Innovative entrepreneurship is considered an alternative solution to unemployment problems in Africa. With the services it facilitates, it is also a major wealth-creator with strong potential. In Egypt, the government wants to capitalize on its potential and reach its 2030 development goals.
In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi instructed a set of measures to facilitate the creation and operation of startups in the country. The top government official instructed the measures during a meeting, Sunday (May 15), with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and ICT Minister Amr Talaat.
To remove obstacles to the creation of startups and companies, the President ordered Amr Talaat to facilitate the creation of companies through a dedicated digital platform. The ICT Minister was also asked to take measures to allow the creation of virtual companies so that entrepreneurs can save creation costs since they will no longer be bound by the requirement to have a physical headquarters. Facilitations are also planned for virtual companies in Egypt.
The other instructions given by President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi are aimed at easing the creation of one-person companies, expanding the establishment of free investment technological zones, and tax exemptions for start-ups. The activation of the whitelists of specialized firms authorized to import electronic components was also instructed.
The national development strategy, Egypt Vision 2030, makes entrepreneurship an alternative solution for youth unemployment. In that regard, the country is taking measures to revive the entrepreneurship drive. Even universities are mobilized to reach that goal. In its report "The Egyptian Startup Ecosystem Report 2021," the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and Disrupt Africa estimated the number of startups active in Egypt to be 562 in 2021. With the new measures, this number will surely rise exponentially.
Muriel Edjo
During the coronavirus pandemic, several socio-economic activities were halted in Africa. It forced governments to accelerate digital transformation to ensure continuity of public services. Although it was mostly forced on them, the digital transformation seems now to be a key to solving several problems for African countries. For the Malagasy government, the virtual university planned will facilitate access to University courses for thousands of young people.
Madagascar will soon transform its National Center for Distance Education (CNTEMAD) into a virtual university. In that regard, last Thursday, a tripartite framework agreement was signed by Prof Slim Khalbous (photo, center), rector of the AUF, Elia Béatrice Assoumacou (photo, left), Madagascar’s Minister of Higher Education, and her peer of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Tahina Michel Razafindramalo (photo, right).
The virtual university will be established by creating a virtual network of the CNTEMAD regional centers/agencies, dematerializing administrative tasks, and rolling out an e-learning platform to allow access to the regional centers’ digital resources.
Under the framework agreement mentioned above, the Francophone University Agency (AUF) will support the project in five key areas. First, it will carry out studies to determine the best options for the projects. Secondly, it will mobilize international experts for the implementation of the project. Then, it will ensure the application of best practices in the management of digital spaces and the development of online courses. It will also train the teaching, technical and administrative staff involved in the project. The last key area is helping the government find international partners and backers for the virtual university project.
The support provided by the AUF aligns with one of the key focuses of the latters’ 2021-2025 strategy, namely “digital transformation and university governance.”
The virtual university is in line with Madagascar’s digital transformation strategy aimed at leveraging information technology for socio-economic development. Indeed, with the virtual university, the government wants to facilitate access to university courses for thousands of young people who lack the necessary financial resources to settle in Antananarivo to pursue university studies. Thanks to the virtual university, they can take university courses anywhere they are in the country. All they need is a connected laptop or smartphone.
Ruben Tchounyabe
His about ten years of professional experience with an end-to-end solution provider in the utility industry prepared him for the tasks ahead. With Pylon, he wants to end losses and frauds in the utility industry.
Ahmed Ashour (photo, right) is an Egyptian entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of Pylon, a startup helping utility companies fight frauds.
Co-founded in 2017 with Omar Mohamed Radi (photo, left), Pylon is a smart public infrastructure management startup, which collects data, analyzes them, and pinpoints places where there is possibly theft or production loss in the supply network. It also helps automatizes the invoicing process, mitigating errors and financial losses for utility companies.
With Pylon, Ahmed Ashour wants to reduce water loss by 22% in emerging markets -currently, emerging markets lose more than 45 million metric cubes of water daily- and help provide water to more than 40 million people and reduce CO2 emissions by one gigaton by 2035.
