SEED Congratulates Seven Malawi Enterprises on their Latest Success
Published: 28 February 2020
Seven of our SEED Malawi eco-inclusive enterprises - Chonona, Green Impact Technologies, Green Ventures, Honey Products, Hortinet, Inte Waste and Ziweto – were recently able to raise funds that will help them scale-up and achieve their full growth potential. Read more
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Seed Award Winner Gorilla Conservation Wins the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2020
Source: THE ST ANDREWS PRIZE
Celebrating its 22nd award in 2020, the Prize is an environmental initiative by the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The award recognises significant contributions to environmental issues and concerns with a focus on sustainability, conservation, biodiversity and community development. Read more
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Bottom-up Solutions to the Climate Emergency: Three Innovative, Eco-Inclusive Enterprises Take a Local Approach
Linde Wolters / Marlena Kiefl / Khawla Rammali Source: Next Billion
The threat of climate change exacerbates already existing inequalities, and increases the urgency of the need for resilient communities. But building this resilience presents a complex challenge: How can the world’s most marginalized communities effectively pursue growth, work toward the Sustainable Development Goals and overcome climate-related crises – while involving the rural households, women and youth who are most affected by climate change? Read more
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SEED Award Winner Lifepack Featured as an Eco-Friendly Biodegradable Packaging Solution to Plastic Pollution
Dan Edel Source: Intelligent Living
SEED Gender Equality Award Winner 2013 Lifepack, based in Colombia, has developed an amazing, 100% compostable product that can germinate plants within 8 days and biodegrade within 3 weeks. Each plant that germinates from a Lifepack will help to filter up to 1 ton of CO2. Read more
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SEED หนุนอาเซียน ผลิตสินค้ารักษ์สิ่งแวดล้อม-ใช้เทคโนโลยี | SEED supports ASEAN to produce environmentally friendly products
Published: 10 February 2020
SEED Symposium Bangkok 2020 on TNN TV Thailand features SEED supported enterprises in ASEAN Read more
SOLFIN: Affordable Lease-to-Own Financing for Solar System | Climate Finance, Ghana 2019
Published: 27 January 2020 Kathrin Kirsch, Marlena Kiefl
SOLFIN is a climate finance product that targets SMEs in the solar energy sector and supports them to provide affordable solar systems through enabling a lease-to-own financing model. Thereby, SOLFIN addresses the lack of high upfront investments for solar technologies by enabling solar technology providers to offer solar systems complemented by the necessary finance product. In this way, reasonable interest rates and longer tenors can be offered to SMEs, end-users and households. Read more
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Low Carbon Award Winner Hustlenomics featured on Global Ideas (DW)
Global Ideas Source: Deutsche Welle
SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2019 Hustlenomics featured as an inspirational best practice climate and biodiversity protection project in South Africa by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Read more
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SEED Malawi National Dialogue Forum 2019
Published: 12 December 2019
Brought together around 130+ entrepreneurs, policymakers, financial institutions, business development service providers and others to celebrate the journeys of eco-inclusive enterprises and collaboratively mobilise support for building the capacities of socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship in Southern Africa. Read more
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SEED at the COP25 in Madrid
Published: 11 December 2019
SEED’s Executive Director Dr. Lewis Akenji was present in Madrid and participated in multiple events to share how SEED supports climate-smart small and medium sized enterprises to develop innovative solutions to major climate finance challenges. As well as the innovative approaches of the SEED Low Carbon Award Winners & Finalists to reduce plastic waste. Read more
Proplanet SEED Low Carbon Award 2014 Winner featured on El Espectador (SP)
www.elespectador.com Source: El Espectador
The recycled material allows the manufacture of school and urban furniture, construction materials, sheets for automotive application, vertical gardens, matera, ecological points. Read more
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Platform for climate-resilient SME financing: Institutionalising access to climate finance | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Julia Haack, Maggie Sloan
The platform will build on existing infrastructure to support investors and SMMEs by building a common understanding of the climate resilience market, facilitating investment-readiness and deal flow matchmaking processes, while building SMMEs’ capacity through a customised “capacity building journey”. Read more
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Equity plug for energy efficiency financing: Direct lending model for SMEs | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Maggie Sloan
This model for energy efficiency financing for SMEs “plugs the gap” with equity by generating a paradigm shift in commercial banks through market, technology and supplier engagement and systematic technical assistance. Read more
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Climate-Smart Impact Investment Fund: Extending capital to SMEs in emerging markets | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Maggie Sloan
The solution for an Impact Investment Fund for Climate-Smart Entrepreneurial Solutions brings together networks of active impact investors and potential future investors to deliver equity to climate-smart SMEs in their efforts to reach commercial scale. Read more
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Green Lend: Inclusive credit risk assessment across value chains | Climate Finance, South Africa 2019
Published: 24 November 2019 Maggie Sloan
