Founded in 2016 as a subsidiary of Africa Business Group, Africa Business Energy (ABE) is an off grid focused multifaceted energy services and related project development company comprised of an international, multi-disciplinary team that has significant experience working across the African continent and professional expertise in engineering, commercial law, agriculture and agribusiness, economic development, and finance.
Our Mission is to provide business an economic development enabling renewable energy services to urban and rural communities across Africa.
Our Vision is to be a catalyst for energy access and vertical and technology driven urban farming in Africa.
Our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to implement our ‘Million Points of Light” program to execute 1 million productive-use renewable energy system development projects across Africa in the next 10 years to drive energy access, agricultural transformation, youth employment and enterprise creation, and accelerate Africa’s economic development.
ABE’s business focus encompasses five principal areas:
ABE operates within the ABG ethos of collective economics and seeks to develop and be a part of continental and international development ecosystems that lie at the intersection of energy, agriculture and water. As such the company works with and through,
and contributes to, various partnerships in diverse, sustainable development, focused communities. Selected of these partnerships, relationships and affiliations include:
Northwest Water and Energy Education Institute (NWEEI) - ABG has entered into a partnership with NWEEI to provide short courses and diploma training related to energy efficiency, solar PV installation, energy management and water conservation training. The two institutions have also launched the African Water and Energy Skills Academy(AWESA)
D & H Sahar - D & H Sahar provides ABE and ABG with global sourcing and logistics support for technology, equipment, machinery, and inputs needed for projects and clients
Montanuniversität Leoben - ABE has entered into a partnership with the Department of Thermal Energy of Montanuniversität Leoben in Leoben, Austria. The University is the country’s university for mining
SA SEED - GO Sustainable Program (SEED) - ABE was selected as one of 10 companies to participate in the six month, 2016 – 2017 South Africa SEED Go Sustainable Virtual Incubation Program. Part of a continent-wide green enterprise development program, the SEED program supports local companies in South Africa that have the potential to realize eco-inclusive business innovation in South Africa
Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) – ABE is a member of the international Alliance for Rural Electrification
As part of its effort to facilitated sustainable integrated agricultural development, ABE hosts an annual knowledge event, the Energize Agribusiness Forum, in October of each year that seeks to showcase technology and innovation, profile available resources and trends, promote good practice and policies, and encourage peer-to-peer knowledge sharing in the adoption and use of renewable energy to support and reduce energy input costs in all types of farming systems and subsectors throughout the entire agriculture value chain.
The forum delegates are intended to be agriculturalists (farmers, traders, processors, retailers); policy makers, NGOs, renewable energy technology suppliers, sustainable integrated farming system developers, project financiers, researchers, academics and students.
Selected Energy in Agriculture Continental/ International Program Resources
Publications
Articles
Africa Business Energy has a key focus on the provision of energy system solutions within the agricultural sector.
Africa Business Energy believes in the value of intra-African knowledge transfer. Toward this end, the company created the African Renewable Energy Regional Center (ARERCE) of Excellence program in 2016 to showcase renewable energy technology innovations that have been developed in South Africa over the past seven years, in part to support (or as a result of) the multibillion USD Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Program that the country launched in response to acute electricity shortages experienced in 2009. To date, ARERCE has been undertaken with the Pan-African Parliament but ABE is open to facilitate knowledge transfer programs with individual countries (and companies).
Africa Business Energy also has a key focus on the provision of energy system solutions within the agricultural sector and recognizes that much more needs to be done to provide training to agriculturalists on how to successfully and cost effectively integrate renewable energy into their operations. To address this need, ABE has partnered with the PV Academy and developed a unique course focused on the energy and agriculture nexus.
Increasingly today more attention is being focused on the food-energy-climate nexus. Agriculture requires significant energy across the value chain and reducing the carbon footprint in food production helps fight climate change. At the same time, as renewable energy costs continue to drop, particularly photovoltaic technologies, they offer an increasingly affordable alternative to grid electricity. In rural areas where there is no grid, photovoltaic technology can mean an ascent toward adopting modern farming
technologies and introducing transformative processing technologies and machinery.
While solar energy related technologies can be integrated in the farming environment in many ways, currently there are not enough
capacity development initiatives that focus on providing farmers, extension workers, agro-dealers and even government and NGO rural development stakeholders with training on how to introduce solar technologies cost effectively, efficiently and sustainably into agrarian zones.
The course will:
This is a 2-day course. Theory on solar PV technology is covered. We also do exercises in the configuration, design, sizing and pricing of farm based solar PV systems.
During the design and system selection the attendees will be required to perform various calculations, for this reason we keep the attendance limited to 20 people. Attendees are required to bring calculators and note books to take notes.
Africa Business Energy
Spaces Business Centre – Design Quarter
William Nicol Road cnr Leslie Avenue
Fourways 2191, Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 513 4117
Email: info@africabusinessenergy.com
Website: www.africabusinessenergy.com
