Latest / Glovisor Podcast / How Clean Energy Is Transforming Communities in Ghana - Tangelic [Ep 95]
Transcript
- Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: What if access to clean energy could transform entire communities and create opportunities for generations to come? Welcome to the Glovisor Podcast, where we explore business growth, communication, and personal development through real conversations with people who make an impact. Our guest is the executive director of Tangelic He has led initiatives bringing clean energy to communities in Ghana, built partnerships to accelerate Africa's energy transition, and champion solutions that improve livelihoods and expand opportunities. Glovisor welcomes Justin Williams. Jesston Williams: Hey Joe, how you doing? Thanks for having me. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: you're welcome. All right. So Justin, please share with us what is it that you do and who do you serve? Jesston Williams: Great. Well, as you mentioned today, I I serve as the executive director of Tangelic which is a nonprofit that is focused on advancing clean energy infrastructure as well as sustainable development across West Africa, specifically Ghana at this time. And our work centers on bridging the gap and development between opportunities as well as actual implementation. So that essentially involves bringing together finance, technical expertise, government stakeholders, as well as local partners. And to give you an example, Joe, our Sunrise Spectrum initiative in Ghana, where we've been implementing cleaner cooking solutions in rural communities, has been going phenomenally well since roughly July when we launched our phase one pilot, where we distributed 150 clean cooked stoves to rural communities in in West Northwest Africa. And a significant part of my role is simply building relationships and creating alignment among various organizations that have different priorities, if you will. have learned a lot of lessons over these last two years since we initiated our operations, and those lessons have taught me that leadership is more often about influence rather than say authority. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: let's go back. What started this mission and why specifically that area of Africa? Jesston Williams: we we certainly did our due diligence in regards to the the best country to to start off with. Ghana is just the beginning and we plan to scale from phase one to s to phase four through two thousand and thirty-two will we where we will affect a million people as well as two hundred households in in Ghana. but Ghana they're they're very friendly to organizations such as Tangelic coming in and and helping their people. a lot less say hurdles to jump, less red tape, etc. And they even launched an initiative in 2018 called the Return to Ghana, where they encourage people from the diaspora to to come to Ghana to live as well as start businesses. So with that throughout my career I I've worked in different industries, particularly healthcare, finance, as well as organizational leadership. And why while those experiences may may you know be very different, one thing they taught me was about leading teams, managing resources, and turning strategy into results. I I actually co-founded the organization with our chair, Dr. Justin Dargan. And when Justin and I started developing Tangelic, we recognized an opportunity. To apply experience to challenges that have much a much broader impact. Justin, he has 20 plus years of leadersh of experience in in say the energy industry, and I have obviously have the 20 plus leadership years, 20 plus years of leadership experience in in various industries. So we make a a very dynamic team and we we've built a a very, very robust team over the last two years. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: great to have that partnership with someone that you know that that can work and then you both seem to complement one another. but Jesston Williams: There, there you go. Well said. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: one of the questions that I wanted to it's it's this is a huge undertaking. huge. I just it it seems so big that I can't even, you know, contemplate the the even how to start something like this. And the two of you came together to j start this off and to help a lot of people. So once you got to Ghana, how did you decide what you're gonna work on first and how you're gonna put it all together? And then you also mentioned this long plan all the way to twenty thirty-two already. So that means you you have a much longer plan. Jesston Williams: Absolutely. Absolutely. phase four, like I said, twenty thirty-two, that's our goal. One million people, two hundred plus two hundred plus thousand households. So we are very ambitious with what we do. you know, there's a need out there, obviously. You know, my first trip to Ghana was in twenty twenty four and I went on what I would like to call a fact finding mission. I I visited various communities. I was in touch with other NGOs as well. I was in the north, the south, the east, the west, and we settled with an organization called Green for Change Ghana. They are a phenomenal organization. they're located not far from the communities that we currently serve in the Northwest region. they've been in business for roughly 10 years or so and very environmentally friendly NGO. So they introduced us to these communities. we decided after my trip that the biggest need within the communities would be clean clean cook clean cook stoves, providing clean cook stoves to these communities because the traditional cooking methods cause various issues such as upper respiratory illness and they let emissions into the environment. So our goal is to affect the health of the people we serve in a positive way as well as help the environment by reducing the emissions. Again, a lot of these communities are off the grid as well. So no electricity. So with phase two, we will implement not only additional clean cook stoves and additional communities, but we will also implement home solar systems as well. And then there will be a piece hopefully with phase three where we will introduce many microgrids where we will be able to light up community centers and help farmers with irrigation for their crops, etc. So it's been a a phenomenal journey thus far and and we we certainly, like I said, are very ambitious to to hit our goal in in twenty thirty two. