The booming tech and digital sectors play an increasingly important role in East African economies. To support the countries in their projects and foster digital integration, partner institutions are committing significant funds.
The World Bank recently granted US$15 million to strengthen and accelerate regional digital integration efforts in the East African Community (EAC).
According to a statement issued by the EAC on Saturday, December 17, with that funding, the World Bank -through its Single Digital Market (SDM) initiative- wants to help the region become a deeply integrated and dynamic hub for digital investment, innovation, and growth.
For EAC secretary general Peter Mathuki, the funds will be used to create, among other things, regional digital innovation centers in all partner states to address digital challenges. "This support will further enhance the region's competitiveness and skills development that are central to successful digital transformation," he said.
Developing digital infrastructure and the economy is one of the development priorities of EAC member countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda). Two years ago,
decided to align their tax regulations concerning the digital economy. The alignment aims to increase member countries’ revenues from the ICT sector and establish a legal framework that can help countries regulate large digital firms in the years to come.
According to a study conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2020, by 2025, the digital economy’s contribution to GDP would reach 9.24% in Kenya, 5.96% in Rwanda, 4.57% in Tanzania, and 4.18% in Uganda.
To achieve this, the community can rely on the World Bank and its single digital market initiative. According to the EAC release, the project will focus on the development and integration of the connectivity market, which will involve the creation of a legal, regulatory and institutional environment conducive to information technology and communication to strengthen digitization in the region.
Samira Njoya
In recent years, a number of fintech solutions have entered the African market. Their aim is to be alternatives for largely under-banked populations.
Cassbana is a fintech solution developed by an Egyptian start-up. It allows small merchants to buy goods from partners and pay in small installments.
"Cassbana is a technology solution that builds financial identities for the underserved communities in Egypt through managing their business needs and building a behavior-based scoring system, making us the future data-based financial advisory collective," the explains on its website.
The solution has an Android app that allows users to create their accounts and access Cassbana’s services. Based on the usage data collected, the startup uses AI and machine learning to customize and improve the services offered to each merchant.
On Playstore, the Android app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times. With the solution attracting a growing number of users, Cassbana founder Haitham Nassar wants to roll out new services to better serve users. In 2021, the startup had already raised US$1 million to support its growth.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The tech entrepreneur is specialized in the e-commerce segment. The platform he developed connects small merchants to e-commerce services in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Waleed Rashed (photo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur and the Founder/CEO of SIDEUP, a platform offering smart solutions to MSMEs specialized in the e-commerce sector.
SIDEUP was founded in 2008. Formerly known as VOO, it was launched to meet all the needs of e-commerce entrepreneurs, from local and international logistics support to warehousing services and a comprehensive real-time dashboard for performance analysis. It integrates a partner account manager and the best tech tools like Zammit, Wuilt, Paymob Aramex, and DHL used in the MENA region.
In early December 2022, the startup, which already serves 2,000 e-commerce businesses, raised US$1.2 million for its expansion. It also entered Saudi Arabia where it is now headquartered.
"SideUp is for the merchants in the village, or those selling products over Instagram, Facebook, or WhatsApp. They get accessibility to all the services starting from the courier company, warehousing, and fulfillment, to marketing services," Waleed Rashed said after the fundraising round.
Apart from SideUp, Waleed Rashed has founded Ingez, a company assisting users in their various errands, from grocery shopping to clothing drop-off. From 2013 to 2016, he led the errand-running firm as the CEO.
His professional career started in 2007 at the First Abu Dhabi Bank where he was a sales representative. In 2008, he joined the Al Khalij Commercial Bank as a sales team leader.
Melchior Koba
The Malagasy government is determined to achieve its digital transformation ambitions and deploy e-governance nationwide. It also wants to give digital training to its citizens.
Last Tuesday, the IFC and the Malagasy Digital Ministry announced a partnership aimed at improving access to advanced and specialized computer training courses in the country.
The program aims to train, within two years, 6,000 people, including public and private sector employees and youth, in IT occupations such as software development, cloud architecture, data engineering, and cybersecurity.
