News Update: Rwanda embraces nuclear energy, Kenya's first e-bus, exciting fundings news, and more

Sep 22, 2023

Hello Exseede-Community,

Welcome to our news roundup!

In this week's highlights:

Rwanda partners with German-Canadian company Dual Fluid to test a nuclear reactor aimed at transforming nuclear waste into clean energy.
Roam unveils its first electric intercity bus, designed and manufactured in Kenya, a significant step in sustainable transportation.
Exciting funding news in the agricultural sector and for Africa’s first “digital free zone”

Additionally, the G-20 has granted the African Union a permanent membership status equal to that of the EU, symbolizing a significant step forward.

Let's dive in.

The EU has committed €150 billion to support Africa's transition to cleaner energy, emphasizing collaboration with African nations to build sustainable economies and technologies.
The African Development Bank is launching a $1 billion facility to expedite climate financing for young African businesses.

Despite significant potential, Africa received a mere 2% of global green energy investments in 2023, highlighting the need for increased investment in the continent's green energy sector.
Chinese loans to Africa have declined, falling below $1 billion in 2022 to nearly a two-decade low, raising questions about future financial support.

Uganda: Agri-loan startup Emata has raised $2.4 million in seed funding to expand its digital agricultural financing services in East Africa.
Ghana: Agritech firm Complete Farmer raised $10.4 million to expand its platform that connects African producers with global industries and resources.
Nigeria: IAPrecision is pioneering drone technology and data analytics services in agriculture to enhance precision farming and address environmental concerns, using drones for pest detection and crop spraying.

Zambia: Zambia agreed with a Chinese forestry firm on the development of a nature-based carbon credit project covering >4 million hectars of land.
Ghana: Ghana is in the process of developing legislation to regulate the production of carbon credits within the country, following Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Kenya: Octavia Carbon is pioneering direct air capture technology in the Global South. They are raising funds for a pilot plant that will remove 1000 tCO2 annually from the atmosphere.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia's 4th and final filling of the controversial hydroelectric Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile has sparked anger from Egypt. Ethiopia claims the dam will double the country’s electricity output.
Djibouti: Djibouti inaugurated its first wind farm, the Red Sea Power (RSP) wind farm, with a capacity of 60MW, marking a significant step toward its goal of relying entirely on renewable energy by 2035.

Kenya: GreenMax Capital Group has launched GreenShift Africa, a platform to support electric mobility startups with imports of electric vehicles (EVs) in Africa. The $50m initiative aims to enable the deployment of 75,000 EVs by 2025.
Nigeria: Automotive services startup Mecho Autotech has raised $2.4 million in a pre-Series A funding round to launch a B2B platform for aftermarket spare parts distribution.
Kenya: ARC Ride plans to produce at least 1,000 e-motorcycles in Nairobi by the end of next year with funding from Watu Credit Limited, while also establishing over 300 battery swap stations in Nairobi neighborhoods.

Rwanda: The Smart City Investment Summit in Kigali, with over 1,000 participants, emphasized the need for investment in transportation, service delivery and technology. The Smart City Hub Rwanda initiative was launched.

Nigeria: Itana raised $2 million to build Africa’s first digital free zone: an online environment for global tech companies to operate and expand across Africa without physical presence.

Ghana: Darlington Akogo, founder of minoHealth AI Labs in Accra, Ghana, has become an AI evangelist, overcoming initial skepticism towards artificial intelligence to build an AI hub in Accra.
Rwanda: Viebeg Medical Supplies, a health data-driven procurement company in the making, utilizing analytics to optimize medical equipment procurement and forecast supply demands. Currently, they serve 650 medical facilities across Rwanda, Kenya, and eastern DRC.

Exseede - Africa