IFC, Kobo360 to pilot sustainable cooling innovations in Nigeria
Eleven global innovators have been selected to partner with 15 leading Nigerian companies to pilot cost-effective, climate-smart technologies to strengthen the country's temperature-controlled logistics supply chain, as part of IFC's award-winning TechEmerge programme in partnership with Kobo360.
July 13, 2021: Eleven global innovators have been selected to partner with 15 leading Nigerian companies to pilot cost-effective, climate-smart technologies to strengthen the country's temperature-controlled logistics supply chain, as part of IFC's award-winning TechEmerge programme in partnership with Kobo360.
The competitively selected innovators are Tunasha, Eja-Ice, Gricd, and Mandilas Group from Nigeria, Enersion from Canada, Chill Technologies from the UK, Koolboks from France, and Ecozen Solutions, Pluss Advanced Technologies, Sonnenschein Engineering & Infra, and Thermal Energy Service Solutions from India.
In December 2020, the programme has announced an open call for innovators from around the world to bring climate-smart, temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) cooling solutions to Nigeria to help the country address food waste challenges, support its health sector, and reduce its energy consumption.
The Sustainable Cooling Innovation programme in Nigeria is funded by the UK Government's International Climate Finance and offers a total pool of $1 million in grant funding to support field-testing over the next 12-18 months. The programme also provides advisory support to help innovators mitigate financial and operational risks, reduce adoption risks for local firms, and facilitate market-entry and tech transfer.
The 11 innovators, which include four Nigerian companies, were competitively selected by IFC, Kobo360, and TechEmerge's independent advisory panel of cooling experts. The 15 local partners come from the agriculture, food and beverage, retail, refrigeration, engineering, and logistics sectors.
"Kobo360's business mission is driven by ingenuity and innovation, and we are proud to be partnering with these new TechEmerge participants to prove that temperature-controlled logistics can be affordable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly too, while growing vital sectors of the Nigerian economy and opening up new business opportunities across Africa," said Ike Abiakam, Kobo360's founding partner and head of value added services.
The Nigerian companies partnering with the innovators are Fan Milk, L&Z Integrated Farms, Agvest, Alyx, Amo Farm, Anthorad Nigeria, Cam Dairy Foods, Food Concepts, Integrated Motors Industries, Iron Products Industries, JustFood, Kennie O Cold Chain Logistics, Tak Logistics, KSR Power & Engineering, and Lange and Grant Commodities.
If the pilots are successful, the local companies and innovators may decide to enter into commercial contracts. IFC also evaluates financing needs and may invest in companies to scale game-changing innovations.