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Uhuru Green Energy

Integrating leading agronomy, technology and engineering platforms delivering renewable energy solutions that are financially viable, economically developmental, and environmentally sustainable.

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UHURU is Swahili for ‘Freedom’

The UHURU proposition works towards the liberation of the African Economy from the economic and environmental destitution and impoverishment arising from the dependence on and exploitation by the global fossil fuel industries.

UHURU ENERGY BACKGROUND

UHURU ENERGY BACKGROUND

UHURU was formed in 2012 by David Sonnenberg and Mark Kaplan to explore the immense opportunity provided by the scarcity, non-reliability, and often excessive cost of energy in Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa. The platform for this opportunity emanated from the research and development work as well as projects commissioned by David across Europe, Asia and Africa since the early 1990’s.

Shane Hervey joined shortly thereafter together with the introduction of a small strategic Black Empowered Shareholder Group. The founding executive team of David, Mark and Shane have been involved on a full-time basis over the last ten years building the UHURU business proposition, developing key strategic relationships, and engaging with markets and prospective clients. Over this period UHURU has operated a living laboratory on the Mpumalanga border in South Africa dedicated to identifying, researching and optimising biomass species and growing techniques. UHURU’s value proposition stems from the success of this laboratory in enhancing the energy yield from various indigenous biomass grown on arid or marginalised land.

UHURU has now reached the point of convergence between the construct and integration of service offerings together with the emergent maturity of client and industry imperatives and is incrementally capacitating internal and external infrastructure and resources to accelerate on the delivery of key projects in the UHURU project pipeline.

MEET THE TEAM

Services & Products

UHURU specialises in the development of medium to large-scale integrated energy solutions, replacing fossil energies with renewable alternatives, covering a full energy supply spectrum of solid, liquid and gas energy forms. These include:

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Base Load and Peak renewable power

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BioGas, BioSynGas and BioMethane

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Fuels including Green Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel

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Green coal / BioCoal

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Green Hydrogen / BioHydrogen

Increasingly important for prospective clients is the decarbonization of their business activities in support of their efforts to contribute to the alleviation of climate change and emission reduction and achieve sustainable energy platforms.

The solutions provided by UHURU are globally established as mainstream offerings in the rapidly developing energy sector in both developed and developing economies.

The primary role of UHURU as the project developer is the client engagement, project conceptualization and design, phased financing structure, supplier & service provider integration, project build and commissioning oversight, and strategic advisory and consulting services to the ongoing operations and maintenance of the project.

Component key to Uhuru Solutions

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Biomass Feedstock

UHURU’s BioMass-to-Energy development processes encompass BioMass growing, processing and logistics, and the production of various forms of Renewable Energy in the form of BioFuels such as BioGas, BioMethane, BioSynGas, BioCrude, for Electricity and Green Diesel. Area specific factors such as climate, soil, water, land availability, food vs fuel conflict, developmental, environmental and economic imperatives are factored into BioMass selection. Whilst Energy Crops & Agri Waste are the primary focus of feedstocks for UHURU projects Municipal Solid Waste will be included as a feedstock source where viable and appropriate.

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Technologies

UHURU integrates a range of off the shelf technologies and processes that have been
successfully operated globally for many years. UHURU has established value-add
partnerships with internationally accredited and long-established technology suppliers
including Turbomach/Caterpillar, Wiefferink, Ormat and Elettra.

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Engineering

UHURU has developed key working relationships with several significant engineering groups with capability and relevant experience in the development of large-scale renewable energy projects to provide the technology and engineering consulting, advisory, execution and commissioning project requirements. These include Worley Parsons, Group Five, DRA Global and Lesedi Nuclear Services.

Market Opportunity

MARKET OPPORTUNITY FOCUS

UHURU’s focus is on contributing to the emergence of the Southern and Sub-Saharan African Green Economy through the provision to end users of commercially viable renewable/green energy, either in locations where energy is not otherwise available or in substitution of existing fossil fuel consumption. In accommodating the complex challenges of food production constraints and the relative scarcity in many regions of arable land and water UHURU has developed ‘Arid / Marginal Land’ BioMass solutions essentially utilising plants and crops that require little or no water, flourish in non-arable environments, and high yielding in terms of energy output.

