Artificial intelligence helps address numerous economic challenges. In the agriculture sector, which is the main source of employment and livelihood in developing countries, it contributes to the improvement of agritech solutions.
Agrix Tech is a digital platform developed by the eponymous Cameroonian agritech startup. The app helps small farmers efficiently treat plant diseases, control weeds, and fight crop pests thanks to artificial intelligence.
According to Agrix Tech founder Adamou Nchange Kouotou, “in developing countries, most small farmers are self-taught with no proper skills in the management of crop diseases and pests.”
Hence the development of Agrix Tech. The platform has an Android app that allows farmers to register for its services. To get plant disease management recommendations, farmers scan the affected plants using the Agrix Tech app and let the startup automatically analyze the video collected and send adequate recommendations.
The platform can also help farmers determine the best crops for a said soil, the best farm maintenance techniques, and best practices. To allow farmers with low literacy, or even illiterates, to access its services, the app integrates speech and text recognition technology that can identify several local languages.
The startup offers its services to small farmers for free. But, to generate revenues for its operations, it sells ad spaces and user licenses to agriculture consulting firms.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In major African cities, it is difficult to find rental offices and houses meeting the desired options. To address that issue, a Ghanaian startup developed a platform catering to the local real estate market.
MeQasa is a digital real estate marketplace developed by a Ghanaian eponymous startup founded in 2013. It allows users to buy or rent real estate properties meeting their needs within a reasonable period.
In 2015, the Ghanaian startup raised US$500,000 to support its growth. MeQasa “ has a strong platform in place and is quickly progressing in what we see as a truly dynamic market in West Africa. The combination of our own online classifieds experience across emerging markets, along with meQasa’s passion and commitment, makes for a powerful combination and opportunity to build an industry-leading business in Ghana and beyond,” said Shaun Di Gregrio, CEO of Frontier Digital Ventures which invested at the time.
For a stronger impact, MeQasa developed mobile apps (available on Playstore and AppStore). It allows users to filter real estate properties all over Ghana, from Accra to Osu. The user can also filter properties by price, property type, etc. When results are displayed, users can click on selected properties to get all the information required to proceed further. The digital marketplace also has a blog discussing proptech-related subjects.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The connected object industry has expanded quickly over the past ten years. Thanks to the new usages allowed by the 5G, it will grow further, becoming an important source of employment in Africa, where there is still a lack of skilled labor in advanced technology sectors.
Four partners will launch a 3-year online Internet of Things (IoT) training program next September. The four partners are notably the virtual universities of Mali, Senegal, and Tunisia and the Franch National Institute of Applied Science (INSA), through its virtual academy OpenINSA.
According to a release, dated June 23, announcing the training program, it will include courses on the security and architecture of connected objects, the architectural maintainability and reliability of a connected object, the development of digital apps to interact with connected objects, and the basics of data science.
"The resources developed in the framework of this partnership are placed under a Creative Commons license. They are accessible to project partners’ teacher-researchers in the research section,” indicated Jean-Yves Plantec, the director of OpenINSA. For the director, the main strength of the education project announced is its ability to federate a strong community for its implementation.
The four partners started developing the project in 2019, in the framework of the Support for the development of French Higher Education in Africa (ADESFA). The project entered a new phase between 2020 and May 2022 when the partners focused on the development of an online program accessible primarily to second-year undergraduate students, but also to employees and those seeking professional retraining. At the end of the 3-year training, the learners will constitute a high-quality labor force for innovative sectors.
The connected object industry has expanded quickly over the past ten years. Connected wristbands, watches, speakers, and similar tools have become part of our daily life. According to Banque des Territoires, between 2018 and 2019, 2.5 billion connected objects were sold worldwide.
Samira Njoya
He has over 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship coaching and over a decade of professional experience in the tech industry. His ambition is to contribute the expertise acquired to showcase the Gabonese and Central African innovation ecosystem to the world.
Sylvere Boussamba (photo) is a Gabonese tech entrepreneur and founder of Start X 241, an incubator, accelerator, and investment fund focused on digital companies and tech firms. Through Start X 241, (founded in 2020), Sylvere wants to “create the largest digital products and services distribution network in Central Africa.”
To achieve his goal, he develops strategic win-win partnerships between Central African startups and the companies built by his startup studio. “The partnership allows us to ensure collaboration between great Francophone entrepreneurs and great Gabonese peers,” he explains.
Start X 241 is not the first venture established by this tech enthusiast in the Gabonese innovation ecosystem. In 2013, he launched Ogooué Labs, a co-working space, accelerator, and digital training space. Five years later, he created Ecole 241, a digital training academy founded to support the state and firms in their digital transformation. He also co-founded Digitech Africa, a software company based in Côte d’Ivoire.
