The solution aims to contribute to the achievement of some sustainable development goals related to the quality of education and the reduction of gender inequalities.
iSchool is an edtech platform that allows children aged 6 to 18 to learn software development, artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). It was developed by an Egyptian startup, founded in 2018, by Mohamed Algawish, Mustafa AbdelMon'em, Ebrahim Youssef, and Mohamed Nabil.
It has no mobile app yet. So, to access its courses, users need to visit its web platform. For 6 to 8-year-olds, it offers a coding program that teaches them programming basics. For kids aged between 9 and 12, it teaches programming languages such as Python or JavaScript. With iSchool, learners aged 13 and beyond start building project portfolios in preparation for their university studies or entry into the job market.
To effectively teach learners, the edtech opted for the STEAM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) methodology, which allows students to learn through experimentation to better assimilate the concepts inherent to each discipline. Classes are conducted in Arabic and English and learners are grouped into teams of 4-6 students of the same age range for 2 hours 30 minutes of learning each week.
In 2018, iSchool was one of the winners of the Bizex startup competition. Currently, it claims more than 10,000 students enrolled, 250 instructors, and more than 650,000 hours of training delivered. According to its data, its students are mainly in Canada, the United States, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, and Palestine.
Since its launch, it has raised $160,000 to develop its platform and expand to other markets in North Africa and the Middle East.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Africa’s low bancarisation rate is an opportunity for many fintech companies to thrive on the continent. These companies, both local and international, offer interesting solutions to improve financial inclusion.
Kowri is a fintech solution developed by Ghanaian firm DreamOval Limited. It allows access to financial services such as loans as well as fund transfers and reception.
“Kowri Business is an integrated Fintech Platform that simplifies how banks and fintech acquire merchants, switch transactions and process local and international remittances to and from any Money Transfer Operator,” DreamOval indicates on its web platform.
Users can access Kowri's services from its mobile application, available on Android and iOS. Once they create their Kowri account, they can access services like fund transfer, airtime, and data top-up as well as utility bill payment.
With its Kowri Business feature, it gives users the possibility to collect payment across mobile and digital channels. By signing up for the service, businesses “get access to a unique payment link, USSD code, QR code, and their own back office portal to enable them to collect payments across multiple mobile money wallets, cards, and cash.”
Through its Kowri Protect feature, the solution offers free insurance coverage to merchants that use the business feature. “Kowri Protect is an insurance solution designed to protect your store against various natural disasters, burglaries, fire, floods, and more,” Kowri indicates.
In May 2023, the solution signed a partnership with US-based student loan provider Mpower to offer loans to African students pursuing Master's degrees in Canada and the US. It plans to expand across Africa but, to achieve that plan, it may have to organize funding rounds.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
He is a successful entrepreneur and investor who owns an investment holding focused on African tech firms. One of his companies, CarePoint, has become a reference in the African health sector.
Sangu Delle (photo) is a Ghanaian entrepreneur, investor, and author. He is the founder and CEO of CarePoint, a state-of-the-art healthcare company, which owns over 65 healthcare facilities in Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
He earned a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard. He also has a Master's in international human rights law from Oxford University, and holds a doctorate in economic anthropology and African studies from the University of Birmingham.
CarePoint was formerly known as Africa Health Holdings Ltd. It operates six brands, Seha Healthcare, Lily Hospitals, CarePoint, Meridian Health Group, Rabito Clinic, and My Care Mobile in its operating countries. With more than 1,500 patients treated, more than 10,000 patients reached through telemedicine and more than 5,000 surgeries and essential procedures performed, the company employs 1,993 people and is one of the leaders in the sector in Africa.
Sangu Delle is also the founder and executive chairman of Golden Palm Investments, a pan-African venture capital firm focused on supporting leading African entrepreneurs who are leveraging digital technologies to solve some of the major challenges facing the African continent.
