In 2018, the PCNS launched a call for projects targeting ADEL Alumni, in order to promote and support youth led projects grounded in new and innovative approaches to existing local problems in Africa and Latin America. The suggested projects were to be based on the principles of social entrepreneurship, with a focus on creative approaches to social, cultural, and environmental change through impactful projects.
Out of a pool of 30 submitted proposals, seven projects were selected to be supported for project implementation, project scale-up and business development.
The time frame granted by the PCNS for project completion is now over. These videos summarize the goals and the impacts of the selected projects in the respective communities in which they were established, and highlight the challenges that were brought forth by the COVID 19 pandemic as well as the ways the grantees adapted to the circumstances.
1- Girls in Biotech (GIB) by Prince Boadu, Ghana (ADEL 2014)
Girls in Biotech is a project aiming to empower the next generation of African women scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs in biotechnology. The goal was to build capacity of girls in Biotechnology as a way of motivating them to pursue careers in the field, build capacity through training, promote the application of biotechnology in solving community problems, offer funding for innovation and entrepreneurship, and offer work experience opportunities through internships.
Through the Girls in Biotech program, 80 girls from over 8 regions out of the 16 regions in Ghana who had little to no knowledge of Biotechnology have successfully been trained in concepts of molecular and synthetic biology.
About Prince: Prince is currently Manager for Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) for Central/Eastern/Southeast/Southern Europe + outside Europe sales (comprising Latin America, AMA,ANZ) for the Personal Healthcare International (PHCI) Planning Service Center of P&G Health Germany GmbH in Darmstadt. He is a supply chain professional with experience in pharmaceutical value chains across several markets.
As an entrepreneur who is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa, he is co-founder of Maptech and Kumasi Hive. Maptech leverages the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve business problems by developing and deploying GIS-based applications. Kumasi Hive, on the other hand, is an innovation hub that promotes the rapid prototyping of ideas, entrepreneurship and youth development. The Hive focuses on promoting collaboration among tenants within our co-working spaces and hardware facility. This is a radical shift from the usual software centered hubs in Ghana.
In 2016, Prince was named by FORBES Africa on the 30 under 30 list. He is the founding curator of TEDxKNUST, a World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Shaper and a Fellow of the Afrika Kommt! Program. He served as a speaker in 2015 at the Atlantic Dialogues in Morocco as one of 40 named Emerging Leaders from four continents across the Atlantic Basin —an initiative under the auspices of the Policy Center for the New South, Morocco. He is an active member of the GhanaThink Foundation and President of the 10K Network.
2- Light Up Internally Displaced Peoples Camps with Solar by Michael David Terungwa, Nigeria (ADEL 2017)
The project sought to promote the adoption of Renewable Energy Technology as a fundamental means of energy source within the internally displaced person’s camps (IDP Camps) in North East Nigeria.
The insurgency in Northern East Nigeria has constantly led to the increasing displacement of residents of this region, leading to the displacement of over 2 million people. As a result, internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) Camps have been created to accommodate affected persons. The Camps have no electricity; the only available energy source options for households in the camps are often limited to consuming firewood and biomass.
The project achieved multiple important objectives including powering 500 households with solar, providing electricity through solar to at least 5000 people, producing and distributing 500 fuel wood efficient stoves and training 100 people with skills on installation and maintenance of solar systems to become solar technicians.
As a result, the project received commitment by Government through the North East Development Commission to power the camp and others with solar.
About Michael: David is a climate leader and the Executive Director of GIFSEP- Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation based in Nigeria and the Africa Regional Coordinator for Citizens Climate Lobby.
David is an Executive Board member of NGO Committee on Sustainable Development and a member NGO Major Group Urban Cluster- NY. He is a member of the Resilient 40, Head mitigation and Energy; Nigerian Civil Society platform on the Paris Agreement and volunteer coordinator of 350 Nigeria among others.
Driven from deeply held conviction, with his personal mantra “Thou shall not pollute the Earth”, he applies a degree in Agricultural Engineering with a specialization in Soil and Water Management and a post graduate certificate in Renewable energy in helping people, young and old to help themselves, empowering them to build Climate Change Resilience and attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
3- RE-NEW TT by Teocah Dove, Trinidad & Tobago (ADEL 2015)
The Native Indians in Guyana are among the country’s poorest populations. The RE NEW TT project wished to address one of the major problems the country’s Native Indian community is dealing with: the lack of access to energy.
RE NEW TT installed a PV solar system at the sole indigenous people's hostel in Georgetown, Guyana which has little access to energy. This hostel is a central hub for the Native Indian community. This system is being used to meet the critical loads within the hostel. The system is also used as a training tool for the residents and villagers (over 2500 annually) in solar energy installation and maintenance.
The solar panels will provide sustainable energy for the hostel for the next 30 years while RENEW TT will continuously monitor the system and evaluate it until 2023.
About Teocah: Ms Teocah Arieal Ainka Dove is a Social Extrapreneur and Social-Impact Storyteller. Teocah’s diverse expertise has seen her serving in leadership positions in the international development sector over the last ten (10) years either communicating on, designing, providing technical direction on, implementing and/or managing development programmes.
