BuiltAfrica Group

Energising economies and people to prosper Africa

About the company

The BuiltAfrica Group was founded by Thulani S. Gcabashe in 2009 as an investment and development business focused on sectors that support sustainable development. In its first 10 years the Group focused on developing renewable energy projects in South Africa, having successfully participated in the early rounds of renewable energy procurement under the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). During this period two solar generation plants were built and are in operation. In addition to this the BuiltAfrica Group was involved in energy efficiency projects aimed at lowering peak demand on the power system.

In this period, the Group also invested in a manufacturing start-up business that produces insulation materials for improved energy efficiency in buildings. The commissioning of the first of its factories will be impacted as a result of the of Covid-19 outbreak.

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Energy Generation

  • 75Mw Solar PV plant in operation since 2014.
  • 10Mw Solar PV plant in operation since 2014.
  • 5Mw Biomass plant (Financial Close expected September 2020).
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Energy Efficiency

  • Consultancy in various efficiency technologies and implementation of interventions since 2013.
  • Manufacturing of insulation material for improved building thermal efficiency (Plant to be commissioned in 2020).
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Food and Agriculture Technology

  • Application of Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies to improve agricultural output in subsistence and commercial agriculture.
  • Appropriate platforms will be employed to make technology accessible and affordable for existing and prospective farmers.

Our Business

Moving forward the Group’s business interests will be focused on growing its interests in the energy sector, as well as expanding into new related investment sectors. In the South African context, there is a need to transition from coal-fired generation as the main source of power to more renewable energy. The BuiltAfrica Group is positioned to invest in gas as a technology with lower emisions that provides a substitute for coal where baseload generation is required. Our generation business will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa where we intend being a significant player in the development of gas to power projects as well as renewable energy generation projects.

In addition, the Group recognizes the importance of Information Technology as an enabler of business activity, especially in the post Covid-19 era. Businesses that have been able to sustain operations during the crisis have been those that had comprehensive and reliable IT systems. In African markets particularly, IT offers great opportunities for improved productivity, which can be a “game changer” in certain sectors. Food and Agriculture is one such sector that could greatly benefit from the use of Information Technology. The Group intends to develop a technology innovation platform that will employ fourth industrial technologies (i.e. Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things) to deploy technologies that support improved food production across the food/agriculture value chain. In Africa in particular, this has the potential to “leapfrog” from subsistence agriculture to market-production.

We are an African business

deeply concerned about developing the full potential of communities across the continent

Over the past 10 years, we have made investments in a number of renewable energy projects, some of which are in commercial operation, whereas others are in the process of reaching Financial Close.

The BuiltAfrica Foundation was established as a structure through which BuiltAfrica Holdings can conduct its corporate social investment support of local communities. 

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