The International Finance Corporation has announced an open call for innovators from around the world to bring climate-smart, temperature-controlled logistics cooling solutions to Nigeria to help the country address food waste challenges, support its health sector, and reduce energy consumption.
A member of the World Bank Group, IFC said the ‘TechEmerge Temperature-Controlled Logistics Nigeria’ programme aimed to offer market access and a pool of up to $1m in funding to top innovators matched with leading Nigerian companies to jointly pilot sustainable solutions that reduce losses in cold chains.
The programme is being implemented by IFC in partnership with the United Kingdom Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Kobo360, an African e-logistics platform..
The corporation’s Senior Director of Disruptive Technologies and Funds, William Sonneborn, said, “Sustainable cooling technologies represent a fast-growing business opportunity with particular importance to emerging markets. We are excited to support cutting-edge entrepreneurs to pilot and scale their temperature-controlled logistics solutions in Nigeria, and Africa more broadly.”
Kobo360’s Founding Partner and Head of KoboCare, Ike Abiakam, said, “Africa’s cold chain capacity faces a lack of investment in equipment for maintaining a specific temperature range throughout the supply chain. We’ve seen a gap in the market for shipping solutions, specifically concerning moving deep-frozen, cold and ambient goods in a safe and temperature-controlled environment. Temperature-controlled shipping is constantly evolving and our partnership with the IFC is a key step towards discovering the best innovations that will enable the efficient transport of chilled goods.”
