DURING his de-bushing operations on a farm, Peter Til thought hard on how to utilise Namibia’s dense forests besides turning the excess into firewood and charcoal.
This is when his winning creative idea of Omuriro Firelighters struck him and this resulted in value and income addition to bush thinning operations.
Til and his partner, Claudia Til, developed and patented the idea to transform the trimmed bush cuttings into firelighters for braais and charcoal fires.
The firelighters have two ends to fire them up and if fire is started at one end, it burns well up to 20 minutes. But if started at both ends, it would raise a very high flame for up to 15 minutes.
Their innovative idea is among five viable business proposals announced on Monday that were selected from over 80 entries submitted to Namibia Business Innovation Institute and Sanlam Namibia.
These top five winners will receive mentorship and training as well as advisory services from the sponsors to fast-track the establishment of the businesses. They also received N$50 000 each for expanding their businesses.
The grand winner will be awarded an additional N$25 000 at a ceremony which will take place on 20 November 2017.
Til told The Namibian in an interview that he also used sticks and twigs as kindling to start braai fires as he did not like using the cerosin/petrol/chemical firelighters.
“Then the idea was born to make firelighters out of the bush. I also wanted to employ more people and as I deal with semi-illiterate and semi-skilled workers, I wanted to give them work they could do,” he said.
He said he thinks de-bushing is one of the hardest physical jobs one can do.
“With the firelighters project this can be changed. I currently have four people working on the project and soon we will add more until we have about 20 people. The firelighters are handmade and truly unique to Namibia,” he added.
The said he believes with the Omuriro Firelighters, Namibia has an amazing export product.
On his winning, Til said: “I feel really honoured and think that Sanlam is doing something excellent for our entrepreneurs. I believe this will also be an inspiration to the youth. I like the added workshops. This training is essential to help people make their dreams a reality. In the end its skills and knowledge that make a business a success.”
He said the business idea still has a long way to go as nothing is guaranteed even if everyone thinks this is a great idea.
“In the end no one will really help with your start-up. But Sanlam is holding out a hand when it is most needed,” he said.
Another winning entry that The Namibian focused on is the Namibian Eco-Sustainable Toilets (NEST), which are waterless facilities that leverage basic engineering concepts to enable the poor to have access to basic sanitation.
The co-founder, Kaveto Tjatjara, told The Namibian that the product offers a number of advantages over current unsanitary toilet designs as it does not emit an odour, does not attract flies and is privately owned.
According to the 2011 Census, 48,6% of Namibians did not have access to toilet facilities.
As a social entrepreneur, he said the idea started as a result of the negative effects of open defecation.
He said when he visited his grandmother in the village, he had to use the bush.
The lack of sewerage systems in rural areas and the resultant improper waste disposal spread devastating waterborne diseases, he said.
“Winning this award is a great achievement for us. Not only is the financial assistance a great boost but having mentors who can guide and equip you with essential skills to run a successful business is a gift beyond monetary measures, I believe,” he stated.
He added that since the 6th goal of the sustainable development goals to be achieved by 2030 calls for the end of open defecation and adequate and equitable sanitation for all, he is passionate to be able to work on a solution to such a global problem.
“It is more important to ‘teach you how to fish’ and to assist you along the way with mentorship and training in order to make your business more sustainable, than just to hand you the fish.” stressed Ilke Platt-Akwenye, Sanlam Namibia manager for marketing and communications during the awards ceremony.
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