With well-honed innovative and leadership capacities and a knack for information and communication technology for social change, Teocah dedicates her efforts in the Caribbean as an interdisciplinary consultant with development organisations, through her eponymous foundation and as a pro bono advisor with civil society. Teocah works collaboratively with governments, development organisations, non-profits, and public and private sector institutions, to develop synergies for social change, creating facilitating platforms to harness and leverage the creative combinations of ideas, people, communities and resources to create shared value.
Teocah’s work centres around human-centred solutions to social change through action research, evidence-based policies and programmes, innovative human and social development interventions, social and behaviour change communication, capacity development, stakeholder networking and philanthropy.
Presently, Teocah works with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH where she serves as the Communication and Visibility Advisor for the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Technical Assistance Programme for Sustainable Energy in the Caribbean (TAPSEC) leading the implementation of a high-impact communication, public relations and digital marketing strategy articulating the Caribbean’s transition to a low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient region.
A British Chevening scholar, Teocah holds an MSc in Gender and International Relations from the University of Bristol, a (BA Hons) Media and Communications from the University of Greenwich and an AAS in Journalism and Public Relations from the College of Science Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago. Teocah is presently an MSt Social Innovation candidate at the University of Cambridge.
4- Oasis Agrytech Hackathon (OAH) by Touria Benlafqih, Morocco (ADEL 2017)
The Oasis Agritech Hackathon program was designed to identify and promote local entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture and technology, and mobilize local partners to support, mentor and help preserve the Moroccan oases.
The hackathon took place in mid-December 2020, with workshops centered around how to conduct an issue analysis and a needs assessment to better understand the problem that the agricultural entrepreneur is trying to solve.
The event also allowed participants to collaborate with mentors and experts in the creation of innovative solutions for the agricultural sector in the oasis ecosystem.
About Touria : Over 10 years of experience in development project management, monitoring and evaluation, communication and awareness campaigns, fundraising and capacity building in nongovernment organizations and international organizations, in the field of environment and sustainable development, social entrepreneurship and income generating projects, and advocacy.
Strong interpersonal and leadership skills in implementing and mentoring micro-business owners, with valuable experience in training facilitation and working within multicultural environment.
Interested in : Micro-businesses and income generating activities, social entrepreneurship, training, personal and professional coaching, youth empowerment and capacity building.
5- SecureFarmer by Seyi Oyenuga, Nigeria (ADEL 2017)
The SecureFarmer project helped develop sustainable farming communities by deploying the most applicable mechanical and digital technologies in Nigeria.
The project hinged on three main areas to maximize farmer productivity in maize and cassava farming: First, it aggregated farmers for crop cultivation. Then, it provided input supply and services on credit to farmers. Lastly, it made site-specific data accessible to farmers.
SecureFarmer had a great impact on Nigerian farmers, specifically those participating in the block-farming program. It was able to provide them with a Secure Farmer digital app which gives them actionable data and farm activity tracking. Among other achievements, the project also created training materials for farmers, aggregated 25 farmers and prepared 50 hectares of land for cassava (a woody plant commonly called manioc) cultivation and provided credit for high quality input and mechanization for cassava farmers.
About Seyi: Seyi Oyenuga is an industrial entrepreneur with over 12 years’ experience working in America and Nigeria. He serves as Executive Director and Head of Agriculture Division of ATMANCorp, a vertically integrated agriculture and food processing company based in Nigeria.
The company leverages innovative technology and processes to enhance productivity through a mainly youth workforce and smallholder farmer network. Seyi’s efforts have led to the introduction of precision agriculture methods through remote monitoring and drone remote sensing to increase efficiency. Previously, he founded an infrastructure contracting company based in Washington, DC. He actively participates as a mentor with Grooming Leaders For Agriculture (GLA), an agricultural incubator empowering the youth to reach their highest career goals through education, hands-on training, mentoring, leadership and entrepreneurship. Seyi is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a degree in economics.
6- African Futures Fund by Jessica Berlin, Germany (ADEL 2017)
African Futures was able to attract outstanding talent, and make waves in the African entrepreneurship and tech innovation scene.
About Jessica: Jessica Berlin is the founder and managing director of CoStruct, a strategy consultancy working at the intersection of business, technology, and economic development. CoStruct consults public, private, and nonprofit organizations on innovation strategy, program design for tech and entrepreneurship initiatives, and market entry in emerging and frontier markets.
An international policy expert turned entrepreneur, Jessica's passion for advancing sustainable business and tech solutions stems from her prior work in security, foreign policy, and development aid. She has lived and worked in Afghanistan, China, Germany, Myanmar, Rwanda, the UK, and the US. Her crosscutting experience gives her unique insight into the challenges and opportunities of building international partnerships to address interconnected global challenges.
In addition to founding CoStruct, Jessica is co-founder of MakerNet, an international consortium fostering networked local manufacture and digital design; BerLink, a business consortium linking the Berlin tech ecosystem to emerging innovation ecosystems in other countries; and Die Brückenbauer, a nonprofit initiative scaling economic and cultural inclusion programs to underprivileged communities in Germany. She holds an M.Sc. in Political Economy of Emerging Markets from King's College London and a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University.
