African nations are increasingly digitizing public services but the initiatives require significant resources. For that purpose, governments are partnering with strategic allies to overcome the significant costs associated with them.
Zambia’s government and Trade Mark Africa, a trade aid organization, inked an $11 million deal on Wednesday to digitize the Nakonde border post, a strategic crossing point with Tanzania and Malawi. The project, funded by the British government and the World Bank, is expected to be completed in twelve months.
The initiative aims to streamline control processes and cut the transit time for goods at the Nakonde border from an average of three days to just ten hours. It includes a broad spectrum of interventions such as infrastructure upgrades, modern scanning systems, digitization of customs clearance processes, and cross-border interconnectivity for information exchange.
According to Zambia’s Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, the initiative encompasses a wide range of interventions, including infrastructure improvements, modern scanning systems, digitization of customs clearance processes, cross-border interconnectivity for information exchange, smart digital solutions, change management, and integrated border management.
Nakonde facilitates trade between Zambia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zimbabwe. It generates around 3.1 billion kwachas ($118.5 million) annually, with 65% of goods transiting through Zambia, of which 35% are destined for the country led by Hakainde Hichilema.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
With its six divisions, Raizcorp works on a global scale to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. To date, it has already supported 500 companies.
Raizcorp, a business incubator established in 2000, is dedicated to nurturing entrepreneurs at various stages of their business journey. Founded by CEO Allon Raiz, the organization serves as a hub for learning and guidance, facilitating tangible business success for entrepreneurs.
At the core of Raizcorp's mission is the creation, support, and development of entrepreneurs and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing business incubation and acceleration services, the incubator aims to expedite the growth and prosperity of entrepreneurs. It also administers business and supplier development programs on behalf of companies.
Raizcorp extends equity investment opportunities to budding entrepreneurs, while also engaging in educational initiatives to foster entrepreneurial skills among school children. Moreover, the organization collaborates with governments and development agencies to establish robust entrepreneurial frameworks on a national scale.
It operates through six dedicated divisions. Notably, Arize, which offers dedicated support to entrepreneurs, and SEED, focusing on entrepreneurial development strategies in emerging markets like Africa and South America. The Partner Elite division provides scale-up capital to high-growth entrepreneurs in South Africa, while Canden manages non-traditional schools with an entrepreneurial curriculum.
Elixir, another division, assists companies in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and accessing relevant markets. It also aids entrepreneurial graduates in launching their own ventures. The Inspire division offers a range of motivational resources, such as books, inspiration packs, and posters, to support entrepreneurs on their journey.
To date, Raizcorp has empowered 500 businesses through its programs and oversees 13 incubators. Currently, 224 children are undergoing entrepreneurial training. The organization's impact extends across multiple countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, the United States, France, and Mauritius.
Melchior Koba
Since President William Ruto assumed office in Kenya in September 2022, the pace of the country's digital transformation has accelerated, with the digitization of numerous public services now a reality.
Kenya is set to digitize its judicial services starting July 1, 2024. The announcement was made by Martha Koome (photo, center), the President of the Supreme Court, on Monday, March 11. The primary objective of this initiative is to enhance productivity, streamline processes through automation, and establish a paperless environment. These efforts aim to make justice more accessible in Kenya while reducing geographical barriers.
"I launched e-filing for all courts countrywide, a Data Tracking Dashboard and Causelist Portal marking a giant leap in our commitment to transforming how we deliver justice through the strategic use of technology, in alignment with the Social Transformation through Access to Justice (STAJ) blueprint of the Judiciary," stated Martha Koome.
Furthermore, Koome emphasized that starting from July 1, 2024, courts will no longer print pleadings and documents. The resources previously allocated for paper and ink will now be redirected towards acquiring desktops and laptops, along with training initiatives.
These initiatives are part of Kenya's National Digitisation Plan (2022-2032), which was established shortly after President William Ruto assumed office in September 2022. As Kenya strives to position itself as a key player in the technological landscape, the digitization process has gained momentum across various sectors. The country has secured funding from diverse organizations and entities such as the World Bank and the European Union to support its digital transformation endeavors.
