Prince Agbata is a social entrepreneur, business consultant, and expert in recovering, processing, and recycling waste with a focus on the African market.
He and his partner Mr. Kafui Honu Wisdom started Coliba in June 2016 after the loss of their best friend in the June 3 flood and fire disaster in Accra.
He is a software engineer by training and worked with some tech companies in Ghana prior to starting Coliba and continues to gain recognition for his work.
In 2015, he became an alumnus of the President Obama Young African Leaders Initiative in Ghana and was later invited as a scholar to the Mandela Institute of Development Studies on leadership in Tanzania.
In 2017, he won the Eco-Hero Awards by Samsung Engineering in South Korea and was recently named a Fellow of the International Youth Foundation Action Net program in the United States of America (USA).
Prince says his mission “is to ensure that every single person in West Africa understands, and begins to refuse, reduce and most importantly recycle their plastic waste.”
He received the top Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Innovator Award by the United Nations in May 2019 and addressed the UN ECOSOC committee on his work, highlighting the prospects and innovation in the waste and recycling sector. In addition to other recognitions, he was named in 2019 as one of the top 40 under 40 most influential young Ghanaians.
Recently, He made it to the top 50 finalists for the 2022 Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition outside 21,000 applications with applicants from across all 54 African countries.
The Africa Business Heroes Prize is a philanthropic program, established by the Jack Ma Foundation, that identifies, supports, and inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their local communities.
Company
Coliba, among other objectives, is “determined to ensure that every district in Accra owns a deposit and plastic buyback center.” The company offers comprehensive industry-specific recycling services, quality control & sustainability solutions for businesses, corporations, and households.
Aside from their plastic waste collection and recycling solutions, the company is “helping to address the challenge of unemployment” by training young Africans — most of whom are women to tap opportunities in the plastic and recycling sector.
Mobile App
Coliba has developed the Coliba App, a waste management web and mobile application that connects households and businesses with affiliated plastic waste collectors.
“With just a click, one is educated on how to start a recycling program, request pickups, and get paid for it. The App is available on Google Play Store but compatible in Ivory Coast,” he noted whilst speaking with The Spectator.
Prince, on weekends, plays the violin and joins IDEA Africa, a non-governmental organization he founded in 2013, to build community libraries in rural communities of Ghana.
Credit: The Spectator