He is also the co-founder and president of Cleanacwa, a nonprofit which works to bring clean water to Ghana's least developed areas. The Eisenhower Fellow is a member of YPO, a global community of leaders, and the director of mPharma, a healthtech company that improves access to medicines.
A TED Fellow and term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Sangu Delle was voted Young Person of the Year by Future Awards Africa in 2014. In 2015, he was named one of the 30 most promising African entrepreneurs by Forbes Magazine. Some four years later, New African Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential Africans.
The 2021 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader is the co-author of "Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa." He has also presented TED talks on mental health, gender equality, and African macro-finance.
Melchior Koba
The country was initially scheduled to launch its satellite into orbit in 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the launch was postponed to 2023. So, it wants to make up for this delay in the coming months.
Senegal's space control center is set to be inaugurated by the end of June 2023, as announced by Professor Gayane Fay, the coordinator of the Senegalese space program at the Ministry of Higher Education. The announcement was made during a visit to the construction site in Diamniadio last Thursday, attended by a delegation from Montpellier University's Space Center and the Senegalese telecom regulator ARTP. The coordinator mentioned that ARTP and Montpellier University's Space Center would handle matters related to frequencies and other relevant topics.
In addition to providing infrastructure for satellite manufacturing and satellite services, the Diamniadio space control center will also serve as a training facility for professionals and conduct research. The center is a result of a memorandum of understanding signed, in January 2019, by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the French National space center, and aerospace company Ariane Group. The memorandum encompasses the construction of the control center, the development of the Senegalese nanosatellite (initially planned for launch in 2021), and training for the satellite manufacturing team, which consists of eight engineers and five technicians.
Once launched, the satellite will establish connections with every station it passes over, collecting data recorded by those stations and transmitting them directly to the Diamniadio space control center. This data will contribute to the prevention and effective response to various challenges such as bushfires, floods, and soil erosion, while also supporting agricultural development.
Successfully deploying the satellite will position Senegal among the select group of African countries that possess around 40 satellites.
Samira Njoya
Last Monday (May 8), Alexandria Procter, co-founder of South African accommodation website DigsConnect, announced that the women-led investment firm Intaba Capital invested in his firm's ongoing Series A round. The investment amount was, however, not disclosed.
The visit aims to seek the expertise of Germany, which ranks among the most technologically advanced countries.
Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, was in Germany from Tuesday, May 9 to Friday, May 12, to seek international partnerships to build capacities and accelerate digital transformation in Egypt. According to a statement issued on Friday by the Ministry of ICT, the government official met with German officials, including Niels Annen, Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as tech executives.
Among the tech executives he met were Ammar Alkassar, a board member and executive in residence at GovTech Campus Deutschland, which promotes cooperation between the private and public IT sectors. Amr Talaat also met with Johannes Bruder, the head of products at Delivery Hero, a German multinational online food ordering and delivery company based in Berlin, operating in over 70 countries. The two parties discussed the company's expansion to Egypt.
Additionally, the ICT Minister met with Dennis Walter, the EEMEA Vice President of Ottobock, a company specializing in prosthetics and orthopedic technology. They discussed collaboration in research and development (R&D) and assistive technologies. Another meeting was held with Steffen Kuhn, the managing partner of Detecon International's Digital Engineering Center (DEC), to discuss Industry 4.0 cooperation opportunities.
In March 2023, Egypt and Germany decided to enhance their IT cooperation. Germany, already well advanced in the sector, ranks among the most technologically advanced countries. In the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL Index) published in October 2022, it ranked 3rd, just behind Israel and Denmark. The country plans to support Egypt in major projects, including the Supporting e-Government and Innovation in the Public Administration (InnoPA) project implemented in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). It also plans to establish a laboratory for the creation of government applications in Egypt shortly.
