Climate action is reshaping the global economy.
Consumers are shifting towards climate-friendly products.
Governments, aiming for net-zero, are shifting policy and committing billions of dollars to climate action.
New technologies, processes, and energy sources are being developed, revolutionizing markets and redefining country resource endowments.
Carbon markets are flourishing, fostering new business models and sectors, while facilitating large-scale deployment of low-carbon solutions.
Africa is inherently well-positioned to tap into new climate-related business opportunities
- Intrinsic Competitiveness: Africa has abundant affordable land, untapped renewable energy potential, and a growing, increasingly skilled workforce, all of which are key cost drivers of climate action. Africa’s soils are also weathered and often acidic, offering significant opportunities for regenerative agriculture.
- Readily Available Opportunities To Tap Into Carbon Revenues: By prioritizing low-carbon business models, and incorporating carbon revenue, existing African businesses can drive affordability, amplify sustainable practices, and empower local communities, addressing climate change and providing global climate solutions.
- Potential For And Urgency Around Co-Benefits: Socio-economic challenges drive significant potential for co- benefits in Africa. Many actors with the capability, experience, and (community) connections to realise co-benefits have the opportunity to transform their business model to reduce dependency on philanthropic funding.
ACV identifies opportunities to develop climate-smart businesses on the African continent following three key models
- Technology Transfer to Africa: Identify leading global businesses with exciting carbon technologies, then bring them to Africa. Leverage our deep knowledge of Africa to develop appropriate entry strategies for applicable technologies, and build effective teams to launch businesses across the continent.
- Scaling Out Successes Across Africa: Identify home-grown African climate tech businesses that are gaining traction in the market in which they were developed and help them rapidly accelerate into new markets, leveraging local know-how and relationships, and augmenting typically overstretched management teams.
- Adding carbon revenues to business model: Identify businesses on the continent with under exploited carbon potential (e.g., electro moto manufacturers who are not monetizing their carbon). Provide skills and capabilties to add carbon revenues to these businesses, increasing profitabilty, adding value, and speeding growth.
How We Work
Sometimes we develop a concept ourselves and attract the right founder, sometimes we find a founder with a great idea. In all cases, we roll up our sleeves, iterate and improve on concepts, continuously inject capital as key milestones are met, and leverage our networks and expertise to give the business the best chance of success.