Plastics Innovation at the Coast

Whenever I am in Mombasa and it happens to be a Thursday, I would head out to the Swahilipot Hub for the Pitching Thursday. This is where youth entrepreneurs cut their teeth perfecting the art of pitching. Today I had the privilege of joining the panel of judges for the solid waste management pitch. Being the only judge online (google meet) meant that, I missed out on the coffee and networking (I would have felt worse if I missed the Swahilipot classic spiced tea.. or maybe I did?)

Listening to innovators pitch their ideas was very encouraging. I tried to capture what they pitched in a few words below:

Baharia Ninja: Diana Wambui and team educates school children on marine plastic waste creatively using a well designed board game.

Santic Social Enterprise: Ednah, Hassan and team collect plastic waste from informal settlements, recycle it to make interlocking panels. These are used for the construction of toilets, improving sanitation.

Eco Building Solutions: Kelvin and his team recycle plastic waste to make high quality durable building materials and roofing sheets and building blocks for informal settlements.

Rafiki Peps: Terry and her team crowdsource the collection of plastic waste in exchange for recycled usable plastic items. They also developed an app that will become a recycled waste "art gallery", users will be able to buy pieces of art made out of recycled materials.

Team Baba: (Oh! not that Baba..) Tony and his team have fabricated an interceptor. A boat (fully made out of recycled plastic) that collects plastic waste while its being paddled along the beach.

I liked how each of the entrepreneurs acknowledge that they just do not need funds to actualise their projects, they are also looking for mentorship. If you are the mentor they have been looking for, reach out to them through Swahilipot. They are doing their part to solve the plastics (in the ocean) problem, they most certainly cannot do this alone.

I loved the closing remarks by the judges (including yours truly!). A business should have a sound revenue model and clarity on the market need they are addressing. The entrepreneurs could definitely improve their story telling. Have a sustainability plan and invest in their own businesses first. I congratulated all of them on their innovative approaches and encouraged them to keep iterating their ideas and pivot to find a working model. Innovation is not easy :)

Now that I missed out on the coffee, I really need a cup. Hope you enjoyed reading, like, share, comment...I look forward to share more on the innovation space at the Coast.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all the judges, I learned a lot from your comments. Thanks to Arafat for roping me in on this one. Thanks to the Swahilipot team for making this event a success (keep up the good tea:)