Sustainable Technology for Africa

OVO wants to support and promote sustainable entrepreneurship in Africa with the 'Sustainable Technology for Africa’ concept (SusTech4Africa). To that end OVO works with formidable organizations like the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Thomas More College and The African Diaspora Projects Initiative. SusTech4Africa helps start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs with African roots to detail their project until it becomes a fully-fledged business plan.

After careful selection, 10 entrepreneurs attend a multi-day bootcamp and workshops on a sustainable approach, financials, marketing and presentation skills. They are coached by VITO experts, ex-business leaders and hands-on experts and economics students from Thomas More. The three winners are rewarded with start-up capital in the form of a social loan and also receive further in-depth coaching with the start-up or further expansion of their business.

“The success, enthusiasm and positive energy generated by this Sustainable Technology for Africa contest shows how important integrated cooperation is between Belgian and African entrepreneurs,” Björn Macauter, general manager at Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO) explains. SusTech4Africa will then also become the basis for the projects that OVO will follow up on. It is the intention to arrange one or more events every year in Belgium or in those countries where OVO operates.

News

SusTech4Africa Rwanda2021

OVO is looking for ambitious entrepreneurs and their impactful businesses to join our 2021 Rwanda program.

OVO club of Uganda exists one year

"The club is there to learn from each other"

In the Ugandan capital Kampala, the OVO club exists exactly one year this month. "This could be the best business club in Uganda", says chairman Douglas Karugaba, CEO of Innovex.

SusTech4Africa Diaspora 2021: Call for Projects

Interested African diaspora entrepreneurs and starters can submit their project until 31 January. Twelve projects will be selected and will have a chance of extensive knowledge transfer and a social loan of up to 50,000 euros. Sustainability, innovation and social impact are the key words.

SusTech4Africa shows how entrepreneurs learn from each other

For our SusTech4Africa campaigns we can always count on the support of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, in short VITO. But the organisation also helps Belgian start-ups with innovative ideas, for example as a partner of the Start It @KBC platform.

OVO funds classes for the Imani Academy in the Kampala slum

With a loan from Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO), Imani Academy is building new classrooms for 300 students in a slum in the Ugandan capital Kampala. "Without affordable quality education, children remain trapped in poverty," says founder Ivan Agaba.

“The bottom-up approach of OVO is the only way forward”

“Meeting the right people at the right time, that's what matters." Speaking is Maureen Duru, born in Nigeria, but living in Belgium for more than 20 years. Maureen has been present at the inception of SusTech4Africa, the campaigns within which OVO supports African entrepreneurs to compete for a start-up loan to support their sustainability projects subsequent to an intensive coaching program.

Akaboxi receives the D4D prize for best digital startup

Akaboxi, a project on financial inclusion,
wins the 'Digitization for Development' award."
It is an initiative by and for the local population",
the jury praises the winner, who is financed and supported
by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs and Close the Gap.

Tti Pre-cooked Beans gets a loan from OVO: “It is very satisfying to give someone a chance”

Thanks to a loan from OVO, entrepreneur Leonard Shayo can start producing pre-cooked beans in Tanzania. "It's fantastic to help develop a project like this," experienced Hugo Van de Voorde, the volunteer who prepared the investment for OVO.

Short chain is a recipe for success for EA Fruits in Tanzania

More than double your turnover in four years and employ seven times as many employees. You just have to do it. EA Fruits was able to count on financing via OVO in 2015, much needed to get the business going. Perseverance and passion for the profession did the rest.

SusTech4Africa: example of what makes OVO different

The combination of financing and coaching of starting entrepreneurs. This is what distinguishes OVO from other organizations that want to stimulate economic development in Africa. This vision is best expressed in the SusTech4Africa competition.

Entrepreneurship in times of corona: Crop Tech

Dealing creatively with challenges is second nature to entrepreneurs. But how do African entrepreneurs deal with a global crisis such as the corona epidemic? We asked CropTech, a Rwanda based manufacturer of solar-powered drying systems.

Entrepreneurship in times of corona: Akaboxi

Dealing creatively with challenges is second nature to entrepreneurs. But how do African entrepreneurs deal with a global crisis such as the corona epidemic? We asked Akaboxi, a Ugandan company that a company that develops software that allows local farmers to save money safely.

Entrepreneurship in times of corona: Innovex

Dealing creatively with challenges is second nature to entrepreneurs. But how do African entrepreneurs deal with a global crisis such as the corona epidemic? We asked Innovex, a Ugandan company that uses solar energy via IoT, Internet or Things.