It is worth noting that the digitization of judicial services commenced last year with the introduction of e-filing in Mombasa County in April 2023. "We are now reaching a national scale with court stations in the remaining 34 counties being on-boarded today. This marks a transformative step in making our justice system more efficient and accessible," explained Martha Koome.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Côte d'Ivoire's Telecommunications/ICT Regulatory Authority (Artci) has issued a warning to US-based Starlink, prohibiting the satellite internet provider from operating in the country without due approval, according to a release issued on Tuesday. This follows last week's internet disruptions in several West and Central African nations, caused by damage to the WACS, MainOne, ACE, and SAT3 submarine cables.
The e-health solution was established by a former banker, who ventured into entrepreneurship driven by her desire to transform telemedicine in Central Africa.
AfriWell Health, a Congolese healthtech startup, offers a platform for patients to connect with healthcare professionals for treatment. Founded in 2022 by Joelle Itoua Owona and based in Pointe-Noire, the startup secured an undisclosed funding from Google for Startups in March 2023 to bolster its growth.
The company’s solution, an Android-exclusive mobile application, allows users to register with their personal details and access a variety of healthtech services, including online appointments with general practitioners and specialists.
Since AfriWell Health has doctors worldwide, consultations are mainly carried out online. Owona’s goal with her healthtech solution is to address the doctor shortage in Africa, particularly in Congo. The platform maintains a digital medical record for each patient, providing doctors with a comprehensive view of their medical history.
The startup also facilitates healthcare provision for the Congolese diaspora to their relatives back home. Additionally, AfriWell Health provides a weekly updated list of on-duty pharmacies in Pointe-Noire, streamlining the medicine purchasing process for patients.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The fintech sector in Africa is experiencing exponential growth, with South African entrepreneur Paul Kent as one of the actors leading the charge. His start-up, which offers a range of digital payment solutions, already caters to tens of thousands of customers across the continent.
Paul Kent (photo), co-founder and CEO of Adumo, is making waves in the fintech sector. A South African native, Kent completed a management development programme at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003 and earned an MBA from Spain’s IE Business School in 2015.
His fintech, Adumo, is a growth partner for businesses. It offers a seamless and secure omnichannel approach to accepting various types of payment products. The company’s mission is to help entrepreneurs manage, grow, simplify, and optimize their businesses through superior payment experiences.
It provides several employee incentive solutions and a gift and loyalty platform to enhance customer engagement. Adumo has developed standalone payment card machines and offers access to various types of online and point-of-sale payments. Through Adumo Capital, it provides entrepreneurs with initial business funding.
Currently, Adumo serves over 70,000 active customers in 13 African countries, handling more than 80 billion rand, or over $4 billion, in annual transaction value.
Kent, a certified director of the Institute of Directors in South Africa, is also the founder and director of SureSwipe, a card payment services provider established in 2008. Since 2020, he has served as a director of the Innervation financial company PAN African Payment Solutions. His professional career began in 2001 as an account manager at Healthbridge, a healthcare payment solutions provider.
Melchior Koba
The solution was developed to help people get the best prices in online shops.
ComparoShop, a digital solution developed by a startup based in Douala, Cameroon, allows users to compare prices of a wide array of items online before making purchases from online stores. The startup, founded by Didier Tagne in 2022, employs artificial intelligence to enhance search results.
The platform, which does not offer a mobile application, can be accessed via a browser. Users are not required to create an account to access the platform’s information. By entering the product name in the search bar, users can view various suggestions. Based on their geographical location, they can find online stores selling the desired item, its prices, and customer reviews of the respective store. This enables users to compare prices, analyze reviews, and make informed decisions.
