Sistema.bio expands operations across West and Southern Africa, emerges continent’s largest biodigester company

Sistema.bio has extended her biodigester technology solutions into West and Southern Africa to become Africa’s largest biodigester company. Founded in 2010, the company employs and contracts over 2500 people. Sistema.bio has operations in 31 countries, with its African footprint initially in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, as well as the expansion now in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Sistema.bio has installed more than 12,000 biodigesters, providing clean and reliable energy access to over 100,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Engie Access, Africa’s leading off-grid energy services company, has partnered with Sistema.bio to introduce biogas digesters in Zambia and Mozambique.

The partnership, which also includes the support of Modern Clean Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA), aims to reach over 10,000 smallholder farmers in the two countries to give them access to clean cooking biogas solutions, enhancing energy security, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the region.

In Zimbabwe, Sistema.bio’s expansion has been enabled through implementation partners Lanforce Energy, aiming to install over 2500 biodigesters in the country within four years. This initiative is also done in collaboration with the Modern Clean Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) and underscores Sistema.bio’s commitment to addressing energy challenges, promoting environmental sustainability, and supporting access to affordable, clean, and modern cooking solutions in Africa.

In West Africa, Sistema.bio Africa has partnered with Farmerline in Ghana and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Nigeria. The first biodigesters in Nigeria were successfully installed in July 2024, marking the beginning of a transformative journey towards sustainable agriculture and renewable energy adoption in the West Africa region.

Madrin Maina, Sistema.bio Director Africa, declared: “Today we have the technology, experience, and business models to dramatically accelerate clean and reliable energy access across Africa.

Sistema.bio’s biodigester technology represents a climate-smart energy solution for smallholder farmers that is rapidly scalable, can be tailored to local conditions, and has the potential to empower millions of people in communities across Africa.

Through our recent collaborations and partnerships with Africa’s leading green energy organisations, we are now positioned as the leading biodigester company within the African continent.”

The benefits generated by the use of biodigester technology contribute to 9 out of the 17 SDGs. SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life On-Land).

About Sistema.bio

Sistema.bio Africa is a social enterprise that works through three axes: technology, capacity building, and financing to address poverty, food security, and climate change. It manufactures and distributes very high-quality, affordable, and modular hybrid reactor biodigesters that enable farmers around the world to be energy-efficient and fertiliser-independent.

By providing flexible repayment plans and comprehensive monitoring services, farmers can acquire and operate biodigesters to collect and treat farm waste, resulting in clean biogas and rich biofertilizers.

With regional headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, today we have a team of 200+ people who work with 12000+ smallholder farmers across Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, and are now expanding operations to Zambia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Ghana.

About Engie Access Africa

ENGIE Energy Access is the leading mini-grid and off-grid PAY Go solar energy company in Africa that has empowered over 12 million Africans via smart integration of mini-grids.

Modern Clean Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA)

The aim of the Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) is to provide up to 4 million Africans with access to clean cooking solutions, initially in six Sub-Saharan African countries, improving health and climate by reducing indoor air pollution, avoiding CO2 emissions, and mitigating deforestation.

MCFA does this by financially incentivising companies offering clean cooking solutions, so-called Cooking Service Providers, to engage in the business of offering affordable, high-quality, and energy-efficient clean cooking services, thereby accelerating the creation of a long-term sustainable market.

The program supports the use of cleaner and sustainable cooking fuels, such as sustainably produced bioethanol, bio-LPG (in selected countries), biogas, electric cooking solutions, and solid biofuels from sustainable sources, e.g., pellets and briquettes.