Tech (830)
Last December, the Biden administration announced $55 billion of new investments in Africa, including plans to expand digital access on the continent. About two months after that announcement, some projects are underway.
Last Friday, U.S. tech company Cisco announced a memorandum of understanding with the Thabo Mbeki Foundation for the realization of several projects, including the construction of a technology and education center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Prioritizing digital skills in young people is the first step to realizing South Africa’s potential as a forward-facing, technological powerhouse. We must step up our efforts to give learners the resources and support they need to become digitally savvy and inspire them to explore the potential of the technology they’re using,” said Smangele Nkosi, General Manager of Cisco South Africa.
Under the memorandum, Cisco will digitize the center’s end-user experience, sustaining and automating the infrastructure, cloud operations, data center, and implementing a holistic technology strategy that will position the center as a world-leading information and training repository.
In December 2022, at the U.S-Africa Summit, Cisco Systems announced a $200 million in-kind contribution to Africa for resources such as programs, tools, schools, and instructors. The U.S. company said the contribution would, among other things, extend digital skills and cybersecurity training to 3 million Africans.
So, in addition to the technology center, Cisco will build a digital skills platform that will complement the Thabo Mbeki Foundation's education programs and offer international certifications in cybersecurity, an in-demand skill that is essential for South Africa's digital transformation.
Samira Njoya
The fund aims to support women in their bid to advance tech innovation in Africa where they still face significant access to finance challenges.
Last Monday, the Women in Innovation Fund (WiNFUND), a nonprofit accelerator supporting women-led and women-focused businesses, announced the public launch of the WiNFUND NFT Africa Collection, a collection of unique digital artworks designed by Rwandan artist Christella Bijou.
The fund, launched in 2022, also disclosed its aims. “WiNFUND is an innovative model that will help entrepreneurs grow by building an engaged, global community that will provide business support and financing through the sale of unique NFTs,” said Patricia O'Hayer, co-founder of WiNFUND.
Co-founded by consumer goods company Reckitt, the Health Innovation and Investment Exchange (HIEx), Kofi Annan Foundation, and the Ecobank Foundation, it aims to address two major inequalities, namely women’s uneven access to essential health care and finance.
It will be partly financed by the sale of WiNFUND NFT while WiNFUND NFT holders will have access to invitation-only events on the Sustainable Development Goals and will be invited to join a mentoring program to directly support successful women entrepreneurs.
In the second half of 2022, it opened applications for women entrepreneurs seeking its support. Up to now, it has received 300 applications from seven African countries. The applicants shortlisted will receive business support to help them grow, while the best will receive direct funding from WiNFUND.
Samira Njoya
Several African countries have adopted biometric identification in strategic sectors like public administration, security, transport, and finance. This much-appreciated development stems from their will to improve efficiency but, this adoption raises concerns, about various cases of abuse, it could facilitate.
Over the past decade, biometric adoption was accelerated in Africa with governments instituting fingerprint, facial, and iris recognition as the authentication norms in the issuance of various identity documents. and national identity cards. In its 2020-2030 Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa, the African Union even emphasized the use of such biometric identification technologies.
The Pan-African Development Institution believes that digital identity is essential for the digital economy because it promotes trust in all interactions, both online and offline.
However, this growing adoption of biometric technologies raises concerns given the legal weaknesses in African countries' data protection laws. In its report "State of play on Internet freedom in Africa 2022: the rise of biometric surveillance", the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) fears abuses such as profiling or targeting, that are dangerous for individual freedoms.
"The use of CCTV with embedded facial recognition technologies is increasingly becoming more accessible and prevalent on the continent, yet these systems tend to be intrusive. These systems can track the movement of people, recognize motor-vehicle number plates, and match live footage of people in the public with images of those on a ‘watch list’ based on their ability to recognize specific and unique facial features, akin to fingerprinting," the research center explains.
According to Africa Data Protection, by January 2023, only 35 out of 54 African countries had a data protection law while only 22 countries had a data protection authority.
At a time when many African countries are still among the "unfree" states (in the Global Freedom Score 2022), CIPESA stresses that "the right to privacy is essential in a democratic society as it plays a critical role in the realization and enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and access to information." The center believes that there should be strict oversight on the use of biometric data.
Muriel Edjo
Since its launch in 2015, the App Challenge has supported the development of digital applications that address African issues. The challenges allow projects to access personalized support and even financing (for some projects).
Last Friday, the jury of the Africa App Challenge unveiled the 10 finalists of the seventh edition of the challenge.