“The project aligns with the government's commitment to better prepare for the digital economy by developing the needed digital skills and modernizing its administration to improve service delivery, boost economic growth and create much needed jobs,” said Digital Minister Tahina Razafindramalo (photo, right).
Indeed, for several years now, digital transformation has been the core of the Malagasy government’s actions. The country defined four main axes for its development programs. They are notably the digitization of public education, health and land services, the use of new technologies in agriculture, the development of technical infrastructures, and financial inclusion.
To achieve these four objectives within a short period, the government secured support from the World Bank, which pledged more than US$140 million for the various projects. According to the international financial institution, an acceleration of the digital transformation could allow the Malagasy government to create “about 140,000 new jobs linked to digital skills across nine sectors by 2027, including apparel, agri-processing, and tourism.”
Samira Njoya
Digital health systems are expanding rapidly in Sub-Sahran Africa, democratizing access to healthcare for millions of people. However, as it is not sufficiently financed, the sector is still growing to its full potential.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and its private sector partners recently set up a US$50 million catalytic fund to support the digital health sector in Sub-Saharn Africa.
The fund, called Digital Health Impact Accelerator (DHIA), was announced during the Africa HealthTech Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, on the sidelines of the Second International Conference on Public Health in Africa (December 13-15, 2022).
The fund “will help further strengthen regional and global data systems and surveillance capacity for data-driven decision-making, enable better patient care, and transform millions of lives,” said Country Technology Services Manager at the Global Fund and Lead for the DHIA.
“The Global Fund has played a key role in strengthening digital health systems and health data in low- and middle-income countries since its inception. These tools are critical to defeat infectious diseases and prevent future health threats,” he added.
Indeed, digital health is not yet fully developed and exploited in Sub-Saharan Africa. The coronavirus pandemic helped stimulate the segment and, since then, innovative e-health initiatives have multiplied. Same for the number of cell phone users. The GSM Association estimates that by 2025, there will be at least 634 million mobile users in Sub-Saharan Africa. The figures prove that digital technologies have already taken an important place in residents’ lives. Those technologies will also change habits in how they access healthcare in the near future.
Through the DHIA Catalytic Fund, the Global Fund and its private partners aim to “support countries to accelerate and scale up digital health solutions through more widespread internet access, strengthened information systems for data sharing, extensive use of mobile technologies, patient-centric digital tools, and unique patient IDs, among others.”
Samira Njoya
By paying €15 daily, cab drivers can become owners within 48 to 60 months.
Cmontaxi is a digital solution developed by a Senegalese eponymous startup, founded in 2015. It allows cab drivers to become car owners within a given time frame.
"With an average monthly salary of €600, cab drivers] don’t earn enough to be able to access traditional bank loans or the car manufacturers’ leasing packages,” says Aziz Senni, founder and CEO of Cmontaxi.
The package set up by Cmontaxi includes lease-purchase, maintenance, and insurance agreements. Drivers have to pay €15 daily and become owners within 48 and 60 months. The amount is about 10% lower than the price drivers have to pay for other lease-purchase agreements. This is probably why the startup also uses the cabs as advertising media.
Its stated goal is to improve its drivers’ living standards by making transforming them into entrepreneurs, not just cab drivers. "I decided to allow these drivers to become cab owners without upfront payment, give them micro-business management training and help them reduce their insurance and maintenance costs,” Aziz Senni explains.
With its booking platform, the startup allows its drivers to boost their revenues. Cmontaxi also set up "Taxishop", a concept that allows drivers to increase their revenues by offering additional products and services on board their taxis.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
She is one of the leading women in the African cybersecurity industry. Through CyberSafe Foundation, she raises awareness on how to stay cyber-safe. For her impact on the continent, she has already received several awards and recognitions.
Confidence Staveley (photo) is a Nigerian cybersecurity expert. She graduated from Middlesex University, in 2011, with a BSc in information technology and Business information systems. In 2013, she got a Master’s in IT management from the University of Bradford.
In 2019, she founded Cybersafe Foundation, an NGO that raises promotes changes (through awareness campaigns and training) for a safer internet for African users.
