VenturesNow

Tanzanian company sees opportunity in waste management

Published

5 years ago

August 21, 2018

Tanzania-based Phenix Recycling is a bespoke waste management and recycling service for businesses in eastern and southern Africa. Athina Kyriakopoulou, founder and CEO, spoke with Justin Probyn, author of this report.

1. Give us your elevator pitch.

Businesses across the East Africa region are struggling with the issue of how to responsibly manage their waste. At the same time, local innovative startups using waste as a resource are lacking reliable and predictable access to their waste. Phenix Recycling is connecting the two, creating an “uninterrupted power supply” for waste and enabling a circular economy across geographies, industries and sectors.

2. How did you finance your startup?

To date, Phenix has been funded solely by founder capital of around US$50,000. This gave us a two-year runway in which we piloted three versions of our business model, and successfully serviced clients across two countries and two industries.

3. If you were given US$1m to invest in your company now, where would it go?

That investment would be spent on purchasing new equipment and setting up long-term hubs in two of our main locations. This includes machinery and items that would allow us to work more efficiently and reduce the upstream cost of our services by making our processed material more valuable downstream.

4. What risks does your business face?

Phenix is one of the first of its kind therefore at the forefront of a new formal industry. This means that we are competing with informal sectors while trying to build the awareness around the need for our services. Navigating the regulatory environment is also a challenge as we have an innovative businesses model that is not fully regulated yet.

5. So far, what has proven to be the most successful form of marketing?

By far the best form of marketing is word of mouth through business networks. As a new company and trying to build a new industry, happy and satisfied business customers are the key to acquiring new customers. Particularly in established industries like tourism, where businesses tend to follow the pack. Once you have your foot in the door by satisfying a few key leaders in their field, the rest will follow and it won’t be long until its “industry standard”.

6. Describe your most exciting entrepreneurial moment.

When I received my first revenue. Running a B2B business is drastically different from B2C, in that clients take a lot longer to acquire, sometimes over eight months; particularly your first clients. So when I had my first paying client, it was a huge success and milestone.

7. Tell us about your biggest mistake, and what have you’ve learnt from it?

I think my biggest mistake was making operational investments into teams and facilities before having the customers signed and sealed. No matter how promising a customer is, they aren’t a customer until pen touches paper. Also, during the validation phase, a customer who signs up with a huge discount, does not validate willingness nor the ability to pay for the service. You need customers who pay full price to prove your model.

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VenturesNow

New $700 million loan approved by World Bank for Nigeria

Published

11 hours ago

September 23, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Amid its recent economic challenges, Nigeria has received approval from multilateral lender, World Bank for a fresh $700m loan to enhance adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment.

With the new loan, more money will be available for the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, a project that is already underway.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, in January, disclosed that the country’s total debt stock may hit N77 trillion by the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on May 29, 2023

The World Bank, in a statement, said it had “approved additional financing of $700m for Nigeria to scale up the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme whose goal is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in targeted states.

“The additional financing will scale up project activities from the current seven states to eleven additional states and increase the targeted beneficiaries to include out-of-school girls, those who are married, and those who have disabilities.”

The statement added, “In the seven AGILE programme implementing states – Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau – the number of girls in secondary schools has increased from about 900,000 to over 1.6 million.

“Under the programme, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships.

“The AGILE programme has supported the construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels which make attending school more convenient and conducive for both girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the program which address social norms impeding girls’ education.

“Closing the gender disparities in economic empowerment by ensuring girls have access to education and skills is vital for Nigeria’s growth and economic prosperity,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank’s country director for Nigeria

“Nigeria’s working population will soon be one of the youngest and largest around the world, which means that investing in adolescent girls is imperative when addressing overall economic prospects and growth.”

Despite the recent removal of fuel subsidies, Nigeria’s public finance is currently affected by dwindling oil prices and industrial-scale crude oil theft.

VenturesNow

South Korea eyes Nigerian Lithium as global battery demand rises

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on Thursday revealed that the South Korean government had indicated interest in lithium deposits from Nigeria.

The Nigerian government engaged the South Korean government at the Seventh Korea-Africa Economic Co-operation Conference in Busan, South Korea, according to a statement issued by the ministry’s Deputy Director (Information), Alaba Balogun.

Officials from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Oando Mining Company made up the Nigerian delegation at the event, while representatives from the Korean Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources and Korean Mines were also present.

A 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and South Korea on investments in the solid minerals sector was revised as part of the engagement, according to the statement.

It stated that the proposed revision to the 2006 MoU “include training of Nigerian mining professionals in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Ore Modelling, Mineral Processing, research, and exploration of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.”

Lithium is a core resource used for the production of batteries. With increases in battery demand, electric vehicles will be a strong driver of lithium consumption in the next decade, and South Korea will be a top global producer of batteries.

The statement added, “KIGAM president, Dr Pyeong Koo-lee, offered to collaborate with Nigeria to explore the large deposits of lithium-bearing pegmatites.

“He said KIGAM has the best technology in lithium ore processing, adding that the beneficiation process can reduce the carbon to improve the grade of the ore.

“Vice President of the state-owned KOMIR, Dr Alex Kwon, expressed interest in overseas mining investment, adding that KOMIR provides technical and financial assistance and investment in the exploration and mining of solid minerals”, it added.

Considering the potential to export mineral resources to the rest of the globe and the need for diversification, the mining and quarrying sector is essential to Nigeria’s growth.

In general, it is claimed that Nigeria is endowed with around forty (40) different types of minerals, including marble, coal, iron ore, gold, silica, lead, zinc, tin ore, manganese, granite, laterite, limestone, among others.

A report by Statista said by 2030, the global demand for lithium is expected to surpass two million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, more than doubling the demand forecast for 2025.