The cable aligns with the government's strategy to develop the digital sector and extend competitive telecom services in remote areas.
Last Wednesday, in Luanda, China and Angola signed an about US$249 million concessional loan agreement for a national broadband project.
According to Pascoal Borges Alé Fernandes (Angola's Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Information Technology), the project will dynamize and extend Angola's network infrastructure.
"We are talking about the implementation of around 2,000 kilometers of terrestrial fiber optics that will make it possible to reach areas not yet reached by telecommunications services (…). And we also have a microwave segment that will make it possible to boost communications in Cabinda," he said.
A few years ago, Angola launched a large digital infrastructure construction project to meet the country's huge demand for digital services. With the new broadband project, the government wants to encourage tech innovation and boost productivity in the public and private sectors.
The project will help provide broadband connection in remote areas, reduce access costs and boost the country's digital economy. For China's ambassador to Angola, Gong Tao (photo, left), the agreement signed opens "new doors and new chapters" in the relations between Luanda and Pekin.
Samira Njoya
The Fintech solution was developed to help Kenyan SMEs easily manage their accounting operations at a fraction of the usual costs.
Lipana is a fintech solution developed by a Kenyan startup. It allows Kenyan SMEs to keep their accounts as well as send and receive payments through M-Pesa.
“We saw a need for a cheaper, easier-to-use bookkeeping solution since the existing players include Sage and Quickbooks, which are usually too complicated and expensive for the small business owner to use. Lipana solves this by being the easiest bookkeeping application for small businesses in Kenya,” says Shadrack Apollo, co-founder of Lipana.
The solution has no mobile app. On its web platform, users can register for an account to access the numerous services offered, including sending invoices and quotes, accepting payments, sending invoice reminders, and monitoring the paid, and unpaid invoices. They can also send payments via M-Pesa, bank cards, or any other mobile money or bank account.
Lipana also makes it easy to classify client information, payments, and invoices and monitor company expenses. It charges its users Ksh999 (US$8) monthly, Ksh4,999 per semester and Ksh9,999 per year.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The tech enthusiast strongly advocates empowering women in the African digital ecosystem. She is considered one of the pioneers in the promotion of ICT for all in Côte d'Ivoire and Africa as a whole.
Christelle Assirou (photo) is an Ivorian tech entrepreneur committed to empowering women. In 2007, she founded NGO "Femmes & TIC" (Women and ICT), which aims to attract women in the ICT industry for its development.
"Currently, women are 14% less likely to own a cell phone than men. The digital sector can offer huge opportunities to women if we manage to reduce the inequalities caused notably by lack of training and the absence of committed networks," she explained, in June 2019, during the European Development Days.
The tech entrepreneur is also the CEO of ICTINA, a strategic marketing, digital transformation, and digital marketing agency.
She graduated from the UFR SEG, in France, with a Master's in Financial and Management Accounting (in 2001) and a specialized graduate diploma (DESS) in 2008. Since 2013, she is the coordinator of the network "Femme, Numérique et Développment."
She is also a founding member of the Internet Society Côte d'Ivoire (ISOC CI), the local chapter of the ISOC. She entered the professional world, in 2004, with business service provider COMETE, where she spent three years as a commercial manager.
In 2008, she became the associate director of Open Technologies in Côte d'Ivoire. About five years later, in 2013, she was hired as the marketing manager of the digital agency Smile. From 2016 to 2017, she was the technical adviser in charge of digital inclusion at the Ivorian Ministry of Women.
During the second edition of the Africa Open Innovation Summit (October 20-21, 2022), Christelle Assirou was the chief commissioner. In 2020, she was part of the initiative eTrade for Women. UNESCO named her on its pioneer list of "Remarkable Women in Technology." In 2021, she organized a masterclass dedicated to connecting women entrepreneurs operating in the local digital ecosystem.
Melchior Koba
Agriculture is the main sector in most African countries. Tech entrepreneurs are stepping in to improve living conditions in this vital sector of the concerned economies.
Iwolonet is a digital solution developed by a Cameroonian startup. It is a business space where farmers can showcase their products online to attract buyers.
Via its Android app, farmers can register to access its services. They can also do so via its web platforms.
With their account, they can post their products, see the products posted by other users and connect with buyers and suppliers.
On Playstore, the app has been donloaded more than 10,000 times. Users present on the platform inlcude international companies, cooperatives and associations.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
African countries are among the most affected by climate change. In that context, initiatives contributing to resilience are important for the continent.
Last Tuesday, VC fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund unveiled a list of 10 African start-ups that will benefit from its new US$30 million VC fund backed by development agency FSD Africa. The ten startups represent the inaugural cohort of that fund.
