Solutions (431)
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.
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
The solution capitalizes on the free-movement-agreement between West African countries to easily move goods across the sub-region, facilitating transport and logistics operations for whosoever needs such services.
Anaxar is a digital platform developed by a Togolese eponymous start-up, founded in 2020. It helps users easily transport goods across West Africa. In fact, it connects freight owners, truck owners, and freight recipients.
Using its platform, users can request free quotes by filling out a dedicated form and providing information such as the nature of the goods, the weight, and the departure and arrival areas. Once the form is submitted, the startup gets in touch to evaluate needs and provide personalized and the most competitive quotes. When the user accepts the quote, he/she needs to validate it to get the goods transported to the desired location.
Let’s note that once the goods arrive at the stated location, the startup once again contacts the user to notify it. Apart from transporting goods, Anaxar also specializes in removal and delivery. It is present in all the West African countries with a network of over 1,000 professional transporters. It claims competitive prices and points out that its priority is customer satisfaction, with the goal of becoming the leader in the sector.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The solution is unveiled after more than ten months of testing. It allows millions of Kenyans access to various stock markets and information to up their investment skills.
Hisa is a fintech solution developed by a Kenyan eponymous start-up. It enables users (individuals and businesses alike) to buy fractional Kenyan and US stocks and pay via mobile money.
“At Hisa, we are building the infrastructure for borderless investments in Africa through micro-investments. Less than one percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa invests in the capital markets, caused mainly by a lack of access, low financial literacy levels, lack of IPOs as well as low liquidity of the local stock exchanges. [...] Through Hisa, anyone in Kenya can invest in their favorite companies such as Safaricom, KCB, Equity, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, and many more,” explains Erick Asuma, Hisa’s co-founder, and CEO.
The solution was launched after ten months of beta testing. It has a mobile app -for both Android and iOS devices, through which users can create their accounts to access its numerous features. Among other things, they can access over 400 podcasts about the stock market, technologies, and asset management.
According to Eric Jackson, another Hisa co-founder, the startup is planning a funding round to expand its operations. The co-founder says the fintech already has more than 15,000 users with more than US$1 million in transactions processed. On Playstore, the Hisa Android app has already been downloaded more than 10,000 times. Its rating is 2.8 out of 5.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Since its launch in 2016, Mpoto, the startup behind Coneckto Food, has developed several interesting solutions in the Burkinabe market. The latest allows users to order food.
Conekto Food is a mobile app developed by the Burkinabe start-up Mpoto. It allows its users to order food in Burkina Faso. It also gives users the possibility to get the food delivered when needed.
The app is available for iOS and Android devices. To access its services, users need to create an account. Then, they can access the menus offered by listed restaurants and place orders. When ordering, they can ask restaurants not to add so or so ingredients to their foods. They can also choose whether the foods need to be delivered or they will pick them up. For payment options, they can pay either with cash or by mobile money.
In 2021, Mpoto announced that Conekto Food was already downloaded more than 2,500 times. On Playstore, which is the official app store for Android devices, the app has been downloaded some 100 times.
Currently, the solution covers only Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. It lists over twenty restaurants with hopes to conquer other towns and restaurants in the near future.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The solution aims to help law enforcement agencies help as many people as possible in some of DRC’s regions where residents are faced with numerous security challenges.
SOS Secours is a digital solution developed by Congolese start-up Yangu. It helps users notify the startup and get help when their lives are endangered. It has an Android app that can send alerts or even report incidents.
With the app, users can send geolocalized alerts by just shaking their phones. They can also “use the call and messaging options to notify the relatives they selected when activating the app,” Yangu explains.
When it receives an alert, Yangu -thanks to a team of experts- analyzes the threat and sends support or emergency help as needed. The startup also analyses the various threats to pinpoint the locations where users can face such threats at a given period.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
She got her agritech business idea during an academic internship. With some of her classmates, she developed a system to reduce the post-harvest losses incurred by smallholder farmers in her country. Thanks to her system, she has earned several awards and recognitions.
Sara Benlafqih (photo) is a Moroccan industrial management engineer. She is also the CEO and one of the co-founders of agritech startup BMTA&C which develops innovative solutions to challenges like access to energy and food insecurity.
Through BMTA&C, she created a storage unit to help farmers extend the shelf life of their crops from 2 to 20 days. The unit uses a solar cooling system to help smallholder farmers in remote areas reduce crop losses in Morocco and the sub-region.
