NCN at the Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit

13th-15th February 2024: NCN partnered with Africa Tech Summit 2024 to help bring the climate agenda to the Summit for its 2024 edition. As the climate-tech industry grows in prominence and opportunities in Kenya, investor attention on climate solutions is growing. By partnering with the summit, we wanted to showcase the climate tech solutions being led by our members and raise the profile of the climate agenda at the Summit.

To do this, we (a) hosted a pre-summit ecosystem tour for investors to see solutions in action, (b) ran a masterclass on “How to build a climate network”, and (c) provided after-party tickets for NCN members. In addition, NCN Co-founder Héloïse Zimmermann spoke on a masterclass panel on “Are Carbon Credits Africa’s Next Big Export?”.

 

Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit Ecosystem Tour:

13th February 2024: As part of the Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit lead-up, NCN hosted a unique pre-summit experience, the “Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit Ecosystem Tour.” The tour brought tech investors to visit some of NCN’s Organisation Members who are actively developing climate tech solutions, providing them with a firsthand look at key players and initiatives within the climate tech space.

This full-day tour aimed to connect NCN Organisation members to potential investors fostering collaboration, awareness, and investment in climate tech initiatives. We visited

Ampersand E-mobility,  Roam, Regen Organics,  Octavia Carbon, and Koko Networks.

• 🏍️ Ampersand 

We started the day with Ampersand E-mobility who are manufacturing affordable electric vehicles and charging systems for the three million motorcycle taxi drivers in East Africa. We visited their Hurligham battery swap station where Vivian Oyugi, Head of Operations Kenya, took the guests on a tour.

Renting a charged battery from Ampersand saves drivers around 35% compared to fuel and oil changes in petrol bikes making e-bikes cheaper to run. E-bike drivers do not have to pay the upfront cost or risk of buying a lithium battery pack. Each battery can deliver around 350,000 km of range over its lifetime (Ampersand 2024).

Our guests got to witness a live battery swap as a driver drove in right in the middle of the tour. The driver will have another 50-110 km of range before he’ll need to come back and swap his battery. This range varies based on usage, roads traveled, and weight carried.

• 🚌 Roam

We then headed out to the Roam assembly factory, a technology-driven e-mobility company that designs and develops electric motorcycles and buses for emerging markets. Dennis Wakaba, Head of Public Affairs & Product Support, took the guests on a tour of the 41-seater e-bus and the bus charging station. The e-buses are designed and assembled in Kenya, where they can be charged through solar systems or directly from the grid.

Mikael Gånge, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer at Roam, took our guests on a tour of the “Roam Air” factory, a tailored electric motorcycle designed in Kenya for Africa.The e-bike has a proprietary frame accommodating a dual battery system allowing users to plug their battery into any outlet and switch a battery out when it is empty.

• ♻️ Regen Organics

The tour continued to Regen Organics, a diverse company creating circular agricultural products from organic waste.

Co-Founder David Auerbach took our guests through the production of insect protein for animal feed with the black soldier fly, manufacturing regenerative organic fertiliser, and production of environmentally friendly eco fuels. Regen Organics is decarbonising food systems and generating carbon credits that support their operations.

• ⚙️ Octavia Carbon

We then headed to Octavia Carbon, a start-up that builds and deploys Direct Air Carbon Capture (DACC) machines in Kenya – the first in the global south. 

Hannah Wanjau, Mechanical & Process Design Engineer, explained the science behind Octavia Carbon’s Direct Air Capture machines. DACC uses technology to filter CO2 directly from the air. The CO2 can be permanently stored underground or turned into climate-neutral carbon products, such as sustainable aviation fuels.

Martin Freimüller, Founder & CEO, explained that they aim to leverage Kenya’s geothermal energy, geology, and talent to radically accelerate DACC down the cost curve and make Kenya the world’s most cost-effective hub to build and deploy DACC machines by 2025.

• ⛽ Koko Networks

Our last stop was at KOKO Networks; a technology company building and deploying dense networks of cloud-connected bio-ethanol cooking fuel points known as “KOKO Points.”​ Sophie Odupoy, Group Head of Public Affairs took our guests through a KOKO customer journey, highlighting that KOKO fuel prices are subsidised thanks to carbon credits and making KOKO fuel affordable to low-income families.

Guests walked through the KOKO Labs, learning about bioethanol fuel quality, KOKO Points, and how they are all linked to a cloud computing system that allows the team to monitor performance.

 

ATS Masterclass “Building a Climate Network”:

14th February 2024: On the first day of the Africa Tech Summit, NCN hosted a masterclass on “Building a Climate Network.”  We shared the journey of NCN growing from 5 guests during our very first networking drinks. NCN now has 1,200 members, representing 700+ companies across the climate sector.

Duncan Kariuki, Head of Product at Octavia Carbon, shared his experience as a member. He presented the first Octavia Direct Air Capture prototype at an NCN event back in 2022. Since then, he’s presented this carbon removal technology on the global stage at COP27 and COP28 – and to Africa Tech Summit participants on an NCN tour!

We also shared NCN’s plans to expand to other African cities. Our goal is to build a collaborative ecosystem of actors that will solve the climate crisis faster and more effectively. Each new chapter will build local communities of climate professionals as part of “The Climate Network.” We’ll help members connect, collaborate, and contribute to a better ecosystem for climate solutions.

Participants shared their feedback and ideas on our plans for The Climate Network. Suggestions included adopting a new online platform for discussion groups and engaging more with community groups.

 

ATS Masterclass “Are Carbon Credits Africa’s Next Big Export?”:

15th February 2024: Novastar Ventures hosted a masterclass titled “Are Carbon Credits Africa’s Next Big Export?” The session was moderated by Sapna Shah, Partner at Novastar Ventures, and aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities for carbon credits in Africa.

Héloïse Zimmermann, Co-founder of Nairobi Climate Network, touched on the avoidance versus removal debate, saying, “It’s a question of demand – currently, only 3% of carbon projects are focused on removal. So lots of nature-based projects are entering this space as buyers will pay a premium to ensure they have a diverse portfolio.” 

Jonathan Green, Co-founder & CFO of BasiGo, spoke on the additionality  and integrity of avoidance credits, saying, “Carbon credits provide additionality – and there is no stronger argument for additionality than keeping a renewable technology competitive on price.”

Mabel Rubadiri, Public Affairs at KOKO Networks spoke on the importance of due diligence in purchasing carbon credits, stating, “Clean cooking carbon credits are facing bad press partly because buyers are not fully informed of the quality of some of the carbon credits and their benefits to communities.” 

The session had many lively contributions from the audience. Lilian Kagume Head of Carbon Asset Development at Climate Impact Partners, stated that “Digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification is the way to go to get credible data on carbon emissions from the field.”

We wrapped up our engagement with the Africa Climate Summit by inviting some of our members to join the ATS after-party at The Alchemist in Westlands. 

This year’s edition of the Africa Tech Summit took great strides in showcasing climate tech solutions in Africa to a global audience. From the pre-Summit tour, to the multiple sessions and talks from our members, we were glad to see climate solutions taking centre stage at this critical industry gathering. We look forward to future years where we can bring more climate tech actors together, showcase more climate solutions at the in-Summit exhibition, and help more of our members access global technologies, partners, and investors to accelerate their work.

A big appreciation to our partners at the Africa Tech Summit, everyone who joined the Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit Ecosystem Tour, and our fantastic members for taking part in the Summit.