The international jury of the non-governmental organisation Endeavor honoured the two German founders and managing directors of the Nigerian solar energy company Daystar Power as high impact entrepreneurs
The announcement of a total of 23 high-impact entrepreneurs from 11 markets took place on 12 February at the 93rd International Selection Panel (ISP) in Riyadh. Christian Wessels and Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, the two founders of Daystar Power,are the only selected entrepreneurs from Nigeria.
Christian Wessels and Jasper Graf von Hardenberg founded the solar energy company Daystar Power in Lagos in 2017 and have since installed more than 170 solar systems for schools, hospitals, banks, factories and other facilities in West African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Togo with a total capacity of eight megawatts. This has saved more than 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Christian Wessels, founder and CEO of Daystar Power, said, “A lack of electricity is the central obstacle to growth for the whole of West Africa. The chronically underserved regions here have so far been dependent on the operation of diesel generators, which is expensive, unreliable and environmentally harmful.”
Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, founder and CEO of Daystar Power, added, “Since the founding of the company, we have created more than 100 jobs at various locations in Nigeria and Ghana and the majority of our managers are women. In this way, we are already exercising a leadership role that has now been rewarded by Endeavor.”
Endeavor is active in more than 35 markets and coordinates its activities from 20 offices worldwide. The aim of the NGO is to influence societies in a culturally, financially and socially sustainable way with the help of the commitment of high-impact entrepreneurs.
Over the past two decades, Endeavor has screened more than 50,000 entrepreneurs in selection processes that examine their business model, social sustainability and development potential. Only about three percent of the entrepreneurs examined have so far been included in the series of high-impact entrepreneurs.