Purchases are made through the online stores linked to ComparoShop. Users select their preferred offer on ComparoShop and are redirected to an external site to complete the purchase by clicking on the “See offer” button. If the online store only has a social media page instead of a website, ComparoShop notifies the store to contact the user for delivery. Currently, the startup operates only in Cameroon and Algeria.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
As the tech landscape continues to evolve, entrepreneurship in new technologies is gaining prominence. Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat, based in Gabon, is positioning itself as a key player, spurring the youth to tap into the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat, a Gabon-based incubator specializing in new information and communication technologies (NICTs), leverages these technologies to foster entrepreneurship and aid young individuals in bringing their projects to fruition. The incubator, established in 2010 by Mve Asseko Simplice, an IT project management master’s degree holder, runs several training and support programs to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among Gabon’s youth.
The incubator has initiated a two-week training seminar for project leaders and those seeking to enhance their skills, focusing on business plan creation. To further assist its entrepreneurs, Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat has developed Business Booster, an application designed for business plan creation and project monitoring.
It regularly hosts a digital lunch for IT professionals and organizes development workshops. These workshops offer training in computer programming, software development, and IT project management to young individuals and professionals. The workshops aim to equip participants with the necessary tools to stay abreast of the latest technologies and trends, preparing them to work in teams and tackle the challenges of the IT industry.
Additionally, Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat offers training in graphic design and visual communication. This course enables students to master graphic design tools and software, principles of visual composition, and typography. It equips them with robust technical skills for producing high-quality visual communication media, creating effective graphic designs tailored to customer needs, and fostering the creativity and artistic flair required to design innovative and original projects.
Melchior Koba
In a bid to diversify its revenue streams and modernize its economy, Congo, like many of its African counterparts, is turning to digital technology. The country is banking on collaborations with seasoned partners in the digital arena to yield positive outcomes in the near future.
U.S.-based Pay Rem Group Inc, a firm focused on modernizing financial services, is set to launch several digital initiatives in the Congo in the upcoming months, in collaboration with the government. A memorandum of understanding was inked on March 18 between the company, Congo’s Digital Economy Development Agency (ADEN), and the Congo Post and Savings Company (Sopeco), aiming to foster digital inclusion and bridge the digital gap in the country.
Héliodore Francis Alex Gouloubi, Managing Director of ADEN, outlined the agreement’s purpose, stating it would facilitate “the execution of a structuring project aimed at enhancing the digital start-up ecosystem through their participation in the operation of certain financial products designed to increase banking penetration.”
The initial phase of the three-way partnership will see the roll-out of several projects in Congo, including setting up a digital bank and a production unit for digital products. The partnership will also ensure the provision of broadband internet services in the country’s remote areas.
This agreement aligns with the Congolese government’s digitization efforts across all key sectors, with a particular emphasis on the financial sector. The modernization of these sectors and the growth of the digital economy represent the fifth pillar of the National Development Plan 2022-2026.
The implementation of projects under this agreement should help to revitalize and reinvent Sopeco, reduce the digital divide, develop financial inclusion for the population, and create jobs, among other things. The aim is to create 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in the first phase of the project and 20,000 in three years.
Samira Njoya
Nigerian neobank Brass has raised an undisclosed amount of funding to support its operations, Techcabal reported on Tuesday. The startup recently faced disruptions following a partner withdrawal but has now processed pending transactions. Brass plans to use the new funding to accelerate growth within the Nigerian market.
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Start-up funding declined in 2023, yet the foodtech sector remains attractive due to innovation potential. In that context, a global competition has been launched to boost startups active in the sector.
Swiss flavor and taste specialist Givaudan and the FoodHack foodtech community announced on March 19 that applications for the foodtech world cup are open until April 11.
The competition aims to leverage local networks to highlight 60 foodtech founders from North America, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East on a global stage to boost their growth.
“We hope to discover groundbreaking solutions created by exceptional and entrepreneurial founders that have a tangible impact on a healthier and more sustainable future for all,” said Alexandre Bastos, Head of Open Innovation and Venture Capital at Givaudan, about the partnership with FoodHack and HackSummit.
