Sonja Sagmeister-Brandner

Dr. Sonja Sagmeister-Brandner is the manager and co-owner of an ecofriendly environment project in Africa. With the Austro-Cameroonian company AMABO she transforms plastic waste into construction material. AMABO produces out of recycled plastic in combination with river sand ecological roofing tiles, which are shatterproof. This is an advantage for transport and installation of roofing tiles. AMABO tiles are ideal for tropical regions in Africa because the polymere/sand composition is pressed in a way that the roof is insulated against heat and humidity. AMABO employs 30 people in Cameroon. Dr Sonja Sagmeister-Brandner studied in Austria (University of Graz) as well as in the United States (Duke University). She holds a doctoral degree (PhD) and also finished a postgraduate program for „media innovation management“. Sonja Sagmeister is well known in Austria as long-standing TV journalist and former EU correspondent in Brussels. She started the Africa project as a hobby in order to support Cameroon and change lives for the better. AMABO became a success story (www.amabo.cm). AMABO won the European Rising Star award 2021 as best environmental project in Africa. AMABO operates in a terror zone in Cameroon (in the English-speaking Southwest) and gives jobs to young people. AMABO has roofed more than 500 roofs since the year 2020 and exports its roof tiles from Cameroon also to other African countries.