TechEmerge Sustainable Cooling Temperature-Controlled Logistics Nigeria
Jul, 2020
Jan, 2021
Mar, 2021
Apr, 2021
Jul, 2021
In partnership with:
Temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) is vital to deliver fresh produce to markets and to protect life-saving vaccines from spoiling. The sector needs affordable, energy-efficient innovations, but with TCL consuming large amounts of energy and producing significant greenhouse gases, solutions must be climate-smart too.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, and its nascent TCL market provides long-term opportunities while also paving the way for scaling new technologies, services, and business models across Africa more broadly.
In collaboration with Kobo360—an African digital logistics platform that connects truckers to customers—TechEmerge is conducting 21 innovative pilots that reduce losses in supply chains, strengthen access to TCL-dependent products and markets, and build commercial partnerships.
Market context
$432 bn GDP
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy
206 mn
Nigeria is among the world’s fastest growing countries
$10+ bn
Global market for perishable products
TCL is crucial for both producers and consumers to participate in the global market for perishable products. Currently, Nigeria accounts for a very small slice of that market, but it offers long-term opportunities for those who enter at this nascent stage.
With 206 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Growing at one of the fastest rates in the world, Nigeria’s rapidly expanding young urban consumer segment is expected to fuel demand for perishable products, such as fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat products, all of which need temperature-controlled logistics for processing, packaging, transport, and storage.
The agriculture sector, which accounts for roughly 20 percent of GDP and 50 percent of jobs, needs affordable, accessible TCL innovations to get produce to markets. The food and beverage sector also requires TCL solutions, and aggregated output is $20.5 billion or 4.6 percent of GDP.
Nigeria, like many other developing economies, is a very cost sensitive market. It needs very innovative, cost-effective TCL solutions capable of kick-starting adoption even for low-value commodities.
Applications closed.
From a total of 70 applicants in 19 countries, 11 innovators were selected to partner with 16 leading Nigerian companies to pilot cost-effective, climate-smart technologies to strengthen the country’s temperature-controlled logistics sector. The innovators, which includes four Nigerian companies, were competitively selected by IFC, African digital logistic platform Kobo360, and TechEmerge’s independent advisory panel of cooling experts.
The local adopters are leading companies in Nigeria’s agriculture, food and beverage, retail, refrigeration, engineering, pharmaceuticals, logistics, transport, and distribution sectors. The pilot participants have access to a pool of up to $1 million in total grant funding to support field-testing in Nigeria over the next 12-18 months.
The TechEmerge Sustainable Cooling Innovation Program, which is funded by the UK Government’s International Climate Finance, also provides advisory support throughout field testing to help innovators mitigate financial and operational risks, reduce adoption risks for local firms, and facilitate market-entry and tech transfer.
What are we looking for?
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Temperature-Controlled Logistics:
Retail chains, logistics, agricultural & pharmaceutical companies need refrigerated truck design, off-grid cooling, and cooling for the production, transport, and storage for temperature-sensitive goods and produce. |
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Enabling Technologies for Temperature Monitoring & Control:
Innovations could include GPS-based solutions with data loggers for temperature measurement between -25°C to +30°C, with multiple probes that communicate on GSM/GPRS networks. Supporting software could issue alarms/alerts for deviations from set parameters. Online reporting system could provide live data of journeys, and records for future analysis. |
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Other cooling technologies for transport or cold store applications.
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- Read more detailed information on types of technologies, sectors, and specifications.
Benefits for participants
- Access a nascent African TCL market of potential users/buyers of cooling technology, products, and services.
- Work with leading adopters operating cold chains across different sectors, such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and food distribution.
- Access a pool of up to USD 1 million in funding to support pilot projects.
- Technical assistance from the TechEmerge team and our global network of advisors to develop pilot implementation and market entry strategies.
- Potential IFC investment for successful innovators with scalable solutions.
Selection criteria
- Priority will go to proven products installed in at least one commercial setting, but innovations at the product development stage will also be considered.
- Innovators must be privately-owned companies, typically with less than 50 employees and less than US$100M in venture capital funding (with some exceptions).
- Innovations must respond to the cooling needs and challenges of Nigerian adopters.
- Clean, sustainable, resource-efficient solutions demonstrating value for money and scalable potential in the Nigerian market.
- Ability to allocate time and resources to participate in the project, including virtual meetings and events, and implementation of field testing/pilot projects on the ground in Nigeria.
TechEmerge is supported by a network of advisors with vast experience in growing sustainable cooling technology innovation across the world.
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Arinze Ike Abiakam
Senior Partner, Kobo360
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David Aitken
Associate Director
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Dr. Raji Baskaran
Founder and CEO
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Amanda Brondy
Senior Director of International Projects
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Philip Denzinger
Economist and Project Manager
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Dr. Manuel Alejandro Fuentes
Senior Sustainable Energies Expert
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Yashpal Jain
Cold Chain Senior Consultant
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Richard-Mark Mbaram Esq
Technical Advisor
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Ashok Mirchandani
Sr. Management Consultant, Cold Chain Logistics
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Toby Peters
Co-director, Centre for Sustainable Cooling
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Kurt Shickman
Executive Director, Global Cool Cities Alliance
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Akin Sawyerr
Executive Secretary, Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers & Exporters Association of Nigeria
Our adopters are some of Nigeria’s leading companies in the agriculture, food and beverage, retail, refrigeration, engineering, pharmaceuticals, logistics, transport, and distribution sectors.
Competitively selected from a field of more than 70 applicants from 19 countries, our innovators offer affordable, energy-efficient, climate-smart solutions for temperature-controlled logistics.
Twenty-one pilot projects are field-testing sustainable cooling solutions in Nigeria to improve transport, storage, control, and monitoring of perishable products and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals.
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