Amin Sulley, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, is making money by turning coconut waste into cheaper charcoal.
Speaking to Joy News the Dodowa-based entrepreneur said Zaachoal was created to reduce coconut waste that is constantly increasing at landfill sites across the country.
“I realised there were lots of coconut waste generated every day by coconut vendors in Accra at every turn and questioned what could be done to solve the problem,” Mr. Sulley explained.
He told Kojo Yankson, the host of The Pulse on Joy News TV that when he saw a kenkey seller making fire with the coconut husk, the idea struck.
Explaining the process of turning coconut husks into charcoal, he said, “It is compressed very well processed and we take almost every fibre from it so it burns with little to no smoke.”
Mr. Amin also said the charcoal is easier to burn, burns hotter than other charcoal and also cheaper.
Applauds
The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) has applauded this initiative by Amin Sulley explaining that the charcoal being created saves the environment from damage.Lucy Quist, a board member at GCIC, also who also on the show said that the GCIC sees Zaachoal as a sustainable initiative that needs support.
“GCIC was elated at the initiative because Zaachoal is clean energy and also sustainable because the country keeps producing coconut,” she said.
“Climate change is real, but we can harness what could turn out to be disastrous climate change into innovative businesses that can benefit not just the entrepreneur but the society,” she explained.
Lucy Quist said, “the fact that an entrepreneur could create the business from something that is prevalent in the society is very innovative.”
She said that the channelling of the waste into something different can stop people from openly burning the coconut waste especially at unauthorised places that can easily catch fire.
She added that because the charcoal burns with no smoke, it saves the purchasers from the dangerous effect of being around the smoke all the time.