To fulfill those ambitions, the tech entrepreneur secured US$19 million from angel investors, investment funds, and venture capitalists. Thanks to the funds secured, his startup will enter new markets apart from its current ones, which are namely Egypt and the Philipines. He specifically targets emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Asour has over ten years of professional experience in the utility industry. After his Bachelor of business administration from the American University in Cairo, in 2009, he climbed up the ladder in that industry up till 2018.
Almost all of his professional career was spent with El Sewedy Electrometer Group, a provider of end-to-end metering solutions and services to water, electricity, and gas companies. He held several positions including sales and marketing director.
In 2016, while still working for El Sewedy Electrometer Group, Asour became a director of the board of Prime Alliance AISBL, an alliance that supports the development of smart metering and grid solutions. In 2021, he was one of the participants of the Y Combinator accelerator’s S21 cohort.
Melchior Koba
TopUp Mama was launched to facilitate restaurants’ access to foodstuff and improve their efficiency.
TopUp Mama is a Kenyan startup which helps restaurants access affordable food products, financial services, and management solutions. Founded in 2021 by Njavwa Mutambo, Emilie Blauwhoff, and Andrew Kibe, the startup completed several funding rounds securing US$2.2 million overall.
For Ventures Platform founder Kola Aina, TopUp Mama helps “restaurants grow their customer base while improving efficiency.”
“I grew up in the restaurant business in Zambia, and I know first-hand the power small businesses have in transforming lives. This is why we’re passionate about increasing restaurant contribution to Africa’s GDP. We believe we have a unique opportunity to build Africa’s most prominent restaurant partner and build one of the largest companies Africa has ever seen,” indicates TopUP Mama’s co-founder and CEO Njavwa Mutambo.
TopUp Mama’s services can be accessed through a mobile app, available for android and iOS users. When the user (a restaurant owner most of the time) registers, he/she can buy goods, pay later, and even get them delivered wherever wanted. The startup awards loyalty points to the best clients among its more than 3,000 clients/restaurants.
In February 2022, the startup was selected to be in Catalyst Fund’s “tenth cohort of fintech companies that are building solutions designed to improve the resilience of underserved and climate-vulnerable communities in emerging markets.”
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Postal services are important for socio-economic development. However, in several African countries, it is not the case because the old systems are still being used. Most of those countries have decided to address the situation by using new technologies.
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and the National Population Commission (NPC) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to roll out digital postcodes in the country. The agreement was announced by Dr. Ismail Adebayo Adewusi, Postmaster General of NIPOST, during a press briefing last Thursday.
According to the Postmaster-General, the adoption of a digital postcode system will improve the efficiency of the postal administration. It is a critical system for Nigeria, where some streets have no name and properties no number to identify them, he added.
“We drew up entities in a manner that ensures every part of the country is effectively captured, using a systematic framework of alphanumeric characters from the State, Local Government Areas, Postcode Districts, Postcode Areas, and Postcode Units,” Dr. Ismail Adebayo said.
The transition from the old analog postcode system introduced in 1986 is expected to help improve mail sorting, delivery, response to emergencies, tax collection, and postal services as well as reduce crimes (banditry and frauds) and internet scams. In that light, it will boost trust between entrepreneurs and their clients.
“Such advanced addressing system will promote the proper functioning of not just the Postal sector. It is a critical infrastructure for meeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty reduction, disease control, and provision of basic services such as water and electricity,” the Postmaster-General explained.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In about eight years, he succeeded in making Farmerline a choice partner for Ghanaian smallholder farmers. His ambition is to do the same in the whole of Africa in the coming years.
Ghanaian entrepreneur Alloysius Attah (photo, left) is the co-founder and CEO of AgTech Farmerline. Co-founded in 2013 with Emmanuel Owusu Addai (photo, left), his startup supports farmers’ growth and performance with a combination of digital and logistics tools. It specifically improves farmers’ access to market information, farm inputs, and funds.