The challenge, organized by France Médias Monde, aims to encourage the development of innovative solutions (mobile and web) that promote sustainable agriculture in Africa. The ten finalists are from Cameroon, Rwanda, Benin, DRC, Tunisia, and Morocco.
The selected projects are:
- Crop's Talk is a mobile application developed by Tunisian Rabeb Fersi to help small farmers improve their productivity and resilience to climate change.
- Bazafarm is a real-time soil quality monitoring system developed by Rwandan national Samantha Ruzibiza.
- Ki@foret, a platform created by Beninese-born Finagnon Robert Agbovoedo, connects non-timber forest product collectors and traders with the products going to the highest bidders.
- MukulimaSoko is a digital and physical trading and renovation center offering several services to agricultural actors. The project was designed by Mbumba Lapaque from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- OGPM (Outil de Gestion de Projet Agricole), developed by Cameroonian Adamou Nchange Kouotou, is a digital platform made up of two applications. The first is a mobile app that collects information to analyze technical agricultural risks while the second is a web app that recommends the best agricultural credits and facilitates technical and commercial support for farmers.
- E-Pinea is a mobile application that connects pineapple producers to potential buyers through a dynamic map that allows buyers to locate pineapple plantations and the plants' maturity state in real time. It also offers an online trading space that allows processors and suppliers to display and sell pineapple products and related services. It was designed by Lucien Medjiko from Benin.
- Kivugreen, developed by DRC native Chris Ayale, is a digital platform that provides small-scale farmers with technical information such as weather, market price, and agricultural advice. It also gives them access to a broader market.
- Daki Farm, launched by Moroccan-born Mounir Jamaï, is an app ecosystem made of two main apps. The first app is Daki Farm e-learning which gives agricultural training in local languages. The second app is Daki Farm Smart Irrigation which helps properly irrigate crops according to plants' needs and weather conditions.
- Pallitracks is a sustainable forest management platform developed by Cameroonian-born Jean Gilbert Soh Ndeh. It was initially developed, in 2012, to ensure the traceability and management of forest products.
- Clinicagro provides an in-depth diagnosis of soil and plant diseases, as well as various soil-related technical indicators. It was developed by Cameroonian-born Pyrrus Oreste Kouoplong Koudjou.
As usual, the ten finalists will receive personalized support from an incubator in their respective origin countries. The winner will also receive €15,000 to develop his/her project.
Samira Njoya
In its seven African markets, Bolt claims more than 47 million customers, 900,000 drivers, and more than one billion trips. Its new investments are expected to generate more than 300,000 new jobs.
Last Thursday, Estonian mobility start-up Bolt announced plans to invest €500 million to expand its activities in Africa over the next two years.
According to the company's statement, the investments will create new opportunities allowing more than 300,000 new drivers and couriers to join the platform by 2023. "Over the past seven years, we have built a strong team of 500 people in Africa and we remain committed to investing in local communities for the long term," said Markus Villig, Bolt's founder and CEO.
On Monday, February 20, Linda Ndungu, Bolt Kenya's country manager, announced that of the planned investment amount, €100 million will be injected into the Kenyan subsidiary to expand its services beyond the 16 cities where it currently operates.
As such, this investment is expected to intensify the growing competition in the Kenya mobility sector that recently welcomed new entrants such as Farasi Cabs and Yego Global. Nevertheless, Bolt remains the largest ride-sharing services provider by the number of cities covered in Kenya.
The multinational company plans to add more employees to its team of 200 in South Africa while establishing additional offices across the continent in the next 12 to 18 months. To date, Bolt has more than 100 million customers worldwide, nearly half of whom are based in Africa.
Samira Njoya
Last November, Twitter launched a similar service, allowing its subscribers to authenticate their accounts by paying an eight-dollar monthly fee and receiving benefits such as "direct access to customer service."
This week, Facebook's parent company Meta will launch its paid verification system for Instagram and Facebook users, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced last Sunday.
Meta Verified is "a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support," the CEO wrote, adding that the service will launch in New Zealand and Australia as early as this week and will cost $11.99/month on the web and $14.99/month on Apple's iOS. Other countries will get the service later.
This decision comes at a time when the social media giant is going through a difficult financial time. At the end of 2022, the company announced a major layoff plan involving 11,000 people worldwide, or 13% of its workforce. Recently, the Financial Times reported that the company is preparing a new restructuring plan that would start in March 2023.
