This playbook is designed as a practical guide for BDS providers and founders of Green Industries, startups and SMEs in Africa, aiming to equip them with essential information and tools for navigating the fundraising journey and successfully scaling their ventures into other African countries.
How Africa's Green Entrepreneurs Are Scaling Across Borders, and What we Can Learn From Them?
Drawing on the insights and findings from a comprehensive benchmark study on the green industry in Africa, particularly focusing on the five core case study countries (Togo, Benin, Senegal, Kenya and South Africa), this playbook distils critical lessons from successful green entrepreneurs.
It provides actionable guidance on assessing readiness for the scaling of operations and products into new markets across Africa, market product fit when crossing borders, and what strategies one must take when expanding operations across the continent.
The goal of this playbook is to empower green entrepreneurs to unlock the resources needed to develop products and services adapted to new markets, build skilled teams, and achieve impactful, sustainable growth beyond their initial country of operation.
Real Stories, Real Lessons
Built on a benchmark study covering Togo, Benin, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa, this playbook profiles nine companies that successfully crossed borders and extracts what made the difference.
- Melanin Kapital evolved from a crowd-lending platform into a climate fintech operating across three countries, facilitating over $1.5 million in green-linked loans with 47% going to women-led businesses.
- Gozem grew from a moto-taxi app in Lomé into Francophone Africa's leading super app, now active in four countries.
- SunCulture sold over 47,000 solar irrigation units across eight countries and pioneered carbon credit revenue for African agritech.
- Koolboks brought solar-powered cold storage to 17 countries, with women micro-entrepreneurs making up 63% of their customer base.
- Oolu scaled off-grid solar kits across five West African countries before a successful acquisition in 2024.
- Qotto bundled solar energy with internet access, micro-insurance, and savings to reach over 100,000 lives.
- Smartfill cut plastic waste with IoT-enabled refill dispensers in South African townships, already piloting in Kenya and Bangladesh.
- Tolbi uses AI and satellite imagery to help farmers across five countries, delivering insights by voice call in local languages.
- Aerobotics grew from South African orchards to analysing over 100 million trees in 18+ countries worldwide.
Four Patterns That Drive Expansion Success
Across these stories, the same themes emerge:
- Localisation is non-negotiable, adapting your product, pricing, and team to each market separates those who grow from those who fail.
- Partnerships are the fastest route in every company in this playbook scaled through trusted local networks, not despite them.
- Flexible financing unlocks markets : Pay-As-You-Go, carbon finance, and blended capital were recurring tools.
- And engaging with policy early creates competitive advantages that are hard to replicate.
A Practical Tool for What Comes Next
Beyond the case studies, the playbook includes a pre-expansion checklist covering six dimensions, product fit, regulations, competition, team, financing, and legal structure, to help any green business honestly assess its readiness before making the leap.
Whether you are a founder, a BDS provider, an investor, or a policymaker, this document has something concrete for you.
This playbook complements the « Green Industry Benchmark Study » available also on our knowledge platform. For more information about the methodology, please refer to this document.
WEBINAR #6 Peer exchange on Investment Readiness for Early-Stage Businesses
The peer exchange explored what makes early-stage businesses genuinely ready to access finance, drawing on the perspectives of a commercial bank, an investor, and participating ESOs.
WEBINAR #5 Innovative Financing Mechanisms for SMEs: The Role of Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (ESOs)
The webinar brought together practitioners engaged in implementing innovative financing mechanisms in Benin, Togo, and Senegal.
WEBINAR #4 Strengthening peer exchange between ESO networks in francophone Africa
This session brought together emerging ESO networks in Francophone Africa and more established networks to foster dialogue, mutual learning, and the sharing of concrete experiences.
Synthesis of the Month of Entrepreneurship in Benin 2025
Entrepreneurship Month in Benin (MEB) is a flagship annual event designed to give a major boost to the national private sector and promote local synergies. This report summarizes the main findings and recommendations from the five workshops/panels supported by the IYBA-SEED project as part of MEB 2025.