Samira Njoya
African tech entrepreneurs are increasingly coming up with homegrown solutions to improve the daily lives of professionals in various sectors. Proptech, while not as prominent as other tech sectors, has its share of innovations.
reOS is a cloud-based proptech platform developed by a South African start-up. It helps rental professionals, agencies, and freelancers automate most of their monthly tasks such as billing, collections, payments, communications, and reporting. The Cape Town-based startup was founded in 2018 by Craig Buckley.
“There has been a great deal of excitement surrounding rental technology in recent years, with several new entrants to the industry. However, these companies have tended to focus on self-service, with direct-to-consumer models aimed at tenants, property owners, and landlords. For the most part, these products look to cut the agent out. reOS has taken a different view, recognizing that the greatest opportunity lies in enabling rental professionals to offer more value to their customers – at scale,” said Craig Buckley in 2020 explaining the rationale behind reOS missions.
Users can access the solution from its web platform and desktop application. Once they create their accounts, they can access services like lease and portfolio management, money management, financial reporting, and cloud storage.
The start-up offers several subscription packages. Its packages adapt to subscribers’ portfolios and the features needed. Currently, it operates in South Africa but it does not rule out future expansion. “While we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, reOS was designed with international markets in mind and as a result that would be a natural progression for us,” Craig Buckley indicated.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The organization wants to transform the agricultural ecosystem in West Africa. To achieve this, it offers training and workspaces and develops projects to support young entrepreneurs.
Founded in 2016, Yeesal Agri Hub is an innovative entrepreneurship support organization (SAEI) under the leadership of Awa Caba from Senegal. Its primary objective is to establish an ecosystem and deliver services that foster the economic growth of youth, returning migrants, novice farmers, and rural communities. The organization is dedicated to nurturing the skills and abilities of individuals interested in agribusiness, agritech, and the green economy while eliminating obstacles to entry into these sectors. Furthermore, Yeesal Agri Hub offers shared workspaces, platforms for promoting local products, and supportive environments to ensure entrepreneurs have optimal working conditions.
The organization has developed a dozen projects, including the Sandiara Agribusiness Innovation. This initiative aims to support rural entrepreneurs by introducing them to agroecological practices and assisting women's groups in the processing and marketing of agricultural products.
With partners such as Afric'innov, FAO, the United States Embassy in Senegal, the German Cooperation, and Broederlijk Delen, the hub has invested nearly 300,000 euros in agripreneurship. It has reached almost 1,000 direct targets and supported the design of six agritech tools.
In December 2022, it was selected to be part of the Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship project developed by the Small Foundation and Village Capital. In March 2023, it was also chosen for the Make-IT Africa project, a one-year program led by the German development agency GIZ, IRESEN (Institute for Research in Solar and New Energies), and impact agency Viridian Africa.
Melchior Koba
The dematerialization of public services and the construction of digital infrastructure are key components of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s digital transformation strategy. The proposals aim to support the implementation of those goals.
South African IT company Guma recently expressed its interest in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s digital industry. Last Thursday (May 4), Digital Minister Désiré-Cashmir Kolongele granted an audience to the company’s executive director, Maphum Nxumalo.
After the audience, Maphum Nxumalo explained that the discussions focused on digitalization, specifically on digital transformation processes. "We exchanged on the digital governance of the Congolese ecosystem, on how to make public information easily accessible to the population," he added.
The audience is granted in a context where the Democratic Republic of Congo is working to further develop its digital sector to greatly transform its economy by 2025.
Since 2019, through the National Digital Plan (PNN), the executive is working to modernize infrastructure, extend telecom coverage, boost access to digital tools, and secure digital content channels, among other things. To successfully implement that strategy, the country opened its doors to foreign investors specializing in digital technology.
Guma, which has over 30 years of experience in the field, wants to be one of such investors and provide its expertise in several areas including the dematerialization of administrative processes.
Samira Njoya
Last Tuesday, UNHCR representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angèle Dikongue-Atangana (photo, right), granted an audience to Congolese Digital Minister Désiré-Cashmir Kolongele (photo, left).