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Aside from the business, commercial, and energy supply opportunities of the UHURU offering, each project individually and collectively offers significant impact in terms of rural economic development, major job creation and sizable land restitution. This is in addition to environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation through the well documented benefits associated with the use of renewable/green energy.

CLIENT ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

The UHURU Engagement Strategy has been developed based on providing an energy solution to large scale energy consumers in the form of a long-term independent energy supply contract.

The advantage of this engagement structure to the client is energy supply security and cost certainty through a long-term procurement contract. This obviates the requirement for client investment on balance sheet in fixed assets, providing concomitant benefits for working capital and critical financial metrics.

The UHURU offering is targeted at providing renewable energy at the same cost or lower than available fossil energy. The economic benefits to the client will be significantly enhanced imminently with the introduction of carbon taxes and decarbonization incentives.

The UHURU ‘build own and operate’ engagement strategy predicates that financing for the project development will be dependent on the quality and risk profiles of the client, the Energy Purchase and/or Service Level Agreement and the project development and execution plan.

PROJECT PIPELINE

UHURU has engaged on a significant pipeline of projects which are currently under development at varying stages of maturity.

Agronomy forms the basis of feedstock supply for all projects, with key elements being the growing, harvesting, logistics, and processing of BioMass.

The selection from a spectrum of off-the-shelf globally accepted mainstream technology platforms, all utilizing customized BioMass ingredients will determine the energy outcomes to meet client requirements.

UHURU solutions are designed, having regard to viability based minimum levels of economies of scale, as and replicable, facilitating where appropriate the phased implementation or expansion of a project.

Detailed extensive financial and business case modelling including multiple scenario economic, and viability testing provide the platform for project conceptualization and design.

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MEET

THE

TEAM

Vuyo Jack

Non-Executive Director

Innocent Dutiro

Non-Executive Director

David Sonnenberg

Managing & Technical Director

David is a Sustainability and Renewable Energy expert with more than 25 years’ global experience working towards the development of large-scale energy systems utilising BioMass as a primary input. His extensive experience conducting agronomic research, coupled with a strong Industrial Design background has positioned him as a global authority on BioMass as a primary energy feed-stock. While his agronomic focus is specific to energy crops that can thrive in arid or marginal and, he has worked with numerous BioMass-to-Energy processes, including the production of BioGas, BioSynGas, BioDiesel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, BioHydrogen and BioCoal, all substituting for existing fossil energy supplies.

Since the late 1990’s David has been deeply focused on the development of Biomass-to-Energy initiatives and has been instrumental through the utilization of his expertise in establishing numerous ground-breaking projects, some publicly listed. These include inter alia: D1 Oil (first listed BioMass-to-BioDiesel Company), Helius Energy (Recognized as the #1 BioMass-to-Energy Project in the UK), B2E (BioMass-to-Energy for the Mining Industry in the Philippines, and Clenergen (German based BioMass Research company operating in India).

His experience working in over 60 countries across Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Europe has provided him with a deep understanding on the opportunities and limitations of specific Biomass-to-Energy systems across a range of different socio-economic and geographical contexts. His keeninterest and understanding of the full potential for BioMass contributed to his role in producing the BioJet fuel used by Boeing in an early iconic long-haul renewable jet fuel test flight in 2008.

Prior to focusing fully on biomass to-energy solutions, David consulted extensively for the United Nations across many geographies and contributed to the processes that would lead to the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995.

His work in the fields of Renewable Energy and Sustainability has been recognised globally and include being awarded the Global Legacy Award for Rural Sustainable Development at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002.

Mark Kaplan

Chief Executive Officer

Mark was a co-founder, together with David, of Uhuru Energy in 2012. His diverse and expansive prior business experience and extensive business networks have enabled his contribution to the development path of Uhuru into a complex and rapidly emerging global renewable energy industry. In addition to his role as CEO Mark is engaging in international dialogue on the sustainability and mitigation of Climate Change for the African Continent.

Mark is a Chartered Accountant by background and has had more than 35 years of diverse international business experience in leadership roles across multiple industries, covering a wide spectrum of business activities and disciplines.

Specific industry experience includes Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Travel & Tourism, and Commercial & Trade Finance. Inter-Alia Mark was a co-founder of both Tourism Investment Corporation (Tourvest) and DNA Supply Chain Group.