The said unit was inspired by a discovery Sara made during an academic internship. Indeed, she found out that farmers used to lose almost one-third of their harvest yearly just because they had no storage facility. The storage unit she created can now store up to six tons of fruit and vegetables without using coolants, which are harmful to the environment.
“By giving access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy, our technology promotes food security, fights climate change, and improves farmers’ livelihoods,” Sara told Forbes in early 2022.
Before launching BMTA&C, the CEO who holds an MSc in industrial management engineering interned at various companies and organizations. In June 2017, she was a blue-collar intern at OCP SA, a mineral exploration firm. The following month, she spent a two-week summer internship at Cardiff Metropolitan University. In April 2018, she took on a 1-month shadowing internship at the mining firm Group Managem.
From June to August 2018, she was an engineering intern at the Portuguese group Águas de Portugal (AdP). Her last internship was in 2019 with an end-of-studies internship at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, where she got her MSc in industrial management engineering.
In 2017, she was a speaker at the Dean’s Forum held at MINES ParisTech. The following year, she was also a speaker at the Economy Days, in Lyon, Paris, where the discussions revolve around the growth of the digital sector in Africa.
Nominated for the Aviram Awards - Tech for Humanity launched by the Aviram Family Foundation and Forbes to celebrate the most impactful startups in the Middle East and North Africa in 2022, Sara Benlafqih's startup participated in the four-month accelerator program, MassChallenge Switzerland 2022. In 2021, it was in third place in the EDF Pulse Africa 2021 innovation competition and was the Grand Prize winner of the Global Food Challenge.
Melchior Koba
The solution was launched to provide reliable and quicker courier and delivery services.
ChapChap is a digital solution developed by Togolese start-up GLC Services. It allows users to get packages delivered through its web platform or mobile application.
According to Alao Lawal, one of GLC Services’s co-founders, ChapChap is an outstanding platform launched to meet the demand of organizations that need quick and reliable courier services.
From the solution’s online platform or its mobile app -available for Android and iOS devices-, users can create their accounts and start placing delivery orders. Once they place orders, they can track them via the embedded geolocation feature.
ChapChap also gives users the possibility to plan when the parcels or any type of package should be delivered to the recipient. It also allows e-tailers to integrate its API into their platforms.
According to PlaySgtroer data, the Android version of ChapChap has been downloaded more than a thousand times.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
During the Covid-19 pandemic, remote education proved a crucial choice to ensure education continuity in Africa. Since then, the edtech segment has been growing steadily with a growing number of Africans adopting this option to further their education.
Sweetch is an e-learning platform developed by a Cameroonian eponymous start-up. It allows its users access to paid and free educational content online. It aims to create new opportunities for people and businesses by leveraging emerging technologies.
The platform has a mobile application -accessible for Android and iPhone users- that enables users to register accounts to access the courses. The edtech offers a multitude of academic and professional courses as well as masterclasses in various fields. Users can choose to learn at their own pace by defining their schedules. They can learn by watching high-quality videos and reading slides and PDFs and asking coaches questions when they don’t understand some topics.
The platform also offers live courses, training, and workshops. Learners can interact with the trainers, which greatly expedites the learning curve. Learners can also take part in live events such as webinars, fairs, conventions, forums, exhibitions, etc.
In June 2022, Sweetch was claiming over 2,500 members and setting its sight for 10,000 members and 200 trainers by January 2023. It also hopes to expand to 15 countries in the next 24 months.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The recent rise in e-commerce adoption in Africa has boosted the interest in last-mile delivery solutions, encouraging a growing number of startups to enter the segment.
Messenger is a digital platform developed by a Nigerian eponymous startup. It allows users -individuals or small and medium-sized businesses to deliver goods across Nigeria.
It also provides "premium haulage and cold-chain delivery services for large-scale clients across, in addition to last-mile delivery services for e-commerce and small business owners."
With over 40 bikes and motorcycles, and about 50 employees, the startup serves over 25 Nigerian cities. It boasts all the tools required to fulfill various orders including on-demand shipping services, transportation, cold chain solutions, warehousing, or last-mile delivery. Its ambition is to the start-up has all the tools to fulfill these various orders. Its ambition is "to become a globally recognized logistics and dispatch company reputable for package
delivery and haulage inNigeria.”
Thanks to its system, the start-up has signed partnerships with companies such as Jumia Foods and DHL Express Nigeria. In 2022, co-founder Amanda Etuk was selected as one of the 50 finalists of Africa's Business Heroes competition.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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With the emergence of digital reading platforms, it has become easier to sell content online. In Egypt, a tech entrepreneur offers a similar solution to Arab authors.
