several international agricultural organizations, mLouma has extended its scope to help the sector’s entire value chain. It offers a full range of solutions to meet the needs of Senegalese producers, who are directly involved throughout the development process.