The tech entrepreneur graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2012, with a BSc in Natural Resource Management. In 2021, he obtained the Standford Seed Transformation Program Certificate from the Standford University Graduate School of Business.
Thanks to Farmerline, Alloysius Attah was one of the seven finalists for the 2014 Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards. In 2015, he was a guest lecturer at the Alliance for Science Global Leadership Fellows Program, Cornell University, New York. The same year, his dynamism secured Farmerline a spot in the European Union’s CTA Top 20 Innovations that Benefit Smallholder Farmers. In November 2021, the young entrepreneur was one of the speakers invited to the Bloomberg New Economy Forum organized under the theme “Feeding the World: Agriculture and the Health of the Planet.”
In about eight years, he succeeded in making Farmerline a choice partner for Ghanaian smallholder farmers. His ambition is to do the same in the whole of Africa in the coming years. For that purpose, in April 2022, he secured US$12.9 million in pre-Series A funding. US$6.4 million was invested by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund, Greater Impact Foundation, and Dutch Development Bank FMO. The remaining US$6.5 million was secured as debt participation from DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, Netri Foundation, and Kiva.
“With this new investment, we will scale the AI capabilities within Farmerline’s Mergdata platform to help increase the income of farmers and agribusinesses; supporting them to access farm inputs; supplying them with assets such as tricycles, tractors, and threshers; and connecting them to global markets,” Mr. Attah said. The startup also plans to deepen its relations with Ivorian partners.
Melchior Koba
In Africa, healthcare access is still limited despite the reforms and projects implemented by governments. To address the situation, private firms, and startups are stepping in.
Canadian firm UniDoc Health announced Wednesday (May 11), an agreement with Northern Pacific Global Investment Services Limited to offer telehealth services in Nigeria.
Under the agreement, UniDoc Health will lease some telehealth equipment and license software to allow Northern Pacific to offer the intended services in the target country. The software to be licensed include UniDoc Health’s proprietary solution VCSM which integrates “a range of physical products, web-based services, and analytical tools, along with access to the Company’s developing network of healthcare providers, pharmacies, and hospitals.”
“UniDoc’s goal is to make health care accessible to everyone. We are excited to work with our Partner to bring our Virtual Care Solutions Model to the people of Nigeria. Our kiosks will help to allow our Partner’s network of health care professionals to reach patients in remote locations throughout the country,” said UniDoc CEO Antonio Baldassare.
As is the case in several African countries, Nigeria’s medical density is below WHO recommendations. The UN Agency recommends at least 2.3 medical staff per thousand residents. However, according to data published by the World Bank in 2018, Nigeria’s density is 0.4 doctors per 1,000 residents. The agreement between UniDoc Health and Northern Pacific offers an innovative solution to the problem by allowing the population living in remote areas access to healthcare, through the VCSM. During the five-year leasing period, up to 1 million patient subscribers will be taken care of.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In Africa, access to traditional bank loans is hard and stringent. Residents are thus obliged to turn to alternative solutions to meet their needs.
Kwaba is a Nigeiran startup founded in 2019 by Obinna Molokwu. Through its eponymous android app -the iOS app is still under development- the startup facilitates rent payment and real estate investments.
“Kwaba is helping to bridge the gap between property and finance. We understand the economic reality of Nigerian renters and have built our product to reflect this. We aim to improve the financial well-being of renters as we grow,” explains Molukwu.
With Kwaba, users can save or receive instant loans for real estate projects. They can also conveniently pay their rent or when they are unable to pay security deposits, they can receive up to 40% of their rent savings and pay in monthly installments.
The startup claimed to have received NGN115 billion (close to US$277 million) of rent payment requests from its over 30,000 users in 2021. A year earlier, the startup was selected for the second edition of ARM Labs accelerator program, entitling it to US$20,000 funding.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In Nigeria, only 7 million out of the estimated 200 million population is subscribed to a health insurance policy. Of the 7 million, 98% were enrolled by their employees. A local startup wants to change that situation by leveraging technology.