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Can you describe what a clean cook stove is? Jesston Williams: Yeah, absolutely. So I guess the best way for me to describe it, it is a a component that sits maybe about two feet off the ground. It's it's round in nature. So it's it's not like a traditional stove. I I guess if you if you can imagine a crock pot, a bit larger than a crock pot, if you will, or slow cooker, that you know, as some people call it. And with with these clean cook stoves, you know, it reduces the cooking time. by the women of the community. So it may say with the traditional cooking methods, it may take two, three, four hours cook time for certain meals. So we're able to cut that in half. But the biggest win I would say for the people that use the clean cook stoves is not only reducing emissions in the environment as well as you know the the health part that I mentioned previously. But the w another big win would be less time searching for charcoal or even wood, because the the stoves are run on charcoal or wood. So women and young young children, they spend sometimes up to eight hours a day, you know, in the fields and going to various areas collecting charcoal and wood. So they they still need to do that, but they don't have to do as much. and then we we did for phase one as well provide the charcoal. and would to to these communities too. And we we even have sensors on them. And those sensors tell us how often they're being used and the emissions reduction into the environment as well. And the feedback has been phenomenal. So as I mentioned, we deployed in in July and the community members cannot say enough about how it's positively positively impacted their lives since. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now do you go back to that specific community again and again to try to scale to the next level or do you try to spread those services throughout different communities? Jesston Williams: well both. It's a combination of both. So we will certainly go back to those communities and and scale within the communities because it was selected households during the pilot. So we definitely plan to open up to to other other households within those communities once we have our data collected, etc. And then we expect those homes to also receive home solar systems when we when we deploy those for phase two. And we will certainly look for additional communities as well as we scale phase two, three, and four. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: you mentioned that you you select certain families. I suspect that the communities are pretty much within the same situation or condition. what what makes one family more up to receiving one of these stoves than another? Jesston Williams: Yeah, that that's a great question, Joe. And as you can imagine, with some people in the community that were not selected, unfortunately they would, have the mindset of wh why why not me? Why not me, et cetera. you know, Green for Change Ghana are our on-the-ground partner. They did a phenomenal job with with selecting the appropriate households to launch phase phase one with the clean cook stoves. you know, it was an interview process. You know, that that's what it came down to in the collection of data. So they had people, let's say boots on the ground in the field, interviewing these homes, doing surveys, et cetera. And then with the data gathered, they then decided which homes would be best to implement the the first round of Clean Click stoves. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now did you get an opportunity to see some of these surveys? Jesston Williams: Absolutely. So we collected information in regards to say how many people lived in in the household, whether it be anywhere from two to seven. we collected information in regards to household income as well, based off what type of jobs they had or or the ways that they collect their income, number of children in the household as well. So we those were pretty much the the determining factors in regards to who obtain the first round of phase one of the clean cook stoves. And it was variety. it was a variety. So as we we want or we need all types of data for as we move forward in scale. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Just for point of reference, what income levels are we talking about? Jesston Williams: absolutely poverty level. you know, the the great people of the communities that we serve, they have all types of different different jobs that they do, whether it be farming, whether it be trade, whether it be working for local businesses as well, where they would have to travel an hour plus from the villages that they they live in. But that area in Northwest Ghana. a lot of farming is done. A lot of farming is done. So that's the main that's the main job that most of the the men in the villages partake in. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: I could only imagine that this requires a lot of money to fund this process. now how do you raise capital as an organization? Jesston Williams: That's a that's a great question. So phase one, we receive catalytic funding, but we are currently in conversations with the major donors, major investors as well, to get us to the point where we are able to deploy phase two and beyond as we as we scale. through the through the upcoming years. So obviously there's a a carbon credit piece involved which is very attractive to investors. Now I'm no expert in that field. There are people on my team that are much more versed in that, but that is the attraction say to investors that are looking to invest in in Africa, specifically Ghana with our energy deployment projects. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: what is a carbon credit and how does that benefit me? I'm a business in US and how would that benefit me to get a carbon credit in Ghana? Jesston Williams: Absolutely, absolutely. So with the clean cook stoves and even the home solar systems that we will deploy during phase two, they they how can I say they collect data in regards to emissions that is released into the environment. So ideally with depending on the sun for for energy with the home solar systems and then with the clean cook stu stoves that r release let's say smoke emissions into the environment, that data is collected. And once you reach a certain point, With that data, then a carbon credit is earned. So ideally, investors want technologies that reduce the most emissions into the environment because what happens is that builds the greater amount of carbon credits. So if you can imagine once we get to phase four and we're serving 200,000 households and a million people through various means such as clean click stoves. Home solar systems, community microgrids, we're gonna have a lot of carbon credits, right? And what they can do is then cash those carbon credits in for for actual money, you know, US dollars. You know, so it's like an investment. I I don't wanna say, you know, think of it as I I guess I would say I I don't wanna compare it to Bitcoin. You know, obviously that's something totally different where it's a cryptocurrency, but you know, you can if you have Bitcoin or any type of cryptocurrency, you can cash it in for for money. So carbon credits kinda act in the same manner. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: It was the life cycle of a carbon credit. Jesston Williams: the life cycle, so they they go in quarters. you receive you collect data every quarter and you you hold on to those and then you can hold on to them for a period of time and c or or continue to collect them and then eventually you would be able to to cash them in for for money. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Does their value reduce over time? Jesston Williams: No, they do not. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: if you have a carbon credit from 2024, you can still trade that carbon copy today. Jesston Williams: You got it. That's correct. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now, why are businesses, let's just say in US or Canada, so interested in amassing some of these credits? Jesston Williams: well that that's another great question, Joe. So the you the there is something called Article Six within the Paris Agreement, where a collective of of countries have come together to fight climate change and to obviously reduce emissions in the environment. And that's the attractive thing. And when they're able to do that, they then receive money as in regards to loans and grants, et cetera. And you know, it's just a huge initiative that has been going on for several years now that makes it very attractive for for businesses such as Tangelik, or should say organizations such as Tangelik, and for these countries such as Ghana, even the United States, to meet the requirements set forth by the Paris Agreement. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now who would be the ideal individual that should be contacting you right now? Jesston Williams: great question. So the ideal individuals that would be ideal to contact T Tangelik right now would be private institutions, anyone interested in investing in in Africa, private investors, organizations that are looking to provide grants for climate change projects as well. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: if someone wanted to work with you right now, what what would be the process in getting that started? Jesston Williams: Well, they the first step obviously would be to just reach out to us. you know, we have a website, tangeliclife.org. we have social media as well, but I would say a good start would be tangeliclife.org. you know, find our email on there, send us a message with what type of idea they may have in regards to working with us, and then we would simply set up a a meeting with the leadership team. and have a conversation. That would be the the first start. And again, that could be you know corporate sponsors, funders, strategic pop strategic partners, or anyone simply wanting to make an impact in in in Africa or the environment as a whole. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now is there a takeaway that you want our listeners to remember from this conversation? Jesston Williams: I would say if if there's one thing that my journey has taught me, it's that leadership is not about having all the answers. Okay. I would say it's about being willing to make difficult decisions and bringing people together. around a shared purpose. And that that's really important to me. And remaining adaptable as well when when circumstances change because what we did, we we started Tangelic without a playbook. And we've had to pivot, we've had to build relationships, we've had to do a lot of things to get us to where we are today. It's been quite the challenge, but it's certainly a very rewarding one. And ultimately I think that anyone's goal should be to build something meaningful that lasts beyond their own involvement. So that is certainly what I would like to share with the people and and definitely what makes it makes it worthy to myself. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: That's a great takeaway. Now, where can people connect with you and find out more about your work and continue this conversation? Jesston Williams: Definitely our website, tangeliclife.org, t-a-n-g-e-li-c L-I-F-E.org. We're also on all the social media platforms. We also host a a weekly podcast as well. titled called Tangelic Talks. So there are various various ways to get in contact with us. But I I certainly encourage everyone to to visit our website. That way they can view our leadership team. They can read more about our projects we have going on. They can read more about some of the other things that we've participated in as well over the last couple years. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Jesston thank you so much for joining us and for all your work in Ghana. Hey, Jesston Williams: Thank you, Joe. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: you're welcome. Thank you everyone for listening. If this episode inspired you, make sure you share it with someone. And don't forget to follow the Globalizor podcast for more conversations that make an impact. Till the next time.