This credit risk assessment mechanism aims to increase lending to climate-smart SMEs through risk scorecard development that incorporates alternative data across enterprise value chains. Read more
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Malawi Waste Management Consortium: Building markets for waste innovation value chains | Policy, Malawi 2019
Published: 13 November 2019 Alina Weiss, Maggie Sloan, Marlena Kiefl
The Malawi Waste Management Consortium supports the development of waste management markets and the alignment of policy around green and inclusive development approaches with entrepreneurial waste management solutions. The consortium aims to improve access to information on the current government policy for waste management and guidance for aspiring waste innovators by establishing a consortium of waste management experts and ecosystem actors and developing a digital platform and online marketplace for waste innovation. Read more
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Off-grid renewable energy private-public partnership model: Improving market access and affordable technology financing | Policy, Malawi 2019
Published: 13 November 2019 Alina Weiss, Maggie Sloan, Marlena Kiefl
his private-public partnership model furthers the electrification of (rural) Malawi by engaging technology suppliers, financiers and government around eco-inclusive enterprises offering off-grid renewable energy solutions and delivering capacity building for integrated distribution networks and targeted clean energy financing solutions. Read more
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Looking Beyond the Known: Changing Mindsets through Design-Led Entrepreneurial Solutions
Published: 31 October 2019 Maggie Sloan
Ms Kasturi, Founder of Daily Dump (SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2018), was welcomed as keynote speaker during the BEYOND THE KNOWN: Practitioners’ Exchange to Discover New Ways to Promote Entrepreneurship & Support MSME Development from 15-16th October at the GIZ Representation in Berlin. Read more
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Meet the SEED Awards 2019 Winners & Finalists
Published: 24 October 2019
Tackling poverty and climate change, generating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development, this year’s 14 SEED Award winners were selected from over nine hundred applicants and were recognised for solutions to major local and global challenges. Read more
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The SEED Awards 2019 highlight the contribution of green and social enterprises to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals
Published: 24 October 2019
Lilongwe, Malawi, Berlin, Germany, 24 October 2019 - Tackling poverty and climate change, generating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development, this year’s 14 SEED Award winners were selected from over 900 applicants and were recognised for solutions to major local and global challenges. Read more
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Incentivising activity in the biomass sector | Policy, South Africa 2019
Published: 21 October 2019 Camilla Shearman, Julia Haack
This policy prototype looks to the biomass-to-energy value chain to pilot a mechanism that will catalyse sound decision-making in the biomass sector, leading to the implementation of sustainable invasive alien clearing, harvesting and biomass utilisation projects that connect to well-supported energy markets. In order to address the challenges that small and medium businesses in this sector currently face, the prototype involves setting up a knowledge-sharing platform to provide value chain specific information, biomass to energy case studies, and information on how to navigate regulatory frameworks, policy and fiscal incentives. Read more
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Commercialisation of climate change adaptation innovations | Policy, South Africa 2019
Published: 21 October 2019 Camilla Shearman, Julia Haack
The proposed independent institution brings public and private stakeholders together with a focus of providing support for the commercialisation of climate change adaptation technologies. The convening independent institution would host a platform of support services including funding, market information, and opportunities for pre-commercial procurement. The solution will therefore act as a “one stop shop” for SMEs during commercialisation. Read more
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BDS+ Special Focus 3: BDS Providers & Challenges in the eco-system
Published: 27 September 2019 Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
BDS providers provide crucial help eco-inclusive, micro, small, and medium enterprises to overcome day to day challenges around fundraising, direction or finding talent. Are you a BDS provider? Read on to find out if you share similar challenges with others. Read more
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Building healthier communities with Khainza Energy
Published: 18 September 2019 Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
“Khainza” is a reference to a small person with high energy and ability. It is also Arthur Woniala, the founder's, mother’s maiden name. Khainza Energy is committed to providing clean, safe, and affordable cooking fuel solutions to Ugandans. We caught up with Arthur to hear how SEED Support has helped change his business & what Khainza is up to these days. Read more
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Adidas, Orlando Pirates create EcoBricks for Mandela Day
BizCommunity Source: BizCommunity
Adidas and Orlando Pirates Football Club gave back on Mandela Day by learning about the importance of adopting sustainable practices and by creating EcoBricks using non-recyclable plastic waste, in partnership with SEED Award Winner EcoBrick Exchange. Read more
Coffee helps protect Uganda's endangered mountain gorillas
Deutsche Welle Source: Deutsche Welle
Gorilla Conservation Coffee is featured in this story by Deutsche Welle focusing on how coffee offers a more sustainable living for poor communities in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Read more
