An unstable energy grid, climate-stressed farms, rising waste, and inefficient transport systems are weighing down South Africa’s growth prospects. However, local innovators see these same provincial pressures as an opportunity to unlock potential.
This golden thread wove itself through this year’s Global Cleantech Innovation Programme South Africa (GCIP-SA) National Awards Ceremony. Appropriately held in South African Innovation Week, these awards mark the end of the 2025/26 GCIP-SA accelerator programme run by the Technology Innovation Agency.
The GCIP-SA programme takes early-stage ideas and pushes them closer to market. This year, 38 startups completed, producing ten finalists:
· Dakar Consulting (Northern Cape) – Solar-powered desalination and off-grid electricity system
· Gemanlee (Gauteng) – High-purity graphite recovery from electric vehicle batteries
· Kasi Gas (Gentle Ginger Holdings) (Mpumalanga) – Biogas and biofertiliser from organic waste
· Godisang Spaces (Gauteng) – CircularBuild digital platform for construction waste reuse
· Mosebe Enterprise (Western Cape) – Tsepo V3 off-grid energy system for low-income communities
· NutriXect (Mpumalanga) – Insect-based poultry feed using organic waste
· Phoka M Holdings (Mpumalanga) – Chemical-free water treatment for industrial and mining use
· The Itsile Group (Gauteng) – Smart logistics platform to track and reduce carbon emissions
· The Makers Club (KwaZulu-Natal) – Smart farming system for irrigation and soil optimisation
· Vonnie Projects (Limpopo) – Biomass-based animal feed and energy briquettes
Vusi Skosana, Acting Head: Enterprise Development and GCIP SA, PMU at the Technology Innovation Agency believes South Africa’s transition to a more resilient, lower-carbon economy cannot be solved by policy alone.
“This is not about ideas that sit stuck on a shelf,” said Skosana. “It’s about solutions that can be implemented, that can create jobs, and that can respond to real challenges in the economy.”
He said the ten finalists reflect just how close some of those solutions already are.
In the Northern Cape, Dakar Consulting developed a solar-powered system to produce clean drinking water AND off-grid electricity. This is a potential life saver for communities facing water and power unreliability.
In Mpumalanga, Kasi Gas turns organic waste into biogas and fertiliser to address the cost of energy and agricultural inputs at the same time.
Gauteng-based Gemanlee is tackling a different kind of waste problem by recovering high-value graphite from used electric vehicle batteries. Skosana said this was a formidable step towards building a local circular economy with clean technologies.
“We’re so proud to see our cleantech sector go from ambition to fruition,” said Skosana. “We’re seeing businesses big and small tackling real, immediate problems.”
Since 2014, GCIP-SA has supported more than 265 innovators, with many moving into advanced acceleration and commercialisation stages. Through initiatives like the Climate Impact Fund, over R150 million has been mobilised to help these ventures grow.
The programme is also quietly reshaping participation in innovation. The latest cohort was made up of 60% youth, 35.2% women and 85% hailed from previously disadvantaged groups. Skosana said this reflects how cleantech in South Africa is booming beyond the more exclusive, and inaccessible tech hubs of the past.
GCIP-SA forms part of a global initiative led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and supported by the Global Environment Facility. This coalition comes together to accelerate clean technology solutions in emerging markets. But its success in South Africa will ultimately be measured locally, noted Skosana.
“The challenge is to take these ideas and see how we can accelerate them at the speed of need. While innovation is needed, can it be translated into a business of scale to solve provincial and national problems? I have no doubt,” concluded Skosana.
SUPPLIED.
