600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity; 54 % of the population have no access to clean water; 75 % have no internet access. 40 % of harvests are lost due to a lack of cold chains. Companies and individual businesses usually only have access to diesel power at most. With a basic infrastructure, rural communities and businesses in SSA could develop enormous economic growth potential.

The ImpactSites, which Africa GreenTec has already established in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, empower people to shape their future in a sustainable and self-determined way. Reliable and affordable electricity is the beginning of everything, creating new opportunities, jobs and income. Cold chains and water treatment make it possible to better deal with the consequences of climate change, and new perspectives counteract migration. Close cooperation with local employees and partners is a key factor in our success.

Africa GreenTec's holistic approach is complemented by C&I solutions and ImpactProducts that can be sold individually. The ImpactProducts include, for example, PumpUPs^®, SolarUPs^®, StreetUPs^®, CoolUPs^® and other high-quality products and services optimized for local conditions, which are either sold/leased individually or are part of the ImpactSite.

Short version:
Africa GreenTec empowers people to achieve greater self-determination and growth through sustainable energy solutions. 

Long version: 
Africa GreenTec empowers people in the Global South through sustainable energy solutions for greater self-determination and growth. We believe that together we can take responsibility for a better future and that each individual can make a contribution to living together respectfully and using our resources sustainably. Our goal is to supply over three million people with electricity from renewable energies, cold chains, clean drinking water and internet access by 2030.

Electricity means opportunities for people, companies, farmers and creates prospects for the next generations. Because energy is not only the prerequisite for companies, cold chains, the internet, light and the associated security at night. We are primarily concerned with one thing: the opportunity for self-determination and economic growth through the use of electrical machines and devices. Electricity gives people the chance to make a difference at home and shape a better future for generations to come. This first step sets exponential development in motion and empowers entire communities to write their own success stories.

We base our work on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - the goals for sustainable development issued by the United Nations in 2016. These goals were set to drive the improvement of social, environmental and economic conditions worldwide by 2030 and ultimately end poverty. We measure and quantify our impact directly on the ground and can demonstrate this in various ways.

Foundation:
Africa GreenTec AG was officially founded in June 2016. In 2014, the founding couple Torsten and Aida Schreiber saw the urgent need for energy supply in Africa's off-grid villages and developed a mobile solar system, the Solartainer, with their steadily growing team.

Aida and Torsten's founding story:
The idea for Africa GreenTec was born in June 2014, when Aida and Torsten Schreiber were invited by the Malian president to take a look at the country's energy supply. After visiting a 20-megawatt diesel power plant in Mali's capital Bamako, their lives changed. The power plant they visited dates back to the 1960s and, together with two other diesel power plants, is responsible for base load control in Mali's metropolis of millions. It burns 170,000 liters of diesel every day with an efficiency of just about ten percent and an outside temperature of 45° C in the shade. All this in a country with an average of 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. The diesel has to be delivered 1,500 kilometers from the Senegalese port of Dakar every day in 10 articulated lorries on a broken road.
As a climate protection activist and social entrepreneur, there was no more sensible idea for Torsten than to get involved in the renewal of such plants. Burning diesel for electricity in countries with so much energy from the sun was and is grotesque. That's why our Solartainers are not equipped with diesel generators as a backup, but are pure photovoltaic + battery solutions.

The holding company of the Africa GreenTec (AGT) Group is Africa GreenTec AG, based in Hainburg, Germany. AGT AG is responsible for the development and production of the system components for the ImpactSite, as well as for the planning and coordination of the projects (component and system providers). Africa GreenTec Asset GmbH issued a bond in 2017 and coordinates the management of the solar containers financed by the bond in Mali (system owner). In addition to these units, local, country-specific companies in the target markets act as electricity providers and form the core element of the operator model by guaranteeing sustainable operation and maintenance and taking over communication with the end customer (system operator).

Unlike a non-profit organization, Africa GreenTec is not financed by donations. Our business model is intended to stand on its own two feet economically and meet the local people at eye level. Unlike a traditional company, however, Africa GreenTec pursues a sustainable business approach. This is a company that not only pursues financial/economic goals, but also social and ecological goals in line with the triple bottom line of sustainability. 

The situation is different for emergency aid or projects that are not intended to make a profit. The Africa GreenTec Foundation e.V. was founded to provide support in this area. The non-profit organization collects donations and CSR budgets to provide aid after disasters as well as projects for education and equality. This is also where our ImpactProducts, such as the Cooltainer^®, are used.

As a social enterprise, solving social and environmental challenges is the top priority of our work. We do not give away or donate our services, but rather act on an equal footing with our customers. Our prices and wages are adapted to the respective local conditions and calculated in such a way that an ImpactSite can be operated and maintained as economically as possible. In this way, we ensure that our projects do not fail after a few years, but are sustainable in every sense.

Therefore, profits and turnover are a means to an end for us - not an end in themselves. Our goal is profitability in order to efficiently scale our positive impact.

AGT AG is the system provider and project developer of the AGT Group and is based in Germany. Its direct customers are companies that operate its systems. These are either their own subsidiaries or third parties, such as local cooperatives (financed via CSR budgets or foundations). AGT's subsidiaries (e.g. AGT Niger) sell the electricity and other ImpactSite services (cooling, internet, etc.) to AGT's end customers (companies, communities) in the target markets.