The new feature aims to increase the authenticity and security of the group's services, according to Mark Zuckerberg. Thus, in addition to the blue tick as a guarantee of security, Meta Verified users will benefit from, among other things, increased visibility and reach on Instagram and Facebook, as well as exclusive stickers.
"As part of this vision, we are evolving the meaning of the verified badge so we can expand access to verification and more people can trust that the accounts they interact with are authentic," Meta explained in a blog post.
Samira Njoya
They are 18 in number. They were selected from hundreds of applicants who sent applications to the JFD Club, a women's network that promotes women's entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and innovation.
On Thursday, February 9, the Women's network JFD Club unveiled the 2023 finalists of the three categories of its "Les Magaret Awards", which rewards women entrepreneurs whose innovations are addressing key global issues. From the hundreds of applications received, eighteen women were selected, including nine Africans. They are notably Cameroonians (2), Gabonese (1), Kenyan (1), Senegalese (1), Beninese (1), Egyptian (1), Ghanaian (1), and Ivorian (1) in the three categories (Entrepreneur, Intrapreneur, and junior).
Entrepreneurs
- Nelly Chatué-Diop is a Cameroonian and the co-founder-CEO of Ejara, a digital platform that allows access to investments and savings products from as little as EUR1.5 for Africans.
- Kenyan-born Maryanne Gichanga is the co-founder and CEO of Agritech Analytics, an AI-powered crop and soil management tool that uses satellite data to help farmers improve yield.
- Gabonese Alvine Yeno made it to the list with Ntchina, a community platform that facilitates blood collection.
Intrapreneurs
- Rhoda Oduro is from Ghana. She is the Business Development & Operations Manager for Developers in Vogue, a program designed to address the underrepresentation of women in the technology industry.
- Senegalese-born Ndiate Séne is the regional director of software engineering at PAPS, a non-profit organization that advocates for a better representation of African women in tech.
- Beninese-born Livia Sossou is the Director of Certification & Financing for Kumulus Water, a water services start-up that aims to provide clean water in an economical and sustainable way.
Junior
- Hend Adel, a 17-year-old Egyptian national, is among the finalists thanks to his project to modify the structure of aluminum smokestacks to reduce CO2 emissions and metal residues in the air.
- Frederic Melissa Djouka Fongang, a 17-year-old Cameroonian, created a platform that allows both residents and the diaspora to securely acquire real estate properties in Cameroon.
- 18-year-old Laurianne Yao, from Côte d'Ivoire, is among the finalists thanks to her project E-COL'LECTE, a platform for collecting textbooks and school clothes to be donated to the poorest households.
According to Delphine Remy-Boutang, president of the jury of Les Margaret Awards, a greater number of applications were received for the 2023 edition. “We have seen massive participation of young girls with applications tripling in 2023 for the Junior category. This is an excellent trend which shows the growing desire of this new generation to influence, through digital technology, a future they hope will be better," she said.
The Margaret Awards was launched in 2013. It annually celebrates women entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in Europe and Africa whose projects and innovations address major societal challenges. The award honors Margaret Hamilton, former director of the software engineering department at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory who developed the embedded software for NASA's Apollo space program. This year, the award ceremony will take place in Paris next April 17.
Samira Njoya
For several months now, the American company is faced with several accusations from individuals and associations, claiming billions of CFA francs in compensation.
There has recently been a new development in the legal proceedings against META, Facebook's parent company, in Kenya. In a Monday, Feb. 6 ruling, the Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Jacob Gakeri refused to strike out a complaint filed by Daniel Motaung, a former South African Facebook moderator, who is suing the social technology company over a toxic work environment.
A few months ago, Meta decided to withdraw from the case, arguing that the Kenyan courts had no jurisdiction because its companies are not domiciled or do not operate in Kenya. The claim was denied, however.
"My finding is that (the) second and third respondent shall not be struck from the proceeding," Gakeri said, referring to Meta Platforms Inc and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd which are "proper parties."
Last May, Daniel Motaung sued Meta and Sama, a Kenyan subcontractor responsible for part of the network's moderation. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he sued the company, citing forced labor, random salaries, and the absence of union representation rights.
Like thousands of Meta staff, his job was to scan and report East and Southern African users' posts. In May, several months after he left the outsourcing company, he filed a complaint on 27 counts including torture, exploitation, and discrimination. The judge said the next step in the case has been scheduled for March 8, including a hearing.