His expertise is the result of an extensive professional career that started in 1996. He was an application team leader, then business systems support manager for telecom operator Zain. He worked at Airtel Gabon as Service Quality Assurance Manager, IT Manager, and later as Operations Manager and Innovation Manager for Airtel DRC.
He has been certified as a leadership coach, teacher, trainer, and speaker by The John Maxwell Company. Also, since 2015, he is a Tony Elumelu Foundation business mentor.
Melchior Koba
With years of professional experience in the ICT industry, she is, since 2016, committed to the development of green technology.
Safia Mahamat Youssouf (photo) is the developer of Smart Village Chad, a green tech innovation hub. The innovation hub, launched in 2016, focuses on production, transformation, and support to young project owners, cooperations, and associations. It has three notable sections, namely an incubator (Sahel Green Hub), an experimental farm, and a research and development lab (AgriLab).
The developer is a telecom and computer science engineer who graduated from the Bamako Higher Institute Of Applied Technologies in 2002. She started her professional career in 2009 as a Value Added Services Supervisor for telecom operator Zain Chad. The following year, she was appointed Marketing Product Manager for Airtel Chad before leaving the Chadian Finance Ministry’s modernization project from 2011 to 2014.
In 2015, she joined the national ICT promotion agency as the director of research and planning. From 2017 to 2018, she was the director of communication and international relations for the Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority (ARCEP).
Since 2018, she is the deputy CEO of telecom company Sudachad. In 2020, she made it to the Musodev list of the 21 women who shape the African ICT industry.
Melchior Koba
The number of mobile financial service subscribers rose significantly in Africa over the past ten years. According to the GSM Association, it is estimated at some 200 million subscribers currently. With the arrival of new ambitious actors, the high fees, which used to hinder mobile financial services adoption, are dropping.
Wave Mobile Money S.A. (Senegal) and Wave Côte d'Ivoire S.A. recently secured a €90 million financing package arranged by the International Financial Corporation ( IFC). The package includes a €25 million loan from the IFC, and a combined €41 million B loan - Ed.note: Repayable over 5 to 8 years with the possibility to pay a large portion of the loan in the last amortization year- from Symbiotics, Blue Orchard, responsAbility and Lendable. The remaining €24 million is a parallel loan -not exposed to currency fluctuation risks- from Finnfund and Norfund.
The funds secured will serve for the development of Wave’s activities in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. According to an IFC release dated July 6, “in addition to helping to finance the companies' operations, IFC's support will help establish a mobile money environment where customers can transact more often thanks to a simple fee structure and lower transaction costs.”
“This will foster higher frequency of transactions, new payment methods, and growing overall value of payments processed by the users, particularly among lower-income customers,” the release adds.
“Wave's vision of making Africa the first cashless continent, by building affordable and user-centric solutions, matches IFC's ambitions of universal financial inclusion. [...] This investment by IFC and other lenders helps us offer a diversity of financial products, encouraging users to stay within the formal financial sector, deepening financial inclusion in the region,” indicated Coura Sene, Wave’s Mobile Money Regional Director for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
For Aliou Maïga, IFC's Regional Director for West and Central Africa, the loans “will not only promote inclusive finance, but it will also significantly contribute to further advancing digital economy solutions in West Africa.”
Let’s note that in September 2021, Wave Mobile Money Holdings Inc. (parent company of Wave Mobile Money S.A. (Senegal) and Wave Côte d'Ivoire S.A.) raised US$200 million during a Series A round, becoming a unicorn company (valued at over US$1 billion).
Muriel Edjo
The digital payment switch was developed by the government, thanks to the technical expertise of the Nigerian firm eTranzact. It demonstrates authorities’ ambition to boost financial inclusion.
Cameroon’s Minister of Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng, officially launched the National Digital Payment Switch Infrastructure (NPSI) in Yaoundé, yesterday (July 5). The payment switch, accessible via the USSD Code #237#, is a government initiative to ensure the traceability of electronic payment flows, therefore facilitating the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing and promoting the digital economy. It is hosted at the Cameroon Postal Services (Campost) thanks to the technical expertise of the Nigerian firm eTranzact.
According to Campost MD Pierre Kaldadak, the NPSI will promote equal access to interconnection, reduce the cost of value-added services and help trace all the bank and non-bank transactions. He also informed that the telecom operators that are active in the country and about forty firms have already joined the payment switch. Meanwhile, a significant number of firms are still awaiting connections.
