Basic HTML Version
10
eBiz Africa Review
Summer 2013 /
Été 2013
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS /
JEUNES ENTREPRENEURS
It was while observing local Maasai
communities living adjacent to the
Nairobi National park that Dominic
Wanjihia began to understand the
great potential of biogas to solve
a wide range of issues currently
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He noted that the tree population
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shepherds were complaining about
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the piles of dung waste generated
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the hazardous smoke represented
a threat to the health of the whole
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The Maasai needed something
cheap, transportable, and easy
to manage, and so the idea of the
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but addresses the challenge
of providing energy security,
waste management, and forest
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An experienced
solution provider
Dominic Wanjihia is anything but a
novice inventor Wanjihia is a serial
inventor with numerous inventions
to his name, including a solar
food dryer, a Malaria Integrated
Vector Management Disc, an eco-
friendly pest exterminator, and an
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lover and born handyman, Wanjihia
thinks and steps out of the box by
designing green technologies for the
daily challenges faced by local rural
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Regularly invited to international
events, Dominic Wanjihia has
gained wider exposure both
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2012, Biogas International has
worked in partnership with IFAD
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on dairy farms, two in a children’s
home as part of an IFAD supported
programme in Kenya, and another
ten in partnership with a Rwandese
community-based
watershed
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Last November, Dominic Wanjihia
was selected to present the Flexi
Biogas System at the Global
South-South Development Expo
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Nations for Industrial Development
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a privileged platform for Southern
grown companies to showcase
their innovative energy solutions
to meet the challenges facing their
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Dominic has a strong commitment
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of biogas at a young age, convinced
that if children know what the
problem is, they can then become
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remarks, “If they see successful
alternatives to wooden fuel, they
will talk their parents out of cutting
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adults, they will not cut down trees
when moving into homes of their
own, leaving the forests space to
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A system that
really works
Unlike conventional systems, Flexi
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biogas is not necessarily new to
Kenya, the Flexi Biogas system
FLEXI BIOGAS:
SAVING MONEY,SAVING TREES
How a Kenyan entrepreneur developed an
innovative process that outweighs conventional
systems. Kenyans are seriously challenged
when it comes to providing for their daily
energy needs. In Kenya, 40% of the forest
is depleted each year due to rising demand
for charcoal, water shortages putting a strain
on hydropower energy, and ever increasing
fuel prices. Dominic Wanjihia has decided to
tackle these issues at their roots by developing
an alternative energy source with available
biodegradable material.
By Hawa-Saadou Kebe