Recently, through the #NoGoFallMaga initiative, the organization launched cybersecurity awareness campaigns that reached over 20 million people. It also organized cybersecurity training reaching more than 4,000 small and medium-sized businesses and over 9,000 employees. The NGO also launched the first cybersecurity awareness handbook in Africa.
“We were looking at really innovative ways to drive awareness about cybersecurity and making people see the importance in the first place and how it applies to them as individuals. And helping them take actionable steps to become safer online, but we’re doing it in a way that’s not overwhelming,” Confidence Staveley said in June 2022, explaining the reasons behind the campaign.
Since August 2022, the cybersecurity expert, who calls herself a “cyber evangelist”, is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. She entered the professional world, in 2009, as a computer instructor at Eastern Data Services Ltd. In 2011, she was hired as an IT Assistant by the Cross River State Government.
She later joined Lloyds Banking Group as a customer service advisor and telephone banking consultant. In 2013, she joined the Calabar International Convention Centre as an IT specialist and, two years later, she landed at InfoGraphics Nigeria, where she was appointed technical marketing and interactive media manager.
Between 2016 and 2018, she was a cybersecurity analyst for UIC Innovations Africa. A year later, she became the country manager of the computer security firm DIGISS. Concurrently, from 2017 to 2022, she worked as a part-time managing partner of the marketing firm Gidinerd.
Ms. Staveley is a multiple award winner. She has been cited on CIO Magazine’s 2021-2022 list of Africa’s 45 most influential women in Digital Transformation. the Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) also named her the 2022 Cyber Security Woman of the Year and she received the Meridian Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Summit for her positive impacts. This year, she also made it to the list of the top 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria and received the Obama Leader's Personal Commitment Award.
Melchior Koba
Congo plans to considerably advance its digital projects in 2023. For that purpose, it is multiplying partnerships and agreements with specialized companies.
Last Tuesday, Congolese Digital Minister Leon Juste Ibombo (photo, left), signed a memorandum of understanding with Sivakumaran Kathiresan (photo, right), the vice president of ATDXT, an Indian company specializing in digital transformation.
The memorandum between Congo and the Dubai-based company aims to support the country in the implementation of several projects, including the most important which is the digitization of the Post and Savings Company of Congo (Sopéco).
According to Sivakumaran Kathiresan, the memorandum aims to enable the construction of digital infrastructure and contribute to the digitalization of the Congolese economy.
“We will build data centers, finance the digitization of the Sopéco, promote the revival of its activities and proceed to the design of single windows in Congo,” he said.
The memorandum adds to the other agreements and partnerships already signed by Congo for its digital transformation this year. The country has teamed up with several partners to build choice digital infrastructure and build resilience. In November, the Digital Minister signed an agreement with Canadian company Casimir Network to train local talents in innovative technologies and build and operate a datacenter that will host the servers of the country's blockchain services.
With ATDXT, which is also established in Great Britain, the United States of America, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo aims to take advantage of Indian expertise to implement its digital development policy and achieve the objectives of the digital strategy "Digital Congo 2025".
Samira Njoya
In Africa, the ecommerce industry is booming. According to the IFC, the number of online shoppers on the continent has risen by 18 percent since 2014. This growth, fueled notably by the coronavirus pandemic, could continue over the next decade.
Last Wednesday, Gabonese ecommerce platform Olatono Market, announced it raised €45,000 to accelerate its expansion in Central Africa, strengthen partnerships and create a platform that revolutionizes ecommerce in Gabon.
"Our innovative platform differs from the existing offers. It is launched to meet the expectations of customers who are increasingly searching for solutions that give them command over their choices, enable them to compare prices and access products wherever they are in Gabon,” said Thierry Dzime, founder of Olatano Market.
The platform created in March 2021 wants to transform the ecommerce industry in Central Africa. It developed a service called Achat Flex, allowing individuals to purchase products online and pay on delivery, by installments, by mobile money, or by bank cards. It was a first in Gabon where ecommerce was gradually gaining ground.
