Milken Institute senior director Emily Musil Church
The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation have launched the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy, a $2-million prize competition to reward entrepreneurs and innovators working to address accessibility to green and renewable energy.
The winning individual or team will be awarded $1-million, with an additional $1-million to be disbursed throughout the competition as finalists progress and field test ideas.
The competition is open to anyone, anywhere in the world and there is no cost to apply. Registrations are open.
The competition is designed to cast a wide net for inclusive innovation, providing funding, support and product testing to find the best sustainable and renewable energy solutions.
Winning teams will demonstrate the ability to deploy innovative green energy solutions at scale in Africa, with the goal of dramatically expanding renewable energy access, the statement further added.
It is suggested that entrant teams should make use of new technologies or adapt existing technologies in innovative ways to generate at least 60 kWh of off-grid electricity daily (24 hours) using green energy sources.
This is the second competition in the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize programme, a series of multimillion-dollar prize competitions for entrepreneurial and technological solutions that accelerate progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Africa and globally.
The first competition, the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech, was announced in 2021 and it will be awarded in May 2023 at the Milken Institute Global Conference.
The Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy is focused on finding solutions to the energy crisis in Africa, but the ideas and solutions generated could be used to help the 940-million people globally, who still do not have access to electricity.
Currently, more than 600-million people across the African continent lack access to electricity, and a lack of reliable energy hinders economic growth.
Milken-Motsepe Prize registrants have the chance to play a vital role in creating affordable, sustainable, and renewable energy access for a world in need of innovative solutions to unlock human potential and increase financial and social mobility, the organisers note in a November 17 statement.
“Good ideas can and do come from anywhere in the world,” says Motsepe Foundation cofounder and CEO Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, who adds that entrepreneurs and new technologies can “provide the solutions that will secure sources of sustainable and renewable energy for generations to come, in Africa and around the globe”.
She also expressed confidence that the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy will “catalyse market creation for innovative, renewable energy solutions and drive private sector growth as well as improve the socioeconomic living conditions of millions in Africa”.
“Population size and energy needs are both rising rapidly, creating an urgent need to find sustainable sources of renewable energy. Prize competitions have proven over and over the power of human ingenuity to solve seemingly intractable problems,” says Milken Institute senior director Emily Musil Church.
She is hopeful that the prize will to see a broad range of innovative ideas on how to create scalable, green energy systems that will allow for increased economic activity on the African continent and beyond.