Morin Akeredolu-Ale Built Enconverge to Connect Africa's Fragmented Green Sector

Morin Akeredolu-Ale launched Enconverge, a sustainability technology startup, after struggling to find opportunities and information while working in Nigeria's environmental sector. The platform connects people, businesses and institutions with sustainability careers, advisory services, waste management and eco-friendly products across Africa.

She told Legit.ng that the idea came from her own experience after completing her master's degree and trying to navigate the sector. Useful resources, professional opportunities, networks and collaborations were scattered across different platforms.

She said: "I started building it upon noticing how fragmented the environmental sector was and still is. Information, opportunities, and collaborations were scattered, and I realised that there was a need for a platform that could bring stakeholders together and make access to resources and opportunities easier."

What Enconverge Offers

At the heart of Enconverge is an ecosystem designed to connect individuals, businesses, organisations and institutions with environmental information, services and opportunities.

The company provides sustainability and environmental career development services. It also offers sustainability advisory for businesses, households and workplaces, brand visibility and positioning, plus research for industry, policy and academia.

Its digital products include a marketplace for eco-friendly products and services, a careers portal, a waste management platform, a directory, and a blog and news platform.

Akeredolu-Ale believes the broad approach gives the startup an edge because it considers the wider environmental sector instead of one category of users. She said: "Our ecosystem approach, our rich network and commitment to rigour. We build products and deliver services with the full system in mind, not just the specific end user or client, so we are able to cater to diverse stakeholders in the environmental sector."

Funding and Priorities

Enconverge is currently being bootstrapped and has also received support through micro-grants. Akeredolu-Ale said the business has not rushed to chase revenue, choosing instead to build the platform, test the concept and create value for users.

She said: "At this stage, our priority has been building the platform, proving the concept, and creating sustainable value before focusing on revenue and turnover."

Three new products are in development, targeting students, waste management and eco-commerce. She described feedback from clients as one of the company's biggest achievements. "Our biggest achievement is the feedback from clients about how our products or services made a significant difference in their individual or business journeys."

That feedback, she said, reinforced her belief that the problem the company set out to solve is real and that demand exists for better connections within Africa's environmental sector.

The Awareness Hurdle

One of Enconverge's biggest challenges has been creating awareness about the importance of environmental action and helping people see how it connects with their everyday lives. Akeredolu-Ale said many people still treat environmental action as a separate activity rather than something to integrate into daily decisions.

She said: "One major challenge has been awareness around the need for and benefits of concerted environmental action, or even any environmental action at all."

She added: "Many people see environmental action as separate activities from their everyday, rather than something that simply requires intentionality and collaboration."

To close that gap, Enconverge has focused on educating its audience, developing partnerships, producing multimedia content and demonstrating the practical benefits of responsible environmental action. For Akeredolu-Ale, changing perceptions requires showing people how environmental responsibility can create value for individuals, businesses and communities, not just telling them the issues matter.