Thanks to the funds secured, Olatano Market's managers want to develop even more services, accelerate the start-up's growth, strengthen its workforce and sign new agreements. "We are delighted to support the expansion of the company and the launch of the new product Achat Flex. The ambition is to help the future champions of Gabon’s economy emerge. We are pleased to have made these investments in a start-up with great potential. We will support its progress," said Fabrice Nze-Bekale, President of Gabon Angel Investor Network (GAIN).
According to a report by the GSMA and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Gabon became the e-commerce leader in the ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States) zone in 2021, overtaking Cameroon.
Samira Njoya
In the growing music streaming market, giants like Apple Music, Spotify, and Deezer have captured the bulk of the demand. Nevertheless, African platforms are gradually poking the market by focusing on local content.
Mdundo is a digital platform developed by a Kenyan eponymous startup. It allows users to legally download and stream African songs.
According to its co-founder and CEO Martin Nielsen, the platform currently has some five million monthly users but, its potential is 30-fold higher. “With a steep growth curve and a very scalable solution, we plan to invest further in user growth to increase our market coverage in sub-Saharan Africa and within approximately three years establish Mdundo as the leading Pan-African music service for consumers and musicians. We want to achieve in Africa what Spotify has achieved in the West and what Tencent has achieved in Asia.,” he explains.
To achieve its growth targets, the startup, which claims to be the leader in the pan-African music market, has already raised more than US$6.4 million.
Apart from a web platform, its solution has an Android app, through which users can sign up for streaming services. Currently, the services are available in more than 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its Android app has been downloaded more than a million times while the startup claims over 20 million monthly music downloads and streaming through its web and mobile apps.
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After her computer science studies, she specialized in the agribusiness industry by helping rural women. Her social contribution and tech impact earned her several awards and recognitions.
Awa Caba (photo) is a Senegalese computer scientist and the co-founder/CEO of the e-commerce platform Soreetul.
In Wolof -the most-spoken language in Senegal, Soreetul means “it is no longer far” according to a dissertation by Senegalese Dphil Layire Diop. The digital platform created by Awa Caba facilitates the marketing and distribution of agricultural products processed by women in Senegal. Founded in 2013 -2014 according to other sources, it connects rural farmers, women notably, with buyers in urban areas.
In 2015, explaining what prompted her to launch Soreetul, Awa indicated that it was founded because the co-founders noticed that local products were seldom found in large stores or neighboring shops while women who process such products had no access to markets because they live in remote areas.
Apart from Soreetul, Awa Caba has also co-founded Yeesal Agri Hub, an innovative entrepreneurship support institution specializing in agribusiness. In December 2022, the institution founded in 2016, was selected to be part of the Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship program developed by Small Foundation and Village Capital.
She also co-founded Jiggen Tech Hub, the first women-in-tech network in Senegal. Since 2013, she is the Co-founder and IT manager of the web and mobile app development startup Weltima. Her professional career began in 2012 as an IT engineer at Nelam Services. She worked as a consultant for International Fund for Agricultural Development in 2014, USAID-ERA (Education and Research in Agriculture) project from June to August 2017, and FAO from February to December 2017.
The Mandela Washington Fellow has received several awards and honors. In 2020, she won the African Women's Leadership Award. In 2018, she won the Bank of Africa's African Entrepreneurship Award. She was also cited by “Forbes Africa as one of the most promising entrepreneurs under the age of 30 in Africa.”
Melchior Koba
The program aims to finance the development of African tech ecosystems.
Last Tuesday, Digital Africa announced its first 15 “Connectors" (leaders who will collaborate with Digital Africa for the development of local and regional tech and entrepreneurial ecosystems).
In a release accessed by We Are Tech Africa, Digital Africa explains that the 15 leaders will help find customized solutions to community challenges and generate effective opportunities. “Africa needs African-designed solutions to the continent's structural and infrastructural problems, be it in health, sports, energy, agriculture and we believe that it is in the made-in-Africa tech that can do it,” explains Aphrodice Mutangana, director of partnerships at Digital Africa.
