An Israeli-American environmentalist and solar energy advocate who pioneered projects throughout Africa has launched an initiative to share Israeli agrivoltaics expertise with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States.
Agrivoltaics (agrophotovoltaics, agrisolar or dual-use solar) is the dual use of land for solar-energy production and agriculture.
“The people who brought solar energy to Israel and sub-Saharan Africa are now bringing our innovation and tech solutions to Historically Black Colleges and rural black farmers in the United States,” Yosef Abramowitz, president and CEO of Energiya Global Capital, told JNS on Monday.
Energiya Global Capital is an investment platform for financing green energy projects in Africa. The initiative with the colleges and universities will be carried out by the organization’s new non-profit, Gigawatt Impact.
The project, which has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, will work with five schools starting this year.
Abramowitz said that he expects the Trump administration to dramatically increase this funding, allowing the Israeli program to reach scores of educational institutions and share agritech know-how with local farmers. President-elect Donald Trump, he noted, was an active supporter of HBCUs during his first term.
There are about 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States, which were established before the 1964 Civil Right Acts, concentrated in the South.
The announcement comes as tensions between the African-American and American Jewish communities have deteriorated.
“This is Israel’s contribution to a new positive era in black-Jewish relations through innovation,” Abramowitz said.
The Massachusetts-born Abramowitz, 60, and the Israeli company he founded to develop affordable solar projects worldwide were honored on Monday by the Society for International Development-Israel, for promoting climate innovation in Africa, at an event in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam.
The award acknowledges Abramowitz’s Africa-based initiatives, including the financing of the sub-Saharan region’s first utility-scale solar field in Rwanda, providing 6% of the nation’s power.
Energiya Global Capital is supporting a plan to create a wind and solar energy plant in Zambia, which is expected to be approved next month. Additional green projects are underway in South Sudan and Uganda.
“Israel has the potential to be a superpower of goodness in the developing world, especially in Africa,” Abramowitz said.
