Following the selection of the Startupper of the Year Challenge winners by a local jury comprised of industry experts, the winners of the 2022 edition were awarded during an official ceremony on 11 May 2022 at Am Weinberg, Windhoek. The three winners in Namibia are Paulina Alfeus, Immanuel Ndawedapo and Linda Ndakolo.
Alfeus received the award for Best Startup under three years old with Fredina Trading CC. Fredina Trading embarked on a journey to substitute wood with steel scrap drums (oil barrels) in furniture production.
Ndawedapo walked away with the award for Best Business Creation Idea with Industrialink, which focuses on cleaning solvent waste (recycle) through the use of technology and scientific knowledge so it can be reused. This is expected to improve production efficiencies of the manufacturing industry while creating means for a circular economy, which benefits companies and countries financially.
Meanwhile, Ndakolo was awarded Best Female Entrepreneur with Eliko Letweni Project. Eliko is in the process of manufacturing handmade soap bars and liquid soap using extracts of oil, fragrance and colours of Namibia’s abundant natural resources such as marula, peanuts, natural wild sweet berries and many more.
These young entrepreneurs will receive financial support amounting to N$112 000 and will also benefit from personalised coaching valued at N$48 000 for the development of their projects.
In Namibia, 101 applications were submitted for the TotalEnergies Startupper of the Year, of which 74 were complete. Out of these applications, 15 finalists were able to pitch their projects before the local jury.
Each winner of this edition will have their project presented in front of a “Grand Jury” tasked with choosing, in mid-May, the three “Grand Winners” out of 32 African countries and 491 finalists who pitched their projects to local juries.
TotalEnergies Namibia opened its doors in 1977 in then-South West Africa. The company was registered in 1988 as TotalEnergies South West Africa/Namibia (Pty) Ltd and in 1989, changed to TotalEnergies Namibia (Pty) Ltd. The TotalEnergies Namibia network grew to 37 service stations in 2020 with several new projects underway. Two main depots supply TotalEnergies Namibia, which are in Windhoek and Walvis Bay. Furthermore, TotalEnergies Namibia has throughput agreements with other oil companies in Ondangwa and Tsumeb.
Active in more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity.