This officialization marks the beginning of a digital process announced in July 2022.
Last Thursday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya (photo) signed a decree updating the conditions of entry, stay and exit for foreigners in Cameroon.
According to the said decree, obtaining an electronic visa requires the prior submission of a visa application on a dedicated website that will soon be launched. The application can be made, regardless of the geographical area of the applicant, following established administrative and financial terms.
After the application, an online visa authorization will then be issued to the applicant who will then be able to go either to a diplomatic mission or to a border post to formalize the visa. This final phase will be completed with an enrolment process consisting of taking fingerprints and photographs. According to the decree, the visa is issued within three days after the online application.
The e-visa project is part of the Cameroon Digital Strategic Plan. In June 2022, the government received the computer equipment that was to serve in the project, which will be implemented by the Abidjan-based firm Impact Palmarès R&D SAS. The bill updating the legal framework for entry, exit, and stay in Cameroon was submitted to the National Assembly on July 2, 2022.
The implementation of the e-visa project will help centralize and protect data, control entries, and exits and monitor the revenues generated by the government from visa applicants, who will now pay the fees online.
In July 2022, Minister for Foreign Affairs Lejeune Mbella Mbella indicated that the e-visa will also save time and costs for users since it will address two of the grievances always pointed out by foreigners seeking Cameroonian visas. Namely, it will end both the long trips to embassies and the long queues involved.
Samira Njoya
She has over seven years of experience in the e-commerce industry. Her resume boasts experience in several e-commerce companies and financial institutions.
Mame Fatou Ba (photo) is a Senegalese businesswoman with experience in e-commerce and management. The Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France and the University of Lille graduate is now the general manager of Yoonema, a digital marketplace that gives sellers access to a secure online store, easy payment options, and marketing tools.
Appointed in March 2022, she is expected to contribute her experience to grow the marketplace, which currently boasts more than 1,000 clients. In February 2023, while presenting the marketplace she is now leading, Mame Fatou Ba said: “Yoonema aggregates the different stages of the merchant-buyer journey from first contact to the completion of a transaction and beyond, through continued marketing and customer outreach. We simplify the experience for both the seller and the customer by closing the transaction facilitation gap. Furthermore, Yoonema offers a secured payment platform that builds and reinforces trust in the buyer-seller journey, while mimicking the day-to-day payment landscape known to customers, and also providing payments with major credit cards to suit our already established international customer base.” About a month earlier, the marketplace was selected for the third edition of the Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP), which entitles it to $18,000 in equity funding and $750,000 in credit, services, and in-kind benefits.
Mame Fatou Ba joined Yoonema in January 2023 as a senior program manager. Her professional career, however, began in 2011 at B2B service company Asepex, where she was an intern in the textile and handicraft department. In 2012, she also interned at the IT company Soft Solutions as an international marketing assistant.
After an internship in the trade department of Ecobank Senegal and another as a sales assistant at UBA Group in 2013, she was hired by ouiCarry, a freight forwarding company, as a customer service agent. In 2014, she was promoted to director of sales and customer services. After leaving ouiCarry, she freelanced as a consultant and business manager for e-commerce companies before joining Yoonema.
Melchior Koba
The solution was launched by Jean-Fabrice Gnohi, the owner of a tourism company in France. Besides allowing users to rent cars, it also allows car owners to earn money by renting out their cars.
Monbolide is a digital solution developed by an Ivorian startup. It allows users to easily rent luxury cars.
Through its mobile applications -available for Android and iOS devices, users can create the accounts they need to access the cars available for rental. Besides the account, there is no requirement or step to take to be able to rent cars with Monbolide.
The solution lists cars for every budget. For instance, the 2016 Mercedes costs CFAF150,000 (about $244) daily, while a Range Rover Sport can be rented at CFAF250,000 per day, and a 2011 Peugeot at CFAF30,000 per day.
Users can also book the specific brands they need. In this case, they need to provide information like the location, and the rental start and end dates.
The solution also allows individuals to rent out their cars. They just need to follow the required process. Thanks to one of Monbolide’s partners, they can install a tracker in their cars to know their positions at any time. Currently, Monbolide only operates in Côte d'Ivoire but it plans to expand to other West African countries.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Nigerian universities train thousands of talented young people every year. However, most of them lack the valuable experience and knowledge to engage in technology entrepreneurship after college.
Last Wednesday, The Nest Innovation Technology Park, a Nigeria-based community that fosters tech startup innovation, launched the “Netlings Playbook,” a program designed to give university students access to the resources they need to explore digital entrepreneurship.
By giving access to the resources, the pioneer program, launched in partnership with Campus Innovation Circles (CIC), wants to allow beneficiaries to gain valuable experience and knowledge without significant risks.
“We believe that student entrepreneurs have the potential to create groundbreaking solutions to everyday problems. With The Nestlings Playbook’s innovative program, we’re empowering them to unleash their full potential and make a real impact in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem,” said Joba Oloba (photo, right), one of the co-founders of The Nest Innovation Technology Park.
For Nest, the Nigerian student ecosystem has numerous talented individuals but, there is a need to provide those individuals with the tools and resources to transition into the digital economy as entrepreneurs and not as primarily working-class talent. The goal is to “contribute to Africa’s transition to a digital economy through youth engagement.”
According to Toyin Bamidele, the lead, and coordinator of the Nestlings Playbook, the program is “one of the biggest collaborations to support founders across university communities exploring digital entrepreneurship to create prosperity.” The flagship program will launch with university communities and a call for applications will open in March 2023.
Samira Njoya
In Africa, the development of mobile telephony has greatly impacted critical sectors, including healthcare. By leveraging its technologies, the GSMA and Africa CDC want to improve the lives of millions of people and improve disease control.
Last Wednesday, the GSM Association (GSMA) and the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) signed an agreement to harness the power of mobile to fight disease in Africa.
Under that agreement, the GSMA will work closely with Africa CDC on HealthConnekt Africa, a bold new initiative to connect all health facilities and personnel in Africa to the Internet by 2030.
“Bringing together expertise and resources will help establish a powerful new infrastructure, providing African healthcare workers access to the information they need in a timely fashion and the intelligence necessary to help prevent the spread of disease across international borders,” said Angela Wamola (photo, left), GSMA Head of Sub-Saharan Africa.
HealthConnekt Africa will begin with a small group of pioneering African Union member countries and communities. In the pioneering countries, health facilities will be connected to the Internet, and health workers equipped with smart devices that will allow them access to critical online resources to improve the quality of care provided to patients.
Over the past two decades, Africa has recorded phenomenal growth in mobile adoption. According to the World Bank and the African Development Bank, Africa had 650 million cell phone users in 2013, more than the users in the United States or Europe. At the same time, Swedish telecommunications group Ericsson indicates that Africa’s smartphone penetration will reach 70% by 2024.
Samira Njoya
Since 2020, the number of edtech startups operating in Africa has been growing steadily. Their adoption is also rising due notably to the alternatives they offer, allowing learners to learn at their own pace and make better use of their time.
Mara Academy is a digital platform developed by a Beninese start-up. It allows users to access online training in various fields, including digital marketing and social media management.
The edtech startup behind the app is based in Cotonou. It was founded in 2021 to offer every African a unique learning experience. Its digital solution has no mobile app for the time being. To submit applications for one of the training courses it offers, users have to visit its web platform and fill out a dedicated form. Once an application is accepted, the applicant has to take an entrance test. After the test, there is a third step, which consists of an interview with the startup’s team and the signing of enrollment documents.
To be accepted for its courses, applicants need to meet certain conditions. They must be 18 to 30 years old, live in Benin, Togo, Niger, or Côte d’Ivoire, be unemployed, be available for training and employment, and have at least two years of higher education.
Mara Academy wants to give quality education to every African. It also wants to serve as a bridge to the labor force. This is why it set up the Youth Employment Accelerator YEA program. This program allows users to get trained and pay when they get employed. "No loans, no hidden fees. We get paid when you get paid. After you get your job you will pay us 30% of your salary over 12-24 months," its platform reads.
Through partner companies, it helps learners land a decent job after a 52-week training. In addition, throughout the training, learners spend time in companies where they each have mentors who follow their progress.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
He is a business leader experienced in digital payments, channel development, and market segmentation, among others. He will contribute his expertise in those fields to further develop Cellulant.
Ibrahim Gbolahan Aminu (photo) is the new general manager of Cellullant Nigeria. The Obafemi Awolowo University graduate was appointed to this position on February 23, 2023.
Cellulant is a pan-African payment company that provides alternative and locally relevant payment methods for global, regional, and local merchants. The company operates in 18 African countries, with a payment platform that connects thousands of businesses to 154 payment options in 35 countries. The platform handles the payments of some 220 million consumers on a single, inclusive network.
As the new head of Nigerian operations, Ibrahim Gbolahan Aminu will oversee the day-to-day operations and lead the national expansion of Tingg, Cellulant's digital payments platform.
Commenting on his appointment, the general manager said: “I am honored to join the team of innovative thinkers at Cellulant and I am eager to bring my expertise to the table to enhance the payments landscape in the country. I am confident that our efforts in increasing the quality of services and products we offer our customers will lead to greater financial inclusion, accessibility, and stability for all Nigerians.”
His professional career began in 2002 at Adol Pharmaceutical Industries when he was hired as a Senior Sales Officer. In 2006, he joined the Nigerian Gas Company Limited as a budget officer. Two years later, he was appointed Market Segment Manager by Bank PHB Plc. In 2011, he joined Keystone Bank Limited as Product Manager. Then, in 2014, he became head of communications channels and services for Interswitch Group, an integrated digital commerce and payments company focused on Africa. After a month in this role, he was promoted to Head of Partner Channels.
Before his appointment at Cellulant, between 2021 and 2022, he was the general manager of VigiPay, where he managed the company's cross-border payment platform.
Melchior Koba
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
A physician by training, she served her country for 20 years before launching a healthtech startup that leverages artificial intelligence to detect and treat diseases.
Jaishree Naidoo (photo) is a South African pediatric radiologist and one of the pioneers of pediatric radiology in her country, graduating from the University of Cape Town in 2010. In 1999, she got a bachelor's degree in surgery from the Medical University of South Africa.
After a one-year internship at King Edward 8th Hospital in 1999, she served as Chief Medical Officer at Johannesburg General Hospital in 2000. The following year, she held the same position at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital before going back to the Johannesburg General Hospital as a radiology registrar. Four years later, in 2005, she joined the Donald Gordon Medical Center as a part-time radiologist.
In 2008, she was appointed as a Senior Radiology Specialist at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. From 2009 to 2010, she was a Pediatric Radiology Fellow at the Red Cross War Memorial Hospital before joining the Sandton Medi Clinic as a Radiology Specialist. In 2011, she was appointed head of pediatric radiology at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, and in 2017, she became head of radiology and chair of the academic committee at Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital.
Aside from her fulfilled professional career, Dr. Jaishree Naidoo is also a tech entrepreneur. In 2019, she co-founded Envisionit Deep AI, a healthtech startup she is leading as the CEO.
The startup uses artificial intelligence to streamline and improve medical imaging diagnosis. It designs various products including the Radify AI platform, which is said to provide fast, accurate, high-quality, and affordable medical imaging diagnostics needed to detect and treat diseases.
“RADIFY for chest x-rays was developed primarily because pneumonia is the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of 5 in Africa.
A senseless statistic when it is a disease that is so easy to treat. With RADIFY, diagnostic healthcare can be made available where there is a lack of specialist expertise,” Dr. Naidoo explained in 2021.
The CEO is also a notable conference speaker. She has been invited to speak and chair sessions at many local and international radiology and healthcare conferences, such as the 2020 Forbes Women Africa event, where she was one of the speakers.
According to Forbes, Dr. Naidoo is one of “UK-Africa’s Top 15 African Female Tech Founders and as such was honored by MPs at the UK Houses of Parliament in January 2020 in London.”
In 2020, her startup, Envisionit Deep AI, won two categories (Healthtech and social impact) at Apps Africa Innovation Awards. It was also one of the Season 2022 Regional Winners of the African Startup Awards. On February 23, 2023, it raised $1.65 million to continue its development in South Africa and beyond.
Melchior Koba
After his studies in the UK, Libyan-born Ammar Hmid returned to his home country to set up a food delivery startup. A few years later, despite the challenges it is facing, the startup is proving to be a useful tool for populations in Tripoli.
Presto Eat is a digital solution developed by an eponymous Lybian start-up, based in Tripoli. It allows its users to have food and groceries delivered.
Through its mobile app -available for Android and iOS devices, its users can create their accounts to access the listed restaurants, place orders and get them delivered anywhere in Tripoli and its surroundings.
Presto Eat claims more than 250,000 orders delivered since its launch. The startup behind it employs more than 500 Libyans. It also has 13 stores and departure points in Tripoli and over 380 partner businesses that use its services. Thanks to its departure points, it ensures fast deliveries and allows users to monitor the state of the deliveries in real-time.
According to PlayStore’s data, the Android version of its application has been downloaded over 100,000 times. Despite this success, Presto Eat is struggling to attract investors. The reasons cited include the political instability, in the country since 2011, and the lack of a proper technological ecosystem in the country. Nevertheless, the startup wants to extend its services to other cities in the country, namely Benghazi and Misrata.
For the time being, this expansion plan is just hopeful wishes for Presto Eat founder Ammar Hmid who points at investors’ seeming disinterest in the Libyan tech ecosystem. “We want to be the app for everything for Libyans. […] But […] Despite the growth, VCs and other investors aren’t keen on investing in the business. The ones that replied wanted me to do risk analysis on the Libyan market for them. But that’s not my job, my job as a founder is to grow my business. [Also], Libyans don’t have a strong startup mindset because there are other profitable sectors to work and invest in, like importation and FMCG, or even civil service,” he told TechCabal earlier this month.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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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
He is an experienced engineer in the energy industry and a fintech entrepreneur. He is also the founder of Copal, a fintech startup that allows families to track and manage their expenses.
Ahmed Refaat (photo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur who graduated from Cairo University with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and from Said Business School at Oxford University with a Master's degree in Business Administration. He is also the CEO and a co-founder of fintech startup Copal.
The startup, founded in 2021, develops solutions to improve expense management. Using its eponymous AI-based app and personalized prepaid cards, its users can buy, pay, transfer, withdraw and save money with just one click. On February 15, the startup, which recently graduated from the Flat6Labs accelerator program in Cairo, entered into a strategic partnership with Mastercard to launch Egypt's first family payment and expense management app.
The new solution allows parents and guardians to track and manage their young dependents’ finances. It comes with simplified financial education tools that promote youth inclusion in the digitized payment ecosystem and help them become financially savvy.
“Copal’s vision is to fill the gap for the un- and under-banked through introducing a product that is tailored specifically for their every need. […]We are proud to partner with Mastercard, and we are confident that, with their leadership and support, Copal will grow and expand as fast as we ambitiously planned,” said Ahmed Refaat.
Before Copal, in 2016, the CEO had co-founded Odqa Renewable Energy Technologies, an “engineering spin-out from Oxford Thermofluids Institute.” He served as the company's chief technical officer until 2021 and as chief operating officer between 2020 and 2021.
His professional career began in 2007 with Schlumberger, a technology company unlocking energy access for the benefit of all. He joined the company as a field engineer before being promoted to general field engineer in 2013. In 2014 he was named technical and sales support engineer and in 2015, he became the company's wireline account manager.
Melchior Koba
In Tanzania, the ICT sector is growing rapidly. But, to quicken the pace of growth, authorities want to attract foreign entrepreneurs.
Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango recently invited investors from around the world to explore and invest in Tanzania's ICT and digital transformation sector.
On Thursday, February 23, while opening the first Tanzania-European Union (EU) Business Forum in Dar es Salaam, he praised his country’s digital sector while reminding investors that the country's national ICT policy supports investments in digital infrastructure such as data centers and digital technology institutes.
"ICT and digital transformation are among the key drivers of rapid development...This is aimed at improving skills and leveraging cutting-edge digital innovations such as robotic engineering and artificial intelligence," he said before adding that the Tanzanian government was focused on building a dynamic economy based on four pillars, namely reform, reconciliation, resilience, and reconstruction.
To pave the way for domestic and international investors, the government has taken steps to strengthen and modernize the sector, including the establishment of the Tanzania Investment Centre and the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority. The centers are intended as one-stop shops for investment promotion and facilitation.
Attracting investments is just one of the actions being implemented by the Tanzanian government to develop the ICT sector. In October, the government inaugurated a $3.4 million infrastructure package. The infrastructures covered include 11 ICT centers in the 11 districts of Unguja and Pemba, the two main islands forming the Zanzibar archipelago, as well as 42 communication towers across the archipelago.
Samira Njoya
A few months ago, Tunisia kicked off the digitalization of its public services. The aims were, among others, to end unnecessary bureaucracy and guarantee the quality and efficiency required for the services.
Tunisia’s mobile ID project will target over 100,000 citizens this year, ICT Minister Nizar Ben Néji indicated last Friday.
During a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of mobile ID, the official explained that his ministry was working to reach more than 100,000 Tunisians this year and increase the number to the thousands in the years to come.
"The Ministry is working with banks to introduce mobile IDs in the banking sector,” he said pointing at the upcoming introduction of electronic contracts in car sales and purchase procedures.
The country launched its Mobile ID service on August 3, 2022. The ID was introduced as a universal and unique authentication method to access some public services online. The aim is to gradually replace cumbersome administrative procedures with digitized, simple, and fairly secure procedures.
Earlier this year, the official website dedicated to digital identity in Tunisia announced that as of Monday, January 2, 2023, the number of applications for digital identity not activated had reached 86,000 while the number of digital identities activated was 36,474. For the Minister of ICT, this is a good start. However, the country wants to generalize the use of the mobile ID and introduce other online services, in cooperation with other ministries. Hence the awareness campaign.
Samira Njoya