The selected start-ups are from Egypt, Uganda, Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria and were chosen for the innovative technologies they have developed to help communities better adapt to climate impacts and increase their resilience.
Each of them will receive "$100K of equity investments as well as $100K of hands-on venture-building support," and "join Catalyst Fund’s existing portfolio of 61 startups across emerging markets and receive capital, bespoke and expert-led venture-building support, and direct connections with investors, corporate innovators and talent networks that can help them scale."
Catalyst Fund's portfolio companies have raised more than US$640 million in follow-up financing to date. They currently serve more than 14 million people and MSMEs worldwide. According to Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund, the aim is to support motivated founders who share the VC fund's "vision of a world where every individual has the tools and opportunities they need to thrive."
Samira Njoya
The funding is announced 18 months after the startup secured US$3 million in seed funding, including US$1 million of debt financing.
Ghanaian logistics startup JetStream Africa announced, Tuesday (January 10), it has secured US$13 million in debt and equity pre-Searies A financing.
The startup, based in Tema (Ghana) operates in 29 countries (14 African countries). With the newly secured funds, it plans to enter new markets and upgrade its platform that "vertically aggregates fragmented logistics and financing vendors in the world of African trade."
“With this funding round, we are excited to use our technology to reflect our customers’ data back to them in the form of business insights, so they can trade more profitably,” said Miishe Addy, co-founder, and CEO of JetStream.
In Africa, it is challenging for SMEs to ship their goods across international borders. As a result, they have access to only a limited number of markets. The continent's population is also larger than production capacities, therefore, the trade deficit is rising in the ever-booming market. According to a recent report by Mordor Intelligence, the African cross-border freight market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 4.5% between 2022 and 2027.
With its new model, JetStream facilitates end-to-end freight, helps reduce costs and also provides funding to SMEs that need it.
According to Miishe Addy, the new investment will allow the company to expand its reach and continue to improve its service offerings. "At Jetstream we aim to help regional companies grow their supply chains faster, and close that gap themselves," she said.
Samira Njoya
The serial entrepreneur has already founded five firms and its fintech solutions leverage blockchain technologies to secure and facilitate financial transactions between users.
Aronu Ugochukwu (photo) is a young Nigerian entrepreneur and the co-founder/CEO of fintech startup Xend which provides payment and management tools to SMEs
Thanks to its innovative solutions, Xend (founded in 2019) helps businesses make online and offline payments, and manage their inventory among other things.
In 2019, Aronu Ugochukwu also founded crypto bank Xend Finance with the support of Binance and Google Launchpad. The bank offers up to 15% interest annually on deposits. Its Web3 is open for developers and it claims to be Africa's first DeFi (decentralized) company and also the first African company to be listed on Binance Smart Chain. In August, it launched XendBridge, a blockchain payment API (application programming interface), and SwitchWallet, "an enterprise-grade wallet provision service."
The serial entrepreneur also founded Wicrypt, a smart wifi network that allows users to get paid by sharing their wireless internet connection with others. "Wicrypt is providing last-mile internet to people of the world who need it, while leveraging the blockchain by having hosts stake $WNT [ed. note: the startup's cryptocurrency] to become a part of the Wicrypt Network," he explained in 2021.
In 2016, he founded IT service company Ugarsoft. Before co-founding, instant delivery platform Ogwugo (the first Nigerian firm to accept bitcoin payments).
Given his young age and the numerous ventures he has already launched, one would believe that he has always been an entrepreneur but, this is not the case. He also has a professional career. In 2014, he joined KPMG Nigeria as an IT advisory associate. From September 2015 to June 2016, he was a software developer for IT services and consulting firm Lloydant Business Services.
Melchior Koba
Rwanda has undergone a major digital transition in recent years. Several sectors are changing, including the land sector, where reform will now allow the online issuance of land titles.
Last Friday, Rwanda officially launched the issuance of the electronic certificate of land registration. The e-certificate, announced two days earlier by the National Land Authority (NLA), aims to replace the paper copies or physical land titles offered to citizens, reduce the cost and time needed to secure those certificates but also enhance security, therefore reducing fraud that has plagued land transactions in the country.
On Twitter Esperance Mukamana (photo), general director of the NLA, declared that with the e-certificat e of land registration Rwanda was, once again, leading the way.
“From now there will be no more issuance of land titles in paper/hardcopy format. It's an incredible milestone that takes boldness by government,” she added.
The electronic certificate is the result of a process that started a few years earlier. In July 2020, the In July 2020, the Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority rolled out a platform to streamline land buying and selling in the country. Using the platform, Rwandans can check the registered lands’ information.
With the new e-certificate system, land titles will be provided immediately after approval by the registrar. The owner will receive a notification with a link to download and register a digital copy of their land title. A simple and fast procedure widely welcomed by Rwandans.