In Kenya, Meta is also being sued by two Ethiopian researchers and a Kenyan rights group who accuse the company of allowing violent and hateful messages from Ethiopia on Facebook, thereby stoking up the Ethiopian civil war.
Samira Njoya
During the coronavirus pandemic, technology played a key role in the fight against the virus, demonstrating its usefulness for other public health issues plaguing Africa.
The University of Liverpool announced, Friday (February 3) that one of its research teams is developing a digital tool to predict infectious diseases in the Horn of Africa by working with partners in Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Somalia.
By using climate data, the CLIMate Sensitive DISease Forecasting Tool (CLIMSEDIS) will identify key climate combinations that can cause several climate-sensitive diseases, including mosquito-borne diseases such as the Rift Valley fever.
"The CLIMSEDIS project is timely as it will focus on one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, extreme weather events, and infectious disease outbreaks globally. It will engage with key multidisciplinary stakeholders to better understand their needs for a digital forecasting tool and involve them in assessing CLIMSEDIS to ensure it is functional, user-friendly, and acceptable.CLIMSEDIS will be freely available to improve risk assessments and implement intervention strategies in advance to help mitigate or reduce the impact of an impending disease outbreak event. This will optimize resources and save lives," explained Louise Kelly-Hope a researcher from the University's Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences.
The five-year project is funded, to the tune of GBP0.5 million (US$602,523), by Wellcome, a global charitable foundation that supports science to solve pressing health problems facing the world. The funding is part of the GBP22.7 million funding package announced (three days earlier) by the foundation to support the development of new, cutting-edge digital tools to help transform preparations and responses to devastating outbreaks.
The funding follows a Wellcome-commissioned study published last year. The study found only 37 fully developed climate-sensitive infectious disease (CSID) modeling tools in the world and most of them were created in North America and Europe, underscoring the need for greater global representation.
According to the study "Global expansion and redistribution of Aedes-borne virus transmission risk with climate change," regional rate of climate change is likely to determine the future transmission risk landscape of Aedes, mosquito species that are the primary vectors of dengue, Zika virus, chikungunya, and yellow fever. East Africa is one of the regions where transmission risks are expected to greatly increase.
Muriel Edjo
According to Mastercard's report "The Future of Fintech-Africa," the number of fintech startups operating in Africa rose 81% between 2019 and 2021. Some of those startups operate outside the law and are deemed predatory. Authorities are now taking measures to make them compliant.
In Nigeria, an additional 106 digital lenders got their approvals to operate from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) last Wednesday, January 25. A few days later, on January 30, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) licensed 12 fintech startups, raising the number of licensed fintech startups in the country to 22.
"The focus of the engagements has been inter alia on business models, consumer protection, and fitness and propriety of proposed shareholders, directors, and management. This is to ensure adherence to the relevant laws and importantly that the interests of customers are safeguarded, " the CBK indicated in its release announcing the licensing.
In 2022, Kenya and Nigeria took regulatory measures to secure the digital lending landscape following consumers' growing complaints about the various practices, including high-interest rates and the name-and-shame behavior, in that ecosystem. Nigeria even took down more than 50 loan apps from Playstore, according to an interview with FCCPC CEO Babatunde Irukera.
Also, in November 2022, Google informed digital lenders operating in the two countries that starting from January 2023, it would host their app on Playstore only when they submit a genuine business license. "Google has been very supportive, including providing their expert knowledge and experience in offering advice on what works best in achieving laudable regulatory objectives," he said.
Since March 2022, the CBK has received 381 licensing applications. In Nigeria, of the 106 fintech startups that have received their approvals, 65 have received full approval, while the remaining 41 have received conditional approval.
Samira Njoya
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The development of broadband access in Africa has contributed to the growth of new professional opportunities, including gaming, which, if properly supported, has the potential to create new entertainment professionals.
Next January 28-29, Africa's young gaming talents will meet at Sofitel Abidjan's congress center for the grand finale of Orange Esport Experience, a pan-African gaming championship organized by Orange Côte d'Ivoire. This year marks the fourth edition of the championship with gamers from fourteen countries.
The participating countries are Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone. During the 2-day final, the champions of those countries will compete in games such as Street Fighter V, FIFA 2023, eFootball 2023 (ex-PES) and play a demo game on League Of Legends.
According to Orange, gaming is now a professional discipline that helps create many jobs, especially in the field of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and open innovation. This is why it is investing in that championship to identify gaming talents.
For Brelotte Ba, deputy director Orange Africa and Middle East, "Africa offers the ideal setting for this growing discipline.
