Build Back Better Greener Blog

You got to love FEMALE GREEN CREATION Magic Powers! Photos of the all female workforce behind Ener-G-Africa's newly opened 20MW solar panel assembly plant in Ndabeni, Cape Town. At the grand opening of Ener-G-Africa, Africa's only all-female solar panel assembly plant, based in Ndabeni, Cape Town. That's right, all the ground staff at this factory are females from previously disadvantaged communities. They are also the only German TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein, English translation: Technical Inspection Association) certified tier-one small solar panel manufacturer in the world. Well done to GreenCape 's Lisa Johansson for facilitating this $2.1million investment into the Mother City!

There are a number of opportunities for local green entrepreneurs in South Africa and they can play a pivotal role in the country’s economic recovery and just energy transition; however, it is imperative that challenges in the ecosystem be addressed and for support for participants to be bolstered. Below are a few initiatives that are including support for local green The Future Females Business School, female Inclusion Indalo Inclusive Entrepreneurs, black-owned inclusion Youth Bridge Trust, youth inclusion

Just energy transition funding for SMMEs and Cooperatives I spend the morning with the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG)`s Small Business Development Committee to unpack the impact of climate change on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. Click here  to access the presentation. Alternatively listen to the recording on YouTube.  See article details below. .  Investing in climate-resilient development IF South Africa could transition from existing coal value chains located in and beyond the Mpumalanga Highveld, towards low carbon consumption and production patterns, it would demonstrably shift by 2050 toward low emission and climate resilient development pathways consistent with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It would also achieve a Just Energy Transition, because the catalytic investment would deliver change across four climate impact areas. A policy response was required for South Africa's Just Energy Transitio...

Today we welcomed the next Green Tech FEMALE cohort that joined the Future Females Business School intake!

Finance gaps for local green entrepreneurs need to be addressed. LGEs have the agility to accelerate access to new markets and play a catalytic role in the diffusion and uptake of green innovations, owing to their role as key adopters and testers for radical green innovations in the production and manufacturing of environmental goods, services and technologies – which many established firms view as high-risk and therefore avoid. The article by Darren Parker from Engineering News covers this topic in more detail.  Click here for more information.

Green Economy Coalition`s Green Recovery Dialogues There are signs visible that we are indeed #buildingbackbettergreener! Today I was inspired to provide a platform for a broad range of Green Incubators and BDS providers that are supporting local green entrepreneurs. Stakeholders included youth-owned and women-owned enterprises. Feel free to listen to the recording here . Download the speaker presentations: Unpacking the Green Economy ecosystem: Business development support services for local green entrepreneurs  (Ulrik Jorgensen, Development Policy Advisor, EU Delegation to South Africa)  Introducing Future Females green economy programs  (Lauren Dallas, Co-Founder and CEO of Future Females) Support to SMMEs during DOVID-19 and adapting to climage change measures  (Rest Kanju, Esecutive Director and Head of Operations, Indalo Inclusive SA A Just Energy Transition: Unpacking the Green Economy ecosystem : (Helmut Hertzog, General Manager, SAREBI - South Afri...

Today I visited Alien Fuel. This is a fantastic example of how entrepreneurs can find innovative clean tech solutions to respond to alien invasive species that are putting stress on our water bodies and at the same time provide energy security. For more information visit:  https://alienfuel.africa/