According to the National Land Authority, the system will remedy title losses and damages and contribute to the achievement of the "zero travel, zero paper" goal in land transactions. It is part of a program that aims to digitalize land services, making it easy and faster for requesters to access the needed services.
Samira Njoya
Rwanda wants to leverage digital technologies to reduce poverty and accelerate growth. In its various programs in that regard, it is supported by several financial partners.
Last Monday, the Franch Development Agency announced a financing agreement to support digital transformation in Rwanda. The agreement concerns a EUR37 million loan and a EUR1.7 million grant.
The loan will support the Rwandan government's digitization efforts."The financing we just concluded today with AFD will support Government of Rwanda’s efforts to modernize the administrative network infrastructure, operationalize a Geospatial Center of Excellence and a Drone Operation Center with the objective of improving government’s efficiency and capacity to deliver services, unlocking drone private sector development, and supporting policy design, monitoring and evaluation across government. It will also support innovation and economic development based on geospatial and drone-generated databases," said Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Rwanda's Minister of Finance.
In recent years, Rwanda has undertaken a number of digital reforms, including the dematerialization of public services, the improvement of access to quality internet, and the improvement of digital adoption with a number of initiatives that focuses on digital access and inclusion. The said reforms are part of the National Strategic Plan (2018-2024).
For Arthur Germond, AFD Director in Rwanda, the financing “will enable the delivery of quality public services in key institutions across the country, this project will help reduce access gap between the capital and the rest of the country. It will also make the country more attractive and create economic opportunities in Huye district thanks to support for the drone industry.”
Samira Njoya
After more than 10 years in the publishing industry, he entered the digital marketing field, creating and running several firms. Fraxeum, one of his ventures, leverages blockchain technology to promote financial inclusion.
South African serial entrepreneur Barry Tuck (photo) is the co-founder and director of Fraxeum, a blockchain technology built “for financial institutions, Web3 applications, and IoT systems that need a fast, transaction fee-free blockchain.”
According to the director, Fraxeum (founded in 2019) “essentially [...] tokenizes equity in any kind of asset – real world or digital, traditional or alternative, enabling fractionalization of equity into millions of micro-shares.”
“On top of the blockchain we have developed a range of fintech solutions that facilitate simple customer KYC, AML, and onboarding, direct fiat deposits and withdrawals, a secondary OTC desk for resale of micro-shares, and much more,” he added in December 2022.
Barry is also the director and co-founder of Ûs The Movement (a collective of artists, designers, riders, and makers), marketing agency SwiftX, and crowdfunding platform AZUZA. He is the director of plastic waste processor Infinite Industries, Global Crypto (a community of blockchain and crypto enthusiasts and Sirvis Pro, a platform that connects services providers to buyers.
In 2008, he co-founded creative digital agency Gorilla Creative Media and, some eight years later, he also cofounded startup accelerator Three One Combinator. His professional career started in 1994, in the publishing industry where he was first a photographer, then a photojournalist, an editor, and even a production manager.
He later entered the digital marketing industry, working as the managing director of Paton Tupper Digital, between 2013 and 2019. Between 2020 and 2022, he was the global marketing director of Affinity Group, a holding of eight firms based in South Africa and the UK. On SpeakerHub, he explains that he has spoken “at dozens of conferences for organizations like Unilever, Shell, RE/MAX, Radius Solutions Group, BRICS, Digital Day as well as several teachers associations, chambers of commerce and entrepreneur clubs.”
Melchior Koba
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Masroofi takes tech-enabled financial inclusion to the next level by reducing the age barrier in Egypt. Indeed, while the minimum age required to get a bank card is 16 years, the solution offers a tailored solution for children.
Masroofi is a digital solution developed by an Egyptian startup. It allows children aged between five and fifteen to get virtual payment cards for various transactions. The solution targets closed communities like school sports clubs to enable children to get used to the various digital and cashless solutions around them.
“As parents, many of us struggle with our children having cash in their hands because they are usually unaware of its worth. They either spend irresponsibly or they lose the cash. This is our seamless solution to parents, with regular notifications to parents of their childrens’ spending habits,” says Masroofi co-founder and CEO, Mostafa Abd Elkhabir.
The solution has a mobile app accessible for iOS and Android devices. Using the app, parents can create accounts to request Masroofi cards for their children (for EGP75 or about US$2.72) and load those cards.
The payment cards issued by Masroofi use NFC technology but, they are neither Visa nor Mastercard-branded. On Playstore, the Android version of its app has been downloaded more than 50 times. Despite that low download count, the founders want to add more features to give an improved financial education to children.