A few months ago, Digital Africa launched a call for applications for its "Connectors Digital Africa" program. At the end of the selections, fifteen high-level African personalities were chosen, with three connectors per region: North Africa, South Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and Central Africa. They were selected based on their professional experience, and their strong sense of leadership, but especially for their commitment to having a positive impact on the African tech ecosystem.
Their missions will include acting as ambassadors representing Digital Africa in the region and providing a link between their community and Digital Africa, organizing activities and events on behalf of Digital Africa, identifying and mobilizing resources, and helping to map the ecosystem and suggest solutions.
"Connectors" is one of several initiatives launched by Digital Africa since its inception in 2018. In October, the pan-African initiative launched "Fuzé", a program that aims to provide a solution to the financing problems faced by African startups.
Samira Njoya
The solution is the successor of the proprietary solution AppZone. Its stated mission is "to connect every monetary store of value using blockchain."
Zone is a fintech solution developed by the Nigerian start-up Appzone Group. As the successor of the startup’s fintech solution Appzone, it “allows participating institutions to connect directly with each other and perform payment transactions without an intermediary while completely automating settlement, reconciliation, and dispute management.”
The solution is a regulated Blockchain network that enables payments and acceptance of digital currencies. According to the startup, its Layer-1 blockchain network guarantees 100% transaction success for payments made in fiat currency or digital currencies. In addition, it guarantees frictionless transactions and universal interoperability. As the platform says, "the network ensures that end-users interact in an easy and natural way and that service providers don’t need to make any extra effort to support payment functionality."
Zone also “supports integration to all systems that store monetary value and all touchpoints used to initiate payments.” To make the system more efficient, it provides simple and effective programming interfaces that can be used multiple times for different payment transactions.
In early 2021, to support the expansion of its technology, AppZone raised US$10 million in Series A financing. “As Appzone, we launched the first core banking and omnichannel software on the cloud as well as the first multi-bank direct debit service based on single global mandates. With this transition to Zone, we are utilizing the power of blockchain technology to connect every monetary store of value and enable reliable, frictionless, and universally interoperable payments,” says Obi Emeratom (photo, center), Co-founder and CEO of AppZone.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
He began his career providing tech assistance for educational projects and programs. For over 10 years, through BongoHive, he has worked with entrepreneurs and development partners to foster youth entrepreneurship.
Lukonga Lindunda (photo) is a Zambian start-up ecosystem builder and the co-founder/CEO of BongoHive Technology and Innovation Hub, Zambia’s first tech innovation center.
Thanks to the innovation hub, he supports the startup ecosystem by improving leadership skills, accelerating their growth, strengthening networks, increasing collaboration, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, and reducing barriers to entrepreneurship.
Since its inception, BongoHive has hosted over 500 events, supported over 2,000 businesses, and benefited more than 9,500 people. In December 2022, it was selected to participate in Small Foundation and Village Capital’s Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship research project.
In 2015, its CEO and co-founder also co-founded BongoHive Consult, a consulting firm that helps businesses meet their clients’ current and future needs. In 2019, he also co-founded Hive Coworking, which provides coworking space for entrepreneurs and startups.
Since 2021, he is a non-executive director of the fintech company Digital Shared Services Ltd. Months earlier, he became the chairperson of the non-profit financial organization FSD Zambia’s Program Investment Committee (PIC). Since June 2020, he is also the non-executive director and vice chairman of Client Care Solutions Limited, a business process outsourcing company.
The serial entrepreneur entered the professional world in 2008 working for the non-profit organization Education Development Center as an IT and communication coordinator. The following year, he became the ICT technical assistant of the non-profit organization VVOB - education for development.
From 2010 to 2012, he was successively Junior ICT Advisor and ICT Program Advisor of VVOB. Between March 2021 and August 2022, he was an independent advisor to the Technology, Service Delivery, and Innovation Committee of the Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) Board of Directors.
A Mandela Washington Fellow in 2014, Lukonga Lindunda received the Nelson Mandela University Alumni Award in 2017 for his impact on society with BongoHive. In 2020, he received the ALUSB MBA Chairman's Scholarship, which celebrates African business leaders who have proven themselves as leaders both in the workplace and in the community.
Melchior Koba