Episodes

Empowering African communities with greentech in dangerous countries

Torsten Schreiber – Africa GreenTec

GT Impact

If you are into greentech, product innovation, social entrepreneurship, developing a business in Africa, or simply into inspiring entrepreneurship. This episode is for you.

Which entrepreneur can say they risk their lives every day to have a positive impact on the planet?

In this episode we go on a long journey.
We start with the concept of social entrepreneurship, which pretty much is still in its infancy.

Muhammad Yunus expresses it in his philosophy: instead of donating money to a non-profit organization, you help create new businesses, in fact, new business models.

My guest, Torsten Schreiber is the Founder & CEO of Africa GreenTec and other 4 companies which have the sole mission of empowering people to achieve self-determination and growth.
Torsten is a serial sustainable social entrepreneur and a politically active climate change activist.
He is also a mentee of Muhammad Yunus, walking the talk, getting his hands dirty in very dangerous places of the world to help those who really need it.

In this episode we will talk about Africa GreenTec. The company which brings clean electricity, water and cool chains to some of the most isolated and dangerous regions in Africa.
Benefits stretch beyond the commodities. These places become more stable, safer and economically attractive.

Africa GreenTec has:
150 FTEs
30 sites in 6 countries in Africa
⚡Assets for more than 25M euros
24.975 people supplied with electricity
2.080 max. Tons of CO2 saved
419 small businesses empowered to increase productivity
✅ They’ve celebrated access to electricity with 100.000+ people

Learn from the broad experience Torsten has to share on 💡How to use a bottom up approach to help African communities achieve economic growth 💡and at the same time safely build a business in a risky country.

You can find out more about:
– Why donations actually might hurt Africa’s development
– The benefits of high-quality German technology under harsh conditions
– How to involve users in the design of the solution
– Expect nothing, be lean
– How to find the right price point for your product
– What motivates people to become changemakers
– The rules of thumb to follow when in a risky country

Listen to:
Episode 1 / 3: What’s the significance of sustainable business models? What does sustainable electricity brings to African communities?

Episode 2 / 3: How to use a bottom up approach? How as a for-profit-company to set the right price for the service provided?

Episode 3 / 3: How to safely build a business in a risky country?

Useful
Highlights

Africa is not just for donations. When you donate, you destroy the market system. Understand people's perspective, give them the tools and let them find their own way.

Be respectful, but also be careful, not everyone is your friend. People dealing with extreme poverty can be very dangerous.

In Africa, access to media and information is low. Seeing is believing. People need to see that you really do what you’ve promised.

Resources

Torsten Linkedin

Africa GreenTec Website

Africa GreenTec Community

Africa GreenTec Crowdfunding

Africa GreenTec YouTube

Books by Muhammad Yunus

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