There is one thing Africa needs in quantity – New business developments that solve problems and grow the economy and jobs simultaneously.
This week saw a demonstration of some of the outstanding such initiatives at the Global Cleantech Innovation (GCIP) awards, that took place on Thursday night (20 March) in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), an entity of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), in conjunction with several partners has been driving the growth of clean technology entrepreneurship in South Africa through its support of the GCIP program.
The program m is implemented in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and receives funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Since 2014, more than 200 innovators have been supported in various cleantech innovations aimed at reducing environmental impact and promoting resource efficiency. These technologies are vital to addressing climate change and creating economic opportunities with the associated creation of new job opportunities.
Through the GCIP-SA accelerator, innovators receive technical support, funding opportunities, business mentorship, and market access to develop and scale their business ventures successfully.
By investing in start-ups and SMEs, TIA is strengthening South Africa’s position as a leader in energy efficiency, waste beneficiation, renewable energy, water efficiency, and green transport.
“Through initiatives like GCIP-SA, we are supporting the acceleration of Innovative solutions and enabling entrepreneurs by equipping them with the tools and networks needed to commercialise solutions that will shape South Africa’s green future” comments Vusi Skosana, Head Technology Stations & Manager of GCIP at TIA.
Finalists Announced:
The 2025 GCIP-SA finalists represent a new wave of South African entrepreneurs tackling environmental issues through cutting-edge solutions:
- Green Building Products (Tebogo Mashifana) – Repurposing plastic and solid waste into sustainable, cement-free building materials.
- EcoNova Solutions (Sanele Mabizela) – Converting organic waste into biogas and organic fertilisers, reducing landfill dependency.
- BCycle SA (Nkamogeleng Bogopa) – Creating bicycles from waste plastic, supporting eco-friendly urban mobility.
- AB Farms (Mogale Maleka) – Innovating hydroponic farming systems that function without continuous water or electricity supply.
- ROC Water Technologies (Johannes Maree) – Pioneering freeze crystallization to treat saline water and recover clean water.
- Soldevco (Heindré Rademan) – Advancing Ultra-Oxygen technology to improve water treatment efficiency.
- AdamVirgo (Adam Ngele) – Developing Smart Skip Bins to enhance waste collection and recycling.
- Graduated Man of Steel (Lunga Calvin Mahlangu) – Producing affordable electric micro-mobility solutions for urban and industrial transport.
Deserving Winner:
This year’s winners award was presented to Mogale Maleka for their groundbreaking work at AB Farms, An innovative vertical hydroponic farming system that function without continuous water or electricity supply.
As part of the winning prizes the winner and two runners will be joining winners from partner countries at the GCIP Cleantech Days in Istanbul, Turkiye, in September 2025, where the global GCIP winner will be selected.
USA Criticism
The Minister of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Blade Nzimande, who delivered a keynote address at the event, unfortunately took the opportunity to further create division between the South African government and the US administration saying that ” We cannot have the world’s largest economy being run on the basis of common sense”. He went on to criticize Elon Musk for his goal of creating inter-planetary travel and habitation saying that “we have one earth only”.
Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Despite this, there was a fascinating and encouraging speech from Fred Walti, CEO at the Network for Global innovation.
Fred comments that “Entrepreneurs need to be able to do the following well:
- Be willing to tackle new problems that include practical issues such as how to tackle uncertainties with courage
- The courage to venture out and simply start something new
- Be willing to try things that may not work – they are not afraid of failures. what they do is learn from those failures and learn as fat as they can
- Go beyond the idea – entrepreneurs are those who build things
Walti quoted Thomas Edison who stated that “I haven’t failed, I’ve just tried ten-thousand things that didn’t work”. This is certainly the spirit of the new small business and entrepreneur that needs to become endemic across the African continent that will transform the future into a successful and winning one.