In 2019, Nigerian tech entrepreneur Kayode Odeyinde founded NucleusIS, a startup that wants to leverage technology for universal healthcare in Nigeria. Through its eponymous digital platform, the startup allows individuals and firms to subscribe to health insurance policies.
It offers users access to hundreds of subscription plans created by dozens of insurance firms. The information to be provided for registration and subscription depends on the user’s insured and employment status as well as location.
Recently, NucleusIs introduced a plan allowing users to buy health insurance on credit. “NucleusIS will continue to look for ways to use technology and financial initiatives to drive health insurance adoption across the continent. (...) The platform is one of the many initiatives the company will be rolling out to make health insurance truly accessible and affordable to the average person,” indicated its head of Communication Godwin Awuya.
The startup currently claims more than 200,00 health insurance policies sold and 600 corporate clients managed. “We want to provide about 180,000 touchpoints across the country and add over 20 million people to the insurance net annually,” explained Odeyinde in 2021. The startup is already active in Nigeria and Ghana but it plans to enter new African markets in the next three years.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The modernization of public administration is one of the key focuses of Egypt’s 2030 development strategy. To achieve the desired goals, the country is relying on digitization.
Egypt will extend the use of the automated payroll management system to the whole public sector by late 2022, according to Finance Minister Mohamed Maait (photo).
The information was revealed, Tuesday (May 10), when the Ministry of Finance was announcing the acceleration of the process. For Deputy Minister of Finance Mohamed Abdel Fattah, the system has already been successfully tested in 283 government agencies, including 64 in the new administrative capital, 205 in local communities, and 14 government bodies.
Minister Mohamed Maait explains that the automated system will guarantee accuracy in the calculation of civil servants’ salaries. It will also provide accurate research data for all salary-related decisions.
The automated system is the result of instructions given by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi in line with Egypt 2030, the country’s development strategy which focuses on the use of information technology to improve governance, enhance the efficiency of public services and boost economic growth.
Some 1,189 civil servants have already been trained on the use of the automated system. Also, the Ministry of Finance, which offers its technical assistance, plans an awareness campaign in collaboration with its partner eFinance.
Ruben Tchounyabe
More...
The number of e-commerce businesses operating in Africa is growing daily. The ecosystem has become so competitive, threatening the survival of a large number of those businesses. In Kenya, a startup wants to use artificial intelligence and big data to help businesses avoid stories that touch.
Lisa is a business assistant launched in January 2022 by Kenyan startup Phindor. By combining artificial intelligence and big data, it analyzes commercial data and network firms, service providers, and clients via its web/mobile platforms.
Lisa, the startup founded in 2018 by Pheneas Munene (photo), anticipates shifts in demand and market trends by collecting online and offline market data, analyzing clients’ feedback, and organizing surveys. The business assistant also does so many things like forecasting business performance and recommending market segments to explore.
“It is usually a “wow” moment when we walk into someone’s shop and explain to them what the app can do. Surprisingly for us, we found out that most of the users had ideas of such a product but have never had a solution that fits all these needs in such a way they would adopt it. We have had challenges explaining the app to the least tech-savvy, but overall, the adoption has been smooth,” Pheneas said.
Phindor started as a website allowing users to compare the price of school items. However, in 2018, its founder decided to offer data management and analytics services. “We decided to work towards creating a simple, lightweight, and affordable app to help businesses capture data, keep it and use AI to draw insights from this data, just like giant companies are doing,” Pheneas Munene told Disrupt Africa.
Thanks to Lisa, Phindor enables businesses “to apply the power of AI to make sense of this data by helping them segment customers in their markets, generate smart supply chain networks, analyze their markets and predict the future performance of their businesses, as well as track sale items over time to enable them to make proper purchase decisions,” he added.
To access its services, users just have to chat with a dedicated chatbot or converse with the startup’s voice assistant. Once registered, users pay a flat US5 monthly fee plus a percentage of their monthly sales.