The two parties agreed to strengthen their collaboration in the digital sector, particularly in the management of population data through the upcoming implementation of a unique identification system.
The system will allow the general identification of every resident, including citizens, refugees, and aliens.
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Over the past five years, Kenya has made significant progress in the ICT field. The country is now a digital hub attracting several multinationals. It still wants to consolidate that position.
On Wednesday, May 10, Kenya signed a partnership agreement with Venom Foundation, a foundation specializing in crypto development and licensed by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial center and free zone located on Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Under the agreement, a state-of-the-art hub dedicated to the creation of new blockchain and Web3 applications in Africa will be established in Nairobi.
"The Kenya Blockchain Hub will provide essential tools and resources to support African nations in building a robust foundation for digital transformation. By implementing blockchain-based solutions, we aim to promote transparency, efficiency, and trust throughout the continent. [...] The benefits of this partnership will extend both nationally and globally, improving lives and unlocking potential," the Venom Foundation tweeted.
Blockchain is a storage technology that keeps track of a set of transactions in a decentralized, secure, and transparent manner. It offers high standards of transparency and security, as it operates without a central control body. It can be used in various sectors, including finance. This partnership demonstrates the growing interest that blockchain and related technologies are gaining in Kenya. Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance reports that about 8.5% of Kenya's population (4.25 million people) own digital currencies. This growing craze is currently driving the government's desire to introduce a 3% tax on digital assets in the next fiscal year.
Although there is no national strategy on blockchain and related services yet, the market is growing and changing. The Kenyan government, aware that it cannot curb people's adoption of new technologies because it still lacks the right regulatory framework, has taken security measures by developing a Sandbox through which new technologies, software, and other services can be tested in a safe environment before being made available for consumption.
Before the public initiative with Venom Foundation, an almost similar private initiative had already taken shape in October 2022. That month, the Swiss-based nonprofit NEAR Foundation announced the launch of the Regional Blockchain Hub in Kenya in partnership with Sankore, a NEAR Foundation guild based in Kenya. The Kenya Regional Hub's mission is to accelerate blockchain innovation, education, and talent development across Africa.
Samira Njoya
While on-demand transport services are undeniably useful, they are not without their problems. In particular, women who use these services have reported incidents of harassment, which highlights the need for measures to improve safety in the on-demand transportation sector. An Nisa Taxi is one such solution that seeks to make the industry safer for women
An Nisa Taxi is a women-only taxi service developed by a Kenyan start-up. It allows women to commute safely without being harassed and enables women drivers to do their jobs peacefully. According to founder Mehnaz Sarwar, the startup has a team of women drivers and caters to women and children. “We also offer monthly packages for parents and working women. [...] We empower our drivers by offering them better rates while working in a safe environment for both our drivers and customers,” she added.
Currently, the solution only has an Android app, with the iOS version still under development. Using the app, users can create An Nisa accounts and access various services. They only need to choose the type of car they want, and depending on the route and location, the app suggests the closest driver. Users can then book their rides, wait for the driver to arrive -and even follow them in real-time- and pay. An Nisa Taxi's policy is so strict that a woman cannot take a cab with her partner unless it's an emergency.
An Nisa derives its revenues from subscriptions, partnerships with companies, and margins on daily rides. The startup collects a 15% commission on the rides performed by its “self-employed” drivers. To work with An Nisa, drivers need to own their cars and pass the verification process.
The startup is still self-financed and has not yet attracted outside investments despite its strong growth in recent years. According to its figures, it reached the 10,000-user mark this year and hopes to expand to Saudi Arabia, where it has many partners.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
With over 40 years of experience in technology, corporate leadership, and venture capital investment, he founded LifeQ, South Africa's top independent provider of biometrics and health information obtained from wearable devices
Laurence Olivier is the CEO and co-founder of LifeQ, a South African-based technology company that specializes in wearable health technologies. He obtained his bachelor's degree in electronic engineering from the University of Pretoria in 1980. Additionally, he holds a Bachelor's in Advanced Finance and Strategic Marketing and a Diploma in Data Metrics from the University of South Africa in 1984 and 1986, respectively.