“We are considering creating an age-appropriate simulation that features different types of investment to expose children to investment experiences through their mobile application,” Mostafa Abd Elkhabir explains.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Côte d'Ivoire aims to become an air hub in West Africa. To achieve this, the government has sought the expertise of California-based start-up Zipline, considered the world leader in instant logistics and drone delivery.
U.S. medical delivery company Zipline will deploy its services in Côte d’Ivoire, in the coming days. Indeed, it recently secured the Certificate of Automated Aircraft Operators (CEAT) from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) of Côte d'Ivoire.
The CEAT, which is a pre-requisite to fly any automated aircraft in the country, was presented, last Friday, during a ceremony attended by the Ministers of Transport and Health.
According to Diop Boubakar, the Ministry of Transport’s spokesman, air transport is one of the priorities of Côte d'Ivoire’s development plan. To achieve the country’s ambitions in that industry, the Ministry of Transport tasked the ANAC to take the required measures to make the country an air hub in West and Central Africa. ANAC is notably tasked to develop aviation and airport infrastructure. For Diop Boubakar, it has succeeded in doing so with the certification CEAT certificate it granted (the first in Francophone Africa).
In December 2021, Zipline decided to expand into the Ivorian market. At the time, it announced an agreement with the country’s Ministry of Health for the delivery of vaccines, drugs, blood products, and other medical supplies to health facilities all over the country, even in remote and hard-to-reach areas. The partnership is expected to help create many jobs for the local population as Zipline is expected to hire local talent to manage the four distribution centers (to be built and operated by Zipline) where the health products will be stored and distributed to 1,000 health centers across the country. The first distribution center, located in Daloa, should be commissioned in the coming weeks.
Since 2016 when it started its drone delivery operations in Africa (with Rwanda), Zipline has steadily expanded its instant medical logistics business to other African countries, such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Samira Njoya
The serial entrepreneur has launched several tech solutions. He is one of the business leaders who are developing the Zimbabwean tech sector.
Tendai Elvis Mugovi (photo) is a Zimbabwean serial entrepreneur. As the founder and CEO of Mugonat Systems, he develops innovative software for Africans.
Mugonat Systems, founded in 2015, is a software company based in Harare, Zimbabwe. It develops Android and iOS apps as well as SMS, chatbots, and USSD systems for the health, management, and finance sectors, among others.
Some of the software developed by the company include Finmaze HMS (Health management system) which is a health management system for small to large healthcare facilities, and Cashlinq which is a digital banking wallet designed for African financial institutions.
Elvis is also the chief technology officer of fintech company Panamax which helps SMEs access working capital, through crowdfunding.
In December 2022, while explaining the reason he created Panamax, he said: “there is an extremely high cost of borrowing for SMEs due to their perceived risk and lack of a credit record and a high lag time between the time of need and time of capital provisioning. This affects SMEs’ agility in responding to immediate market needs."
The serial entrepreneur is also the director of healthtech platform DocOnline Africa, edtech startup Smart360°, and agritech eMudhumeni. Besides his entrepreneurial career, he has years of professional experience in both the startup ecosystem and the tech industry.
In 2015, he joined the Zimbabwean company Expert Decision Systems (XDS) as a software developer. From March 2016 to June 2017, he worked for the innovation hub and accelerator rubiem Group as the manager. The following year, he was hired by C2 Media Pty Ltd as a Full Stack software engineer. Then, in 2019, he became the CEO of rubiem Innovations, where he worked till May 2021.
Melchior Koba
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated the digitalization of several public services in Zimbabwe, including the digital system. In the country, numerous reforms are ongoing to improve the judicial system and dematerialize the process.
Zimbabwe will launch the second phase of the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) next February 1. The web-based system will manage cases and automate and track all aspects of the case life cycle, from initial filing to disposition and appeal.
"On February 1, we are going live at the Labour Court and Administrative Court. [...] We call upon all current and potential court users to register with the system," said Daniel Nemukuyu, the judicial service commission's head of corporate services.
The judicial service commission launched the first phase of the IECMS on February 7, 2022, with the aim of reducing case backlogs, preventing the loss and physical damage of case documents, improving the accessibility of information, and modernizing industry operations.
Under IECMS, several cases have been referred virtually and the Commercial, Supreme and Constitutional Courts are already planning to hold virtual trials. The second phase will integrate the system into the platforms of institutions like police prisons and correctional services, the prosecutor's office, the national prosecuting authority, the legal aid directorate, and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Court.
"We are running training sessions for court staff and other court users on how to use the new system ahead of the official implementation of the second phase on February 1," added Daniel Nemukuyu.
It is worth noting that the project lines up with the government and the judicial services commission's policy, which aims to bring the justice system closer to the population in accordance with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
Samira Njoya