Kotobna is a digital platform developed by an Egyptian eponymous startup. It helps Arab authors publish their content online and get an audience.
Apart from its web platform, the solution has a mobile application accessible on Android and iOS. Through the app, Internet users can access various books, including short stories- collections, poems comics, biographies, and specialized books.
With Kotobna, the Egyptian startup offers an alternative solution to authors who are unable to get their works published, and above all to new authors.
Its pricing strategy depends on the popularity of the book. According to Egypt Innovate, the books are free for the first 25 readers and then, the startup starts charging “readers a small fee to benefit the writer.”
It is really easy for authors to join the platform. They just need to register as a new user and click on the “Publish your book now” link on the homepage. Then, they will follow the required procedure.
In August 2022, the platform’s founder, Mohammed Gamal, was selected as one of the 50 finalists for Africa's Business Heroes competition, which entitles finalists to a slice of a US$1.5 million prize fund.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The solution was initially developed to help one of the co-founders' sister overcome dyslexia, a learning disability that can pose huge problems for children.
Sghartoon is a teletherapy platform developed by a Tunisian eponymous start-up. It helps parents and therapists detect learning difficulties, including dyslexia in children, and turn them into "superpowers" through educational games.
Through its mobile app -available for Android and iOS devices, users can register for its services by creating accounts either as parents, therapists, or even a child.
The child can then take an online exam to detect the presence of a learning disability. If a disability is detected, parents and therapists can monitor children’s progress thanks to the games embedded in the platform.
Sghartoon also offers parents and therapists access to a digital game library, a patient management tool with the results of various sessions, and a calendar management tool.
Its Android app has already been downloaded more than a thousand times on PlayStore. In 2020, the startup was among the eight ventures selected for the fifth cohort of the Flat6Labs accelerator, winning a check of US$65,000. The following year, it was one of the eleven African startups that won the Migration Entrepreneurship Prize. The financial supports allowed it to accelerate its growth in the Tunisian market and consider a possible expansion to other countries.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In African countries, small-scale farmers contribute a significant portion of the food supply. They are nevertheless affected by several problems including lack of funding, post-harvest, and yield losses. In Ethiopia, a tech entrepreneur has decided to tackle the issue of yield loss by leveraging digital technologies.
Lersha is a digital solution developed by an Ethiopian eponymous startup. It allows access to agricultural inputs for farmers and helps them hire mechanization services and request dynamic agro-climatic advice.
Smallholder farmers can access its services via its mobile app and call center. Once farmers download its app, they need to register their accounts by providing some personal information. The startup has also dispatched agents to familiarize farmers with the tools and services it offers. Via those agents, the farmers can also access its services.
Currently, Lersha has identified more than 44,160 farmers. It has deployed over 88 agents to manage those farmers and added more than 172 mechanization service providers to its database. Its Android app has been downloaded more than 500 times according to stats shown by PlayStore, the official Android Appstore.
In 2022, Lersha was among the eight startups selected for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) Innovation Fund which aims to support solutions that boost low-income and vulnerable communities’ capacity to adapt to, anticipate or absorb climate-related shocks or stresses.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
With the technological revolution underway, Africa needs to build its tech talent pool. The first step in that endeavor is to teach the youth how to code.
EaziCode is a digital platform developed by a South African eponymous startup. It connects young people who want to learn to code with experienced tutors.
"We were able to identify in our research that most local curriculums for primary and secondary education in South Africa do not have programming as a taught fundamental skill. Within an increasingly digital world, our goal is to bridge this gap and enable students to learn to program and build creative products at a much younger age," said EaziCode founder Thato Tshukudu to explain why the platform was launched.
Most of the courses offered feature a variety of fun programming activities designed to stimulate creativity. The curriculum is inspired by Google and the tutors are computer science students from South Africa's top universities trained to deliver the courses pedagogically.
EaziCode offers free and paid sessions. About 20 learners are taken in monthly for the paid sessions against some 30 learners for the free sessions monthly. At the end of their training, every learner receives a completion certificate.
According to Thato Tshukudu, the startup is mainly focused on the South African market but it plans to extend to other African countries. "We currently have two paid courses, introduction to web development and a Scratch course, which we have seen great financial success with. Due to our business model, we have very few operating expenses and thus it is easy for us to make a profit. We do believe that we are still in the early stages of our growth but with the current success of all our courses, potential partnerships shortly as well as our focus on growing our selection of courses, we hope to see an exponential increase in turnover," he indicated.
Adoni Conrad Quenum