The NPSI, whose development was launched in 2018, was inaugurated on June 30, 2020. For Minette Libom Li Likeng, it will help reduce cash dependence, boost financial inclusion, and stimulate innovation with the development of public and private-sector applications and startup promotion. The digital infrastructure is "a key [...] tool for digital systems and payments in Cameroon,” she added.
Samira Njoya
The center will help boost access to quality digital education and offer employment opportunities and innovative solutions in Senegal.
IT company Atos and 01Talent Africa launched Monday (July 4) a collective intelligence center in Dakar, Senegal. The center will offer digital training, starting from September 2022.
During the launching ceremony, Alpha Barry, Head of Atos Africa, elaborated on why Africa is the perfect continent to develop the collective intelligence center project. “With an average age of 19, Africa is the youngest continent in the world and will represent 40% of the world's population by the end of the century. By working with 01Talent in Africa, we are giving these young people the opportunity to unleash their creative potential to contribute to the innovation and digital transformation of the continent," he indicated.
“This initiative is part of a strategic partnership that aims to accelerate the digital transformation in Africa, by enabling the massification of world-class digital skills through an innovative and inclusive training of excellence on the continent,” the two partners inform.
For 01Talent Africa’s strategic director, Karim Sy, “this strategic initiative confirms the commitment of 01Talent and Atos to the creation of an African technology ecosystem strengthened by the training of world-class talent, essential to the accomplishment of the continent's digital transition.”
“This is a huge opportunity to create jobs for young people and value for local businesses. Everyone becomes an actor of change,” he stresses.
The collective intelligence center baptized Zone01 will be inaugurated in September 2022, welcoming the first cohort of 120 young talents selected during a competitive stage. After Dakar, the two partners intend to launch a new Zone01 in Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania.
Samira Njoya
Currently, in Africa, some SMEs still use inefficient expense management tools. In South Africa, Sava Africa wants to change that by introducing automated accounting tools.
Sava, also Known as Sava Africa, is a digital platform developed by South African startup SAVA Technologies Inc. It offers automated accounting tools that allow SMEs to improve expenditure management.
SAVA Technologies Inc. was founded, in 2021, by Yoeal Haile, Federico Von Bary Landesmann, and Kolawole Olajide. According to Kolawole Olajide, Sava “will help business owners manage their finances and solve some of the pain points they’ve faced from using disjointed financial software tools.”
For the time being, the platform has no mobile app. It is in its pre-launch phase and to access its features, notably virtual card issuance and budget/cash flow management, users currently have to join its waitlist. The fintech also offers quick credits with flexible repayment plans. Recently, it completed a US$2 million pre-seed round to develop new products. It plans to officially launch operations in South Africa in the third quarter of this year and enter the Kenyan and Nigerian markets later.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
He is well aware of the challenges faced by most students in their student visa application process since he was once in their shoes. Six years ago, he decided to contribute his professional experience to help overcome those challenges.
Duplex Eric Kamgang (photo) is a Cameroonian entrepreneur and co-founder of Studely, a consulting firm that facilitates visa applications for students applying for admission to European Universities. The consulting firm assists students in the obtention of proof of financial support, accommodation research, travel or home insurance, and bank account opening.
According to Eric Kamgang, Studely is the result of personal experience. “... In 2009, I got admitted to a major business school in Paris. At that time, I thought everything was ready for me to travel to France and fulfill my dream but I soon realized how wrong I was because applying for a visa turned out to be a long and painful journey. [...] Apart from showing how motivated I was, I also had to prove I had enough financial resources, find decent housing in France, and purchase compulsory insurance policies. I had to do all this within days and, having no assistance, I doggedly did as I could in my native country,” he recounts.
Studely currently claims assistance to 10,000 students from 65 countries for their visa applications in France and Germany. The consulting firm founded in 2015 is already present in 15 African countries. It earned its co-founder, Eric Kamgang, several recognitions and awards, including Meet Africa 2016 and Digital Africa 2017.
Let’s note that Eric has a master's in finance and accounting from the Catholic University of Central Africa and an MSc in Management from the Skema Business School, France. He started his professional career in 2007 as a financial auditor for BACA Consulting, Cameroon. In 2020, he joined Total as a financial controller before subsequent positions in the financial and energy sectors in Germany and France.
Melchior Koba
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In Africa, startups offer a wide range of services and solutions to address the population’s needs. Movemeback wants to connect talented diaspora members to “high potential opportunities” in Africa.
Movemeback is a digital platform developed by UK incorporated company Movemeback Ltd. It connects members (namely leaders, influencers, and top talents) to high-impact social and entrepreneurial career opportunities.
