Rinchi
TechInAfrica – Edgar Edmund is a young Tanzanian entrepreneur who founded Green Venture at the age of 15. Green Venture develops cheap and affordable building materials—such as bricks and blocks—using plastic waste.
By the age of 19, Edmund received the Investment Readiness Award at the Anzisha Prize’s Challenge Prize Awards in Johannesburg. The award was to recognize his significant effort to improve his business. From the prize, he received a $50,000 of investment.
According to Edmund, his motivation to start his own company is driven by his personal experience. People in his community in Dar Es Salaam had to build mud houses instead of cement because they couldn’t afford it. This had motivated him to do some research on plastic waste management and construction. He used his own savings when he built his company. In 2017, he managed to develop a prototype.
At the beginning of his business, Edmund had to search and collect plastic waste on the city’s streets for his first trials. This didn’t seem to make his father happy about what he was doing. However, after seeing his genuine effort, his father turned to support him.
“I think the progress that we have made as Green Venture and all the awards and recognition that we have obtained, has changed my dad’s perspective on waste management and my recycling business. He can now see the potential around working on sustainability, and I think this view has also been on the general public as now people around me are being more aware of sustainability,” said Edmund as cited from anzishaprize.org.
To date, Edmund has received several awards, including as the first runner up in the 2017 Anzisha Prize, 2017 Children’s Climate Prize grand prize winner (won $6,000), 2017 International Eco-Hero Outstanding Innovator, and being on the Forbes Africa’s list of Disruptors in 2018.
Source: anzishaprize.org