He established LifeQ in 2014 with Franco du Preez and Riaan Conradie to empower people to better understand their health and well-being. By harnessing its sensors, LifeQ provides commercial-grade, near-clinical health information feeds that generate health and wellness solutions for consumers, businesses, and clinical applications.
The company’s innovative solutions have attracted major brands such as Tag Heuer, Louis Vuitton, Hublot, Montblanc, Fossil Group, Samsung, Suunto, Xiaomi, and Motorola, resulting in numerous partnerships.
"LifeQ offers a 24/7 lens into the body, generating actionable health insights from personal wearable devices and assisting in screening for disease and illness and uncovering its root cause," said Olivier in February 2023.
In April 2023, the tech entrepreneur launched the first phase of LifeQ's virtual, personalized, preventive, and real-time care platform at the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in Chicago. That same month, the company was selected as one of the 40 African start-ups participating in the first edition of the Africa Unicorns program.
Besides LifeQ, Olivier is a partner at venture capital firms 4Di Capital and Veritas Venture Partners. He also serves on the boards of Transatlantic Venture Management, Global Nutrition & Health, and the University of Pretoria, among others. From 2006 to 2009, he served on the boards of the Atlanta Venture Forum and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Melchior Koba
At a time when protecting sensitive data and enhancing cybersecurity are seen as a challenge shared by African countries, experts are increasingly advocating for public and private actors to pool efforts to sanitize the cyberspace.
On the sidelines of the Cyber Africa Forum (April 24 -25, 2023) in Abidjan, Youssef Mazouz, Secretary General of the African Cybersecurity Center, agreed to be interviewed by Ecofin Agency and We Are Tech on the vision of his center and its solution to common cybersecurity challenges in Africa.
We Are Tech: Hello Dr. Mazouz, as the Secretary General of the African Cybersecurity Center, what do you think is the current need for cybersecurity professionals in Africa?
Youssef Mazouz: Hello, I am Dr. Youssef Mazouz, as you mentioned. I work a lot in cybersecurity through an NGO that brings together cybersecurity professionals, security and information system managers. Africa has been undergoing a digital transformation in recent years and there is an obligation to support this digital transformation by controlling risks and cybersecurity. The threats are there and African organizations are now taking the protection of their data and their IT infrastructure seriously. So, cybersecurity is becoming a critical field that should follow the development and changes in the digital world.
The CAF, which brings us together around this theme, focuses on this crucial subject. Unfortunately, most of the top managers of African organizations are not yet aware of the importance of cybersecurity. For them, it is a cost item, so events like this are essential to show that cybersecurity is an area that must be taken seriously because if we do not take into consideration the protection of data, we can face huge losses. We have examples of companies that have lost millions while others have had their businesses shut down for some time due to a cyber attack.
WAT: Do you feel that the continent currently has the human capital to protect its institutions against cyber attacks?
YM: You mentioned a key element, which is the human element. Truly, there are some technology components. There are many data and infrastructure protection as well as cybersecurity solutions. However, if there is no human talent to make the solutions work or back them up, the technologies won’t offer optimal protection. It is, therefore, necessary to support Africa by setting up continuous training, building skills, and opening cybersecurity research centers and universities. Moreover, we have an agreement with a university in Morocco to start cybersecurity research and build skills capable of following this evolution in the field of data protection and infrastructure protection.
WAT: What do you think are the main challenges to skill-building in African countries?