For the time being, the platform has no mobile app. To join, users will have to visit its website, submit an application and wait for approval (subject to screening). Movemeback wants “to drive positive economic and social growth in Africa by providing an internationally trusted platform through which individuals, organizations and institutions across the world interact and partner with Africa.” For that purpose, it focuses notably on facilitating collaboration between its members.
Africa “has so much diversity, unmet and undiscovered need but even more interestingly untapped and uninitiated talent. The story is colorful, it’s multifaceted and through the process of the crowd, we intend to share it in high definition,” it explains.
In August 2020, Movemeback Ltd (incorporated in 2014), was among the 11 African startups to participate in “The Future is Female” mentorship program.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In 2020, connectivity demand accelerated worldwide with the change in consumption habits induced by the coronavirus crisis. In many countries, the Internet is now considered a basic service, just like drinking water and electricity. Such transformations are leading to major changes in the African telecom market.
Mobile broadband will represent 78 percent of mobile subscriptions in the Sub-Saharan African region in the next five years, Ericsson reveals in its June 2022 Mobility Report. According to the Swedish multinational, those subscriptions will be mainly driven by 4G subscription uptake. In 2021, it explains, 4G subscriptions increased by 26 percent and are expected to grow further this year due notably to migration to 4G devices.
“3G mobile data traffic is still increasing, but the majority of traffic growth is expected to be in 4G,” the report reads. However, it should be noted that 3G will still account for the majority of mobile subscriptions in 2027, i.e. 40% compared to 28% for 4G. As for 5G, it will represent 10% of mobile Internet subscriptions in 2027.
In some markets such as South Africa and Kenya, where additional spectrum has recently been allocated, service providers have been able to expand the coverage and capacity of their 3G/4G networks, increasing mobile broadband subscriptions. Ericsson forecasts Sub-Saharan African average monthly data traffic per smartphone to reach 11 gigabytes by 2027 with the Covid-19 crisis-induced change in Internet consumption habits.
By that period, Africa will be the only global market where 2G networks will still be significantly present. The technology will account for nearly 20% of mobile subscriptions compared to an average of 7% in other continents.
Muriel Edjo
In Africa, the land management sector is confronted with several issues, from cumbersome administrative procedures to illegal documents. The Guinean government has decided to rely on technology for an efficient solution to problems affecting the efficiency of the national land leasing process.
The Guinean Ministry of Urban Affairs rolled out, Wednesday (June 29), habitatguinee.app, a land management platform. By rolling out the platform, the ministry wants to address the problems identified in the land management sector and help people (land lease applicants notably) easily complete administrative procedures.
According to Minister of Urban Affairs Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, the aim of the platform “is clearly to promote efficiency and secure the collection of government revenues by mitigating potential risks.”
During the roll-out ceremony, Prime Minister Mohamed Béavogui (photo, center) explained that a valid lease is required from citizens and investors alike for their construction or investment projects.
“The platform connects all the ministerial departments and institutions involved in the lease contract process in Guinea. It dematerializes the lease granting process and centralizes the already granted leases on a single platform,” explained Souleymane Diallo, a representative of Global High Tech, the Ministry of Urban Affairs’ partner in the development of habitatguinee.app.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
As digital transformation is increasing in Africa, governments are intensifying public service digitization. It is, therefore, necessary to guarantee digital trust. Hence digital identification measures are being taken by some countries.
The Tunisian Ministry of ICT signed Friday (July 1), a partnership agreement with the National Agency for Electronic Certification and telecom operators for the implementation of "mobile ID," a mobile identity project. The project concerned will transform sim cards into identity tools by linking users’ national identity card numbers to their phone numbers.
"This new service will reinforce digital trust in Tunisia by giving citizens a new secured and simple tool that allows them access to all the digital services and also provides them a digital signature,” explained ICT Minister Nizar Ben Neji.
Under the partnership agreement, telecom operators will verify users’ identities and link their phone numbers with their ID card numbers. The National Agency for Electronic Certification will issue personal identification numbers for every identified citizen. It will also generate personal QR Codes, which citizens can use to sign administrative documents online. The long-term goal is to allow Tunisians to connect to the public administration platform, log in with their identification numbers, request administrative documents, and sign them if need be online.
Mobile ID was announced in February 2021, in the framework of the government’s digital transformation program. According to the Ministry of ICT, it will rid the public administration system of the certified signature and certified copy requirements. In its initial phase, it will facilitate Tunisians’ access to the 120 administrative services already digitized. Then, it will gradually be rolled out to include the whole public administration.
Samira Njoya