InSpire South Africa

Dr. Willums helped two South African partners, Henri Thompson and Michael Feldner to created in 2006 InSpire South Africa with the goal to encourage more cleantech investments in Africa. Both local partners had extensive venture capital and management consulting experience and a keen interest in developing sustainable investments in the Southern African region. Michael Feldner has been advisor to E&Co , the Rockefeller initiated solar development organization.

Focus on local Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects

When we started, there were only a handful of good projects to invest in. As a board member and investor in the Norwegian solar company REC, Dr. Willums saw the great potential for socially responsible initiatives in creating solar home solution i the countryside. Michael Feldner has since then be an active promotor and facilitator for solar systems in South Africa.

It took much longer than expected for the South African Government to put some of the concepts and ideas we published and promoted. But over ten years later, we can see large projects developing and are witnessing progress on a national scale.

We took part in shaping many of these developments, by assisting funds like E+Co Inc. to maximise their investment returns in and around South Africa, by working with the African Development Bank on investments in Private Equity funds, by evaluating numerous proposals for their commercial viability for EEP and by mentoring entrepreneurs with CTI PFAN.

We approach this from the dispassionate perspective of project and venture capital finance. While we do get excited about a new technology entering Africa, we are acutely aware of the limitations set by fund managers and financial institutions we work with.

Michael Feldner, BBA, MBA Director

Michael has worked on over 100 transactions in the RE & EE space in Southern Africa and has built up a network of interested investors and debt providers. In accordance with the objective of Inspire to be the enabler of new initiatives, Michael Feldner has taken over the company as part of the Inspire group strategy.