For the last two days, my colleagues and I have had the chance to attend this year’s Sankalp Forum at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. This year’s summit with which Sankalp is celebrating a decade of social, economic and environmental impact is themed ‘Transformative Impact’. This is well in line with the life changing benefits that thousands of participants have reaped over the years as a result of insights and networks gained from the summit. The summit has been exciting through and through, with meetings structured around different formats like fireside chats, workshops, master classes, deal rooms, pitching rooms, and speeches among others.
One of my most exciting features of the summit is the exhibitions, where startups and entrepreneurs got to showcase their ideas to investors and other attendee. One that really caught my eye was WAGA – an award-winning Tanzanian startup that recycles and repurposes lithium batteries from laptops to produce durable and affordable battery powered products.
The founder of WAGA, Gibson Kawago, has always been a sustainability enthusiast with a keen eye on climate change projects ever since he was in University. Over the years, he has been scaling his dream through fund raising and also with his proceeds as a musician and producer. As at now he is working with a team of six who deal with technology, marketing, finance, marketing and funding. So far he has been able to win 5000 Pounds from Climate Launchpad and is shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Engineering Prize – Africa.
We wish Kawago all the very best in this very interesting endevour. For more details about it, check their website.
“Lithium-Ion battery technology is very essential in all energy storage systems. From powering homes, devices, e-mobility, and space. Its time to invest and be ahead of the game.”Gibson KawagoFounder & Technical Engineer
We also got to interact with REPARLE (Renewable Energy Powering Agriculture and Rural Livelihood Enhancement). This is a Ugandan sustainability company that makes non carbonized briquettes from agricultural waste like rice husks and maize cobs among others. The briquettes burn twice as long as charcoal, and yet it does not involve any felling of trees. Briquettes are such a win for the environment since they cook with a flame and then burn into charcoal for continued use. The company whose site is in Northern Uganda started in 2012 also feeds a mini grid in the rural area where they provide electricity and water pumping, all powered by waste.
Sankalp Forum is a platform that brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders to drive sustainable and inclusive development in emerging markets. It was launched in 2009 by Intellecap, a global social advisory firm based in India.
The main objective of Sankalp Forum is to promote and support social entrepreneurship in developing countries by providing access to capital, market linkages, and other resources. It also aims to create a network of stakeholders who can collaborate and share knowledge to address pressing social and environmental challenges.
Sankalp Forum hosts an annual conference that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders to discuss and showcase innovative social enterprise solutions. The conference provides a platform for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to potential investors and partners.
Over the years, Sankalp Forum has become a leading platform for impact investing and social entrepreneurship in India and other emerging markets. It has supported the growth of many social enterprises and contributed to the development of the impact investment ecosystem in the region.
One of the strongest partners of Sankalp is Visa, who have well strategized projects towards enabling the women entrepreneurship scene. At the summit, Visa Foundation announced a $1 Million grant partnership with two African organizations highlighting the importance of building an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs across the continent. Read more above.
