ACES / Koolboks

Rwanda

TechEmerge partnered with the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chains (ACES) in Rwanda, to test, develop, and demonstrate sustainable cooling solutions, particularly for health and agriculture. TechEmerge provided grant funding for innovators to ship their technology to ACES’ facility in Rwanda to be tested under local conditions and showcased to potential adopters. This pilot will trial two solar-powered chest freezers with Li-ion batteries, phase change material (PCM) backup, and IoT-enabled remote monitoring device to enable reliable cooling in off-grid settings. This was developed by French-Nigerian innovator Koolboks.

Innovator

Koolboks

Adopter

Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain

Along with partners in the UK and Rwanda, U4E has established the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) to develop and accelerate uptake of sustainable cold-chain solutions in the agriculture and health sectors throughout Africa and India. Working with governments, industry, academia, communities and other stakeholders, ACES will be a comprehensive hub for state-of-the-art technical assistance and knowledge transfer along the ‘farm-to-fork’ continuum.