YM: The first challenge is how to keep our talents. Africa has skills but the problem is the exodus. They leave because there is a strong demand for digital skills elsewhere. We see engineers emigrating to Canada or Europe to work there. So we must keep a space capable of absorbing our talents in Africa. We must set favorable conditions for them to work and provide incentives to stay on their continent and in their country. I know that most of these skills want to stay in their countries, but they find out that they are not offered optimal working conditions. That is why they leave. We thus need to retain them.
WAT: So, you are suggesting public investment in the sector should be improved?
YM: Of course. Governments need to invest in research and training. They need to realize that information systems are value-creation tools, not cost items as they think. They can create value with a safe and efficient digital transformation.
WAT: What are your recommendations for the improvement of the supply of skilled professionals on the continent?
YM: I think the first thing is to have a synergy between countries by pooling skills and exchanging expertise. There are experts everywhere on the continent, so we must capitalize on them. This is why we have created the African Center for Cybersecurity, which brings together cybersecurity professionals. The center’s first goal is to build synergy between cybersecurity professionals in Africa. Last year, we launched an initiative to create an African cybersecurity alliance that brings together professionals from 12 countries for now. The information systems security manager (ISSM) or cybersecurity engineer cannot live in isolation, because new threats come up daily. There won’t be effective protection if cybersecurity professionals fail to share information on those threats. That's why we need to build this synergy and create an exchange network to develop expertise and develop threat information sharing.
WAT: How does the African Cybersecurity Center work with governments and businesses to strengthen the security of information systems in Africa?
YM: The center is an NGO and as such it has a lot of leeway as a civil society organization because it does not report to states. That is why we have insisted on this civil society model to have a wider scope of work. We work in collaboration with States and governments by organizing seminars, awareness days, etc... We also work with the private sector through exchanges and training with their CISOs. To share expertise with cybersecurity professionals, we also organize thematic days.
WAT: What steps should African governments take to strengthen cybersecurity regulations and protect citizens against cyber attacks?
YM: The first thing is to work under the umbrella of the African Union (AU). We know that the AU established a Cybersecurity convention in 2014 in Malabo, but as of 2022, only 13 out of 55 countries had ratified that convention. This shows that countries have not yet reached the maturity to create this cybersecurity momentum on the continent.
In Europe, they have the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, ed.), which is a law imposed not only on European countries but also on African countries and other continents. So if you want to work with Europe, you have to respect the measures mentioned in the GDPR. Why can't we create a regulatory framework under the aegis of the AU which would be an equivalent of the RGPD to keep and ensure the digital sovereignty of the African continent, that is to say, to protect the African data, of Africa and for Africa. So when we work with providers from Europe, they will have to comply with this legislation.
WAT: Have there been any recent developments in cyber security in Africa?
YM: Africa is undergoing fast digital transformation but, cybersecurity measures are slow to follow. This is due, on the one hand, to the difficulty of establishing a cybersecurity culture, because as I mentioned, decision-makers are not yet really aware of cybersecurity. So, to accelerate this cybersecurity process, we first need to work on raising awareness, involving the media, and talking about cybersecurity as a very important area. We also need to start investing money in the sector, through the creation of data centers for Africa and why not exchange with African countries to create a data center for Africa to protect sensitive African data without having to host them with a foreign provider over which we have no control. So we must invest in African infrastructure for Africa.
We must also back this process with quality training and ensure optimal working conditions for cybersecurity staff. Finally, we must establish the laws and regulations necessary to accompany these developments.
WAT: How is the African Cybersecurity Center adapting to the evolutions in the African cybersecurity sector?
YM: Of course, we have African experts that we are proud of. We do not rely on foreign experts. And these experts work on support, and the implementation of awareness guides distributed to companies and members. We also create vulnerability bulletins by discussing with our local members who are CISOs. This means that if a threat or a risk is detected by one of our members or collaborators, we integrate it into a monthly vulnerability bulletin that we distribute. So there are several practices that we implement in the center to try to create a movement or a synergy in the field.
Interview by Moutiou Adjibi Nourou and Muriel Edjo