Last Friday we had our official Shark Pond presentations. Our panel of judges heard "pitches" from Miles Kububa in Zambia and Emmanuel Asare Osei in Ghana. Miles is a young fellow wanting to invest in a Shwarma maker for his fast food business. Emmanuel wants to invest in a motortricycle to transport the plastic he collects from his agents.
Our panel voted to approve Emmanuel's proposal and award him a grant of $1,000 which will be repaid over 24 months at 0%. His business is eye-opening! Since there is little potable water in his city of 8 million, EVERYTHING somes in plastic bottles; which are summarily tossed aside. There is no attempt at "recycling" as we know it. Emmanuel pays "agents" to collect the plastic and then sells these huge bags (actually mosquito nets) to three companies who will then crush/shred/melt the plastic for use in building materials, fabric, etc. So his mission is much larger than just plastic bottles. He's providing jobs for an underserved population; elderly women, disabled folks who act as "agents".