Entrepreneurship in times of corona: Trautbuck Energy

Dealing creatively with challenges is second nature to entrepreneurs. But how do African entrepreneurs deal with a global crisis such as the corona epidemic? We asked Trautbuck Energy, a renewable energy start-up based in Kampala.

Review of the first OVO Business Club Africa

Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO) can look back on a successful first edition of the OVO Business Club Africa. The more than 100 attendees could really enjoy the pitches of the 10 African entrepreneurs - supported by OVO. This event took place on Monday 9th March 2020 at Roularta Media Group in Zellik.

ST4A-partner Thomas More Kempen: “A try-out for students”

Since the start of SusTech4Africa, the Thomas More-hogeschool has been a regular presence at the events. The partnership between the two organisations did not happen by chance.

Rena Beverages wins SusTech4Africa in Uganda

RENA Beverages wins the first prize of the 'Sustainable Technology for Africa' event in Kampala. Clinic Masters and Tukole UG came second and third respectively.

Innovex helps to ensure a stable electricity supply

He must have been eleven, at most twelve years old, when he started his first company. Or rather, a small business at school in renting video games and selling tasty treats not available in the school canteen. Douglas Baguma from Uganda clearly has entrepreneurship in his blood. Today, he runs Innovex, an innovative company experiencing rapid growth with the support of OVO.

BAG Innovation wins first SusTech4Africa edition in Rwanda

The start-up BAG Innovation has been the winner of the first 'Sustainable Technology for Africa' event in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Eleven projects and entrepreneurs participated in this second international edition of Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO).

Akaboxi is financed with the support of OVO

The Ugandan company Akaboxi can continue its project thanks to the support of OVO. Akaboxi has developed a handy digital system that tracks the individual savings of local farmers and organisations. Financing has been secured thanks to the contribution of Close The Gap and the OVO Acceleration Fund.

More than 100 projects for Sustech4Africa Rwanda

The call for projects for the first Sustainable Technology for Africa event in the Rwandan capital Kigali is a huge success. More than 100 projects have been submitted. Not an easy task to select the 10 best entries.

MNB is the first project funded by the OVO Acceleration Fund

Moulin du Nil Blanc Ltd' (MNB) from Rwanda is the first project financed by the OVO Acceleration Fund of OVO. "It is a very important step for the OVO Acceleration Fund," says general manager Björn Macauter, who points out that in the near future several African social and sustainable entrepreneurs will be eligible for financing.

Akaboxi wins second Sustainable Technology for Africa event

Akaboxi, that offers small farming communities a digital system to ensure financial inclusivity, won the first Sustainable Technology for Africa award in Uganda. Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO) thereby opened access to wider transfer of knowledge and a social loan.

WSE installs first technology kit in Malawi

Pedro Masamuna, who took part in the Sustainable Technology for Africa contest arranged by OVO with Worldwide Solidarity for Education (WSE), has equipped the first school with his technology kit. The Likuni Boys Secondary School in Malawi was the lucky recipient.

Winner of SusTech4Africa: additional income for coffee farmers

The three winners of the Sustainable Technology for Africa event have been announced. MNB won the panel over and walked away with the main spoils. The start-up wants to drive down the import of mushrooms into Rwanda by getting local coffee farmers to grow them using coffee waste as fertilizer. “This will give farmers an income throughout the year and it will complete the coffee cycle.”

Winner of SusTech4Africa: green energy for rural Africa

Solarly is one of the three winners of Sustainable Technology for Africa. Jean-Grégoire Orban de Xivry expends all his efforts on solar power in an effort to find an answer to the tremendous demand for electricity in Africa. For that purpose he developed a handy, budget-friendly power box.

3 start-ups in Africa win social loan and coaching

Three African start-ups from Belgium were lauded during the Sustainable Technology for Africa event. They will receive further coaching, knowledge sharing and a social loan of up to EUR 100,000. It is supported by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs in cooperation with Thomas More, VITO and The African Diaspora Projects Initiative.

SusTech4Africa: the concept

Have an idea for a social project in Africa, or for a sustainable product? Want to flesh it out in more detail but don’t know where to start? SusTech4Africa helps businesses, (aspiring) entrepreneurs, engineers and researchers with an African background to build their idea into a proper business plan and provides the tools to carry on from there. What is more, as winner you will also receive start-up capital in the form of a social loan.