After their pitch presentations, two solutions from each region will be selected to participate in the competition’s final in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
A serial entrepreneur, she is mainly active in the digital and telecommunications sectors. Her latest innovation is an online platform designed to streamline hotel check-ins.
Franco-Gabonese finance expert and entrepreneur Selena Souah is the founder and CEO of REGCARD, a startup that launched its digital check-in card for express online hotel check-ins worldwide in 2022. The platform, which operates like a travel diary, allows hotels to perform express check-ins and check-outs for their guests at no cost and has a database of over 19,900 travellers.
Souah is also a co-founder and head of business development at International Schools Engineering, a management, investment, and consultancy group in the education sector established in 2013. In 2015, she co-founded Odyssey Education, a global French international education group offering education from nursery to sixth form.
In addition, Souah founded and presides Revolution’Air, a Rwanda-based telecommunications operator and internet service provider established in 2018. The company aims to establish a truly pan-African network and address connectivity and access issues in rural areas. Since January 2024, Souah has been a board member of Institut Aspen France.
Souah, a graduate of Maisons d’éducation de la Légion d’honneur in France, earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce and international business in 2008 and a master’s degree in general finance from ISC Paris in 2012. She began her professional career as a credit analyst at BGFIBank Gabon in 2011 before joining the French branch of Portuguese banking institution Banco Espírito Santo in 2012.
Melchior Koba
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a key technology of the fourth industrial revolution. While offering significant opportunities, AI also presents potential risks that require proactive mitigation.
Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called on African nations to fully embrace artificial intelligence (AI). She made these remarks at a conference in Accra, Ghana, on March 18, 2023, co-hosted by the IMF and the Ghanaian Ministries of Finance, Communications and Digitisation.
"Artificial Intelligence is our best chance to overcome the long-term low productivity. When we think of what can lift productivity, by far, our best chance is in investing in green transition and in the adoption of AI. It (AI) can be the big bang that allows us to live longer, healthier, better educated, [and] more productive lives. We face, urgently, the necessity to embrace AI, and make the best out of it," she said.
The advent of generative AI, such as ChatGPT in November 2022, has raised public awareness of both the advantages and potential risks of this technology. Several African countries have implemented national AI strategies and are taking steps to regulate its widespread use. Seydina Moussa Ndiaye, a member of the United Nations’ 38-strong AI advisory body, expressed concern that Africa could become a testing ground for new AI solutions without adequate control over the technology.
According to Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mohammed Amin Adam, AI could potentially generate nearly $1,200 billion for the African continent by 2030. However, as Georgieva noted, achieving this goal requires building more digital infrastructure, investing in human capital, fostering entrepreneurial innovation, and establishing a robust regulatory framework.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Africa's rapid technological growth underscores the need to educate young people about online risks and promote safe internet use. Organizations are working to provide safe access to digital opportunities for African youth.
The Women, Gender, and Youth Directorate (WGYD) of the African Union Commission and TikTok, the popular short video sharing app, have recently entered into a partnership. The collaboration aims to promote digital safety on the internet through the “SaferTogether” campaign, targeting teenagers, teachers, and parents.
As part of this initiative, educational videos on online safety, along with content creator recommendations, will be published on TikTok. Additionally, TikTok and the African Union Commission will distribute digital safety toolkits to assist teachers and tutors in addressing key digital safety issues. These resources will be available on a dedicated microsite on TikTok, serving as an interactive guide for safer online practices.
This campaign is a component of the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa and its “1 Million Next Level” initiative. The goal is to enhance young people’s access to digital platforms and promote their safe use to mitigate internet-related risks.
The partnership is expected to equip young people with the necessary tools and confidence for safe internet surfing, fostering a more inclusive and safer online community for young Africans. Nonkululeko Ngwenya, Head of the African Union’s WGYD, stated, “While access to internet can help children and young people stay connected, improve their digital literacy, and diversify their livelihoods, it is crucial that they are provided with a safe environment to reap the benefits of digital platforms.”
Samira Njoya