According to Phindor, 500 users are already registered on Lisa. Its ambition is to expand into Rwanda, Nigeria, and Ghana but for that, it needs more funds. So, the startup hopes it will complete a funding round to raise US$100,000.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Mohamed Ali launched a food tech to reduce the prevalence of obesity and promote healthy food and dietary habits. Initially, his startup was operating in Egypt but with the funds he raised recently, the entrepreneur intends to expand operations into the MENA region.
Mohamed Ali (photo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur and founder of 3attar.com, a foodtech promoting healthy shopping. Founded in 2018, the startup offers food and dietary items, delivery services, and dietary counseling via its website, and mobile apps.
It was launched to improve the population’s health and reduce obesity prevalence, which has been rising in Egypt since 2017. Its ambition is to become the choice destination for athletes, fitness professionals, sick people, and even individuals who need quality and healthy food items adapted to their individual needs and lifestyle.
“We aim to become the dominant one-stop-shop for the whole health community in Egypt and expand into Mena regions; including chronic diseases and obesity by providing a holistic healthy lifestyle app,” the founder explains.
The latter spent his whole professional career in the e-commerce industry. In 2010, some months after securing a BSc in Accounting, Mohamed Ali joined Edfa3ly, a platform that allows users to buy goods from the U.S. and get them delivered to Egypt. He launched 3attar.com after leaving Edfa3ly.
In January 2022, he secured seed investment from AUC Angels, UI Investment & individual Angel Investors to expand the startup’s client base and upgrade its infrastructure for “higher-order volume and revenues.”
Melchior Koba
With the open innovation framework, Algerian authorities want to boost the number of cleantech operating in the country, address various challenges and ultimately export local expertise.
Algeria Venture (A-Venture) and Schlumberger signed Wednesday (May 1) an open innovation framework for technical support to Algerian energy startups.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Minister of Startups Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid explained that the innovation framework would encourage more startups to enter the energy sector, which is vital for the national economy. It will also increase the number of projects and cleantech developed in the sector while helping address the energy transition challenges facing Algeria.
Ultimately, thanks to the innovation framework, Algerian energy startups will be able to export their expertise in the North African sub-region and beyond.
Under the open innovation framework, “international, private, state and parastatal groups will collaborate and help startups and project owners address Algeria’s future challenges in sectors like digital transformation and energy transition,” indicated Redha Kelkouli (photo, left), MD of Schlumberger North Africa.
Startups play a key role in the improvement of access to various vital services. In Africa where businesses and households are still affected by the energy deficit, startups can offer alternative solutions. For that reason, the volume of investments they attract yearly is growing steadily. In its report “2021 Africa Tech Venture Capital,” Partech estimated the volume of investments attracted by cleantech in 2021 at US$193 million, up by 30% year on year.
Ruben Tchounyabe
Since 1996, Algerian authorities are stepping up efforts to protect their cultural heritage against vandalism, theft, concealment, and trafficking. The digital platform is one of the actions that will further protect the country’s cultural properties.
Algerian Minister of Culture Soraya Mouloudji launched Monday (May 9), Turathi.dz, a digital platform for the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural properties. Developed in collaboration with the US embassy, the platform will be the new tool to protect the country’s cultural assets.
For Ms. Soraya Mouloudji, the platform is a digital photo guide with detailed information on Algeria’s cultural properties most exposed to contraband and illicit trafficking. The properties listed on Turathi.dz include prehistoric items, sculpture, figurines, manuscripts, and funerary arts.
Despite the measures taken since 1996 to protect cultural assets, more than 35,752 items have been stolen, according to Algerian authorities. To enhance protection, the Ministry of Culture stepped up actions and even created a joint action plan to protect the cultural heritage from any type of damage. In 2019, the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the USA to limit or stop the export of archeological objects per the UNESCO 1970 convention.
In addition to protecting the cultural heritage, Turathi.dz can also be used as an educational tool since it lists and describes Algeria’s numerous cultural properties. Students and even researchers can use it for academic purposes.
Adoni Conrad Quenum