Author: Reem Akl

Can you provide a brief introduction about yourself and D-Olivette Global Enterprise?

My name is Tunde Adeyemi, and I am the CEO and one of the co-founders of D-Olivette Global Enterprise, a company that is working to address the issue of energy poverty in rural Africa. Before creating D-Olivette, my co-founder and I worked as researchers, trying to understand the root causes of widespread poverty in rural Africa. We identified energy poverty as a major contributor to this problem.

What inspired the creation of D-Olivette Global Enterprise?

My partner and I wanted to understand one of the root causes for widespread poverty in rural Africa. No matter where we went, they all seemed to have one key root problem, energy poverty. And energy poverty simply means not having access to electricity or cooking gas or kerosene, which makes a lot of rural African women depend on firewood. According to the World Health Organization, this is killing about 100,000 rural women annually in Nigeria and millions of women in Africa. We wanted to do something about this, so we created D-Olivette to tackle this issue.

In your opinion, what is the root problem of widespread poverty in rural Africa?

Energy poverty. The lack of access to electricity or cooking gas or kerosene, is a key root problem of widespread poverty in rural Africa. This issue affects a large population of people living in rural Africa, particularly women, who are forced to rely on firewood for cooking.

What is the kitchen box and how does it help combat energy poverty?

D-Olivette Global Enterprise is addressing energy poverty by manufacturing domestic digestive systems, one of which is called the kitchen box. This technology is very popular in rural Nigerian Benin, and it turns organic waste into two items: biogas and bio slurry. Biogas can be used for clean cooking, while bio slurry is an organic fertilizer used by rural women and small families to grow crops.

What is the goal of D-Olivette Global Enterprise and how will the award help in achieving this goal?

D-Olivette's vision is to accelerate the advent of this technology to end energy poverty in rural Africa. And now, it is time to take our innovation globally. I believe the award is going to significantly help us facilitate our innovation. Presently, the fundamental focus of D-Olivette is to ensure the integration of one million kitchen boxes in rural homes in Africa during the next three years. This award is going to make it so much easier for us.