Abongile Nkqayi

Youth in Environment and Sustainability

Nominee's Province:
Western Cape

Age:
30

Project Name/Description:
Ma Afrika Energy Group

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/abongile.nkqayi

His grandmother’s lung condition caused by the burning of organic waste in open-air inspired Abongile Nkqayi, 30, from Malmesbury, Western Cape, to get into the waste and energy sector. The other reason was the energy insecurity prohibiting rural economies from industrialising at the rural level and adding value to primary projects, he explains. With a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in sociology and political science, Nkqayi has participated in a number of Entrepreneurial Masterclass programmes through the South African Renewable Business Incubator. He says that sustainable job creation, energy security, and carbon emission reduction, are core pillars of his entrepreneurial pursuits. His company, Ma Afrika Energy Group, focuses on converting organic waste into energy and high-value byproducts such as organic fertilizers. “This we do by deploying Combined Heat and Power Gasification Technology to transform waste problems into sustainable energy solutions,” he adds. In 2020, the company, which comprises technical advisers with more than a combined 35 years of electrical and mechanical engineering experience, was selected as one of 12 Driving Force for Change winners by the national Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries, among many other accolades. “Ma Afrika Energy Group is relatively still at the start-up stage in its commercial development as the Covid-19 pandemic kept it constrained at a time when it had secured a letter of intent from RD Timbers, a medium-sized sawmill in Maclear, Eastern Cape. They are currently disposing of the waste wood at a high financial and environmental cost and making use of expensive diesel generators for their energy needs,” concludes Nkqayi.