Since 2016, Orange has been investing in the development of Esports with national and international bouts to bring out young gaming talents from the Middle East and Africa. the Orange Esport Experience was launched in 2018, and since then, it is held yearly in Côte d'Ivoire.
In Europe and the United States, gaming is no longer just entertainment. Some professional gamers earn five-figure salaries monthly. In Africa on the other hand, it is a relatively new field. Nevertheless, with the development of broadband access, it is growing quickly, presenting new opportunities to tech-savvy youth.
Muriel Edjo
In Africa, the agriculture sector is essential to sustaining the livelihoods of people living in rural areas and providing them with income, but most smallholder farmers do not have access to new technologies. This slows their activities in the digital age where new technologies play key roles in the development of every economic sector.
Heifer International, an international non-governmental organization that fights poverty and hunger in the world, will collaborate with Mastercard to facilitate access to e-payment for farmers in Africa, Mastercard announced in a press release issued on Wednesday, January 25.
Under the partnership, Heifer International and Mastercard will connect millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to Mastercard's Community Pass, a digital platform that will provide visibility to farmers and make it easier and faster for them to get paid for their products and create a digital presence.
“We remain committed to ensuring that smallholder farmers have the right resources and support required to thrive by leveraging innovation and key partnerships. We firmly believe that smallholder farmers play a foremost role in ensuring the continent’s agricultural food resilience and self-sufficiency," said Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President for Africa Programs, Heifer International.
Indeed, smallholder farmers play an important role in African economies. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), agriculture contributes about 30% of the continent's GDP. However, these farmers, mostly living in remote areas often not covered by internet services, cannot easily market their products and conduct digital business transactions.
The partnership between Heifer International and Mastercard aims to advance the digitization and financial inclusion of these farmers. Mastercard's Community Pass will address infrastructure challenges that arise when digitizing rural communities, such as unreliable connectivity, low smartphone ownership, and lack of consistent identification or accreditation.
Samira Njoya
Last October, Nigeria enacted its startup act, joining the list of the few African countries with such acts. It now wants to draw on the experience of countries that have already implemented such acts to develop its ecosystem.
Since Monday, January 23, a delegation of the Office For Nigerian Digital Innovation has been carrying out a working visit in Tunis, Tunisia, at the invitation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The visit aims to let the representatives explore the Tunisian startup ecosystem and learn how public and private actors collaborate to develop the said ecosystem.
According to the members of the delegation, it is important to learn from the Tunisian experience that could be beneficial for Nigeria during the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act, enacted on October 19, 2022. "We came to learn from the experiences of the actors in the Tunisian ecosystem throughout the pre-and post-implementation phases of the Startup Act," said Fuwa Naonobu, the JICA consultant accompanying the Nigerian team.
The delegation led by Oswald Guobadia Osaretin, Senior Special Assistant (Digital Transformation) to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, met with officials of the Tunisian Ministry of Technology and Communications. In coordination with the JICA office in Tunisia, the delegation also met with several start-ups and accelerators such as Smart Capital, Africinvest, Flat6labs, Technopole El Ghazala, and Instadeep.
It should be noted that the working visit is part of the NINJA project (Next Innovation with Japan) launched by JICA to provide comprehensive and tailored support to entrepreneurs at different stages of development. The project, which covers 19 African countries, is launched to encourage the creation of innovative startups.
Samira Njoya
The project aims to bridge the widening digital skill gap that is likely to affect digital transformation in Mali and Africa as a whole.
Last Monday, Danew Talla Electronics, the Malian joint venture between the French company Danew and the Malian company Talla Telecom, signed a partnership agreement with the higher education institution Complexe numérique de Bamako to train more young people in digital professions and accelerate the digitization of the country.
According to Hamed Salif Camara, general manager of Complexe numérique de Bamako, the partnership will help his institution achieve one of its objectives, namely unlocking the potential of ICT in Mali. He also invited Danew to not only partner with Complexe numérique Bamako but also with local startups to help build a better and brighter country.
On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Malian authorities inaugurated the center of excellence CEDEX built by Danew Talla Electronics. CEDEX, which started its free training on November 2022, has already hosted a cohort of 47 young people from the Dutch NGO consortium of the Local Governance Accountability Plus Program (PGLR+). Between January and March 2023, it will train over 150 young people in digital professions.
Through all these actions, the participating companies are contributing to the implementation of "Mali Digital 2020," a national strategy that aims to position Mali as a technology hub in West Africa.
Samira Njoya