Leadership in the Listed Company environment entailed significant involvement in corporate activities including multinational client engagements, mergers & acquisitions, optimization of international structuring, and managing regulatory, compliance, shareholder & public relations matters.

In addition to business leadership roles, Mark has had 15 years of Strategic Consulting, Advisory, Mentoring and Facilitation experience, through which he has supported a diverse spectrum of Business and Community Leaders to achieve their underlying personal and organisational imperatives.

This activity stream provides the engagement platform for pursuit of his passion for social impact and community development outside of his business engagements, supporting in a strategic advisory role to a variety of NPO and NGO initiatives.

Of significant value has been Mark’s engagement and cultivation of local and international leadership networks, notably facilitated by his active leadership roles he has played in YPO, a per-eminent global business leadership network.

Ant Morris

Client Engagement - Africa

Ant Morris brings to Uhuru 20 years of experience as a global coach in financial services.

He has worked with leading insurance and investment sales teams in teaching disruptive marketing strategies and innovative negotiation approaches.

Ant works throughout Southern Arica with governments, funders and the private sector in expanding Uhuru’s footprint and project engagements.

He is currently activating key stakeholder relationships across Africa where Uhuru Green Energy solutions will provide the critical sparks to ignite national economic recovery and re-calibrate the energy strategy across the mining, agricultural, transportation, tourism, and other sectors while empowering the upliftment of rural communities.

Ant is passionate about Uhuru’s 4 Principal Founding Commitments which form the company’s North Star:

Liberating Mother Africa from the shackles of fossil fuel enslavement
Innovating pace-setting Green Energy & Decarbonization breakthroughs
Eradicating the terminal suffering of the most disadvantaged
Restoring human dignity by overcoming malnourishment

Chester Kaplan

Environmental & Social Adaptation

Chester is a trained archaeologist and anthropologist who currently works as a project designer in the field of climate change adaptation. His journey began in 2011 as research archaeologist and heritage consultant with a keen interest on early arid zone adaptation, before turning his focus towards modern climate change adaptation and project design in 2016.

He currently works across a range of organisations where he provides support and advice on the development of large-scale climate change adaptation, mitigation and green energy projects, including for multilateral funding organisations (such as the GCF) and for private sector companies.

As an anthropologist He often oversees the development of environmental and social safeguard frameworks (ESS), but his experience extends to cover all non-technical design processes including the development of logical frameworks, theory of change, implementation and budget plans, stakeholder engagement, financing frameworks etc.

In his personal capacity he is interested in all aspects of adaptation, but has a particular fascination with the uptake of innovative behaviors and technologies and the complex interactions that result across the spectrum of human systems.

Phil Riekert

Project Research & Design

Phil is a Project Manager who joined Uhuru Energy in 2015 where he was brought on to help develop Gauteng’s first “BioMass for Energy Plantation”. His focus was on Cactus, Moringa and Vetiver for cultivation on arid and marginalized land.

Prior to joining Uhuru, Phil qualified as a Rangeland Manager and spent 10 years in the South African outdoors working in the fields of ecology and agronomy. It is through this experience that he gained a deep appreciation for nature and the environment and realized the importance of preserving humankind’s natural heritage.

His passion for securing the natural environment and his desire to combat climate change are part of what drew him to Uhuru, where he currently focuses his work on the design of Integrated Renewable Energy Solutions. His main areas of work for the company include project planning as well as research and development with a distinct emphasis on large scale BioHydrogen, BioCoal, and BioFlocculants.

Shane Harvey

Financial & Project Management

Shane is a Chartered Accountant with in excess of 30 years’ experience working in Financial and Operations Management in Multinational Trading Companies.

For many years as Managing Director of Sherwood International he was integrally involved in the execution of integrated procurement and logistics outsourced solutions to large-scale clients in the mining and manufacturing industries with Sub-Saharan African footprints.

After leaving Sherwood he consulted extensively for several large business enterprises active in the European and African Markets, engaging across their financial, procurement, logistics and project management divisions.

Shane joined Uhuru Energy in 2013 where he contributes his extensive experience in financial and project management. In addition to his financial skillset contribution, he has been integral to the development of the Uhuru project pipeline, where he has led the financial and business modelling of all projects, including planning, technical and agronomic feasibility stages through to project implementation and operations.