With the acceleration of digital transformation in Africa, the continent will need more human resources with adequate digital skills. With Academia Raqmya, Morocco intends to develop those skills.
Morocco’s Digital Development Agency (ADD) launched, Tuesday (May 10), the country’s e-learning platform, Academia Raqmya. By launching the platform, Morocco wants to boost digital skills and e-learning.
For Minister of Digital Transition Ghita Mezzour (photo), who presided over the launching ceremony, Academia Raqmya is a key step in the operationalization of the country’s digital transition. It is “in line with instructions given by Mohammed VI for human capital development,” she added.
Academia Raqmya is launched in a context marked by accelerating digital transformation in most African countries. As a strategic sector for socio-economic development, training is one of the areas prioritized. Through the platform, Morocco will offer a range of digital courses allowing learners to acquire new skills and actively participate in the development of the digital economy. With the platform, Morocco also wants to boost digital inclusion.
To introduce learners to the digital world, the platform offers two programs, namely “digital enhancement,” and “digital literacy.”
The platform aims to teach 12,500 learners in its first year with 173 courses that make up a total of 1,200 training hours. In its first three months (the pilot phase), it will train 1,350 learners and in the active phase (fourth to twelve months), it will train 11,150 learners to reach its target.
Ruben Tchounyabe
According to the GSMA’s Mobile Economy 2021, 40% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population will be connected to the internet by 2025. To allow brands and communication agencies to reach that growing client base and let social media users earn money by facilitating that outreach, Wowzi is developing mobile solutions.
Wowzi is a Kenyan startup that connects social media users with advertising agencies and brands. The startup was co-founded, in 2019, by Mike Otieno, Hassan Bashir, and Brian Mogeni.
Via its mobile app -available on PlayStore only- it helps content creators earn money by publishing brand messages on their pages and accounts. The startup focuses on pages and accounts with less than 10,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for authentic engagement. Unlike influencers with tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, those accounts and pages have better trust relationships with the followers, which translates to better engagement.
“Brands want to have more authentic engagements or endorsements for products, from people who use and love them and can talk about real practical applications. Our campaigns show that nano influencers deliver better sales leads because of the higher trust with their following,” explains Johnny Falla, chief development and growth officer at Wowzi.
“We offer a really comprehensive reporting dashboard online. So, brands can check in to see exactly what happened, what posts were made by the influencers, which ones performed the best, and analytics of the demographics for people who were actually reached,” he adds.
To earn money with Wowzi, social media users need to register and provide detailed information that will allow the startup to assess eligibility. As for brands and advertising agencies, they must create an account, set up advertising campaigns, select the social media users they want to work with, brief the selected users, and monitor performances through the dedicated dashboard.
Wowzi currently claims more than 50,000 registered nano-influencers, 150 clients (advertising agencies and brands), and 15,000 campaigns already launched. Its services have already been used by renowned groups like Netflix, Coca-Cola, and Nestlé. It is already present in eight African countries but, it plans to expand further, in Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa notably. For that purpose, in late December 2021, it secured US$3.2 million to fund its expansion plan and upgrade infrastructure.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
With over ten years of professional experience in the accounting sector, Babatunde Akin-Moses knows quite well the challenges faced by SMEs in their search for bank loans. Sycamore was launched to address some of those challenges.
Babatunde Akin-Moses (photo) is a Nigerian entrepreneur and co-founder of risk assessment startup Sycamore.ng.
Co-founded in 2019 with Onyinye Okonji and Mayowa Adeosin, the startup allows access to quick and collateral-free personal loans via its web and mobile platform available on PlayStore and AppStore. Through the web and mobile app, users can also lend to friends and families and automatically collect their dues at specified amortization dates.
Sycamore was launched to allow SMEs access to credit since they are usually unable to borrow from banks due to stringent conditions.
“...If you are in other countries, once you have a job, you can easily get a mortgage. But here in Nigeria, even if you are working, you need to be working for an upstream oil and gas firm or basically earning a lot of money before you can access a significant credit facility without having to present a landed property as collateral. You can see how that’s a major problem in a country where there are 100 million poor people,” explains co-founder and CEO Babatunde Akin-Moses.
As the CEO of Sycamore.ng, Babatunde Akin-Moses completed a seed-funding round whose amount was not disclosed. With the proceeds, the startup will build awareness in the Nigerian market where it is the only startup in the peer-to-peer lending segment. It will also invest in financial education, boost its human resources and expand to other African countries.
The co-founder holds an MBA from the Lagos Business School. His professional career started in 2010 with a business analyst position at Shell Nigeria. One year later, he joined KPMG as a tax analyst. In 2014, he was hired by PwC as a tax consultant and then as a Tax academy deputy. After five years with PwC, he was recruited by Pezesha as a finance and strategy manager. He left four months later to co-found Sycamore. He is also a member of the board of Profiliant Development Resources, a B2B sales, and marketing consultancy firm.
Melchior Koba
The coronavirus crisis accelerated digital transformation projects across Africa. Morocco, which is already a leader in digital governance is also following the trend with projects and initiatives to improve services offered to users.
Moroccan Pension Fund CMR is moving to improve its services and transparency with digital transformation. In that regard, last May 5, the pension fund signed a framework agreement with the Digital Development Agency (ADD), which will assist in the endeavor.
According to an official release, the signing ceremony was co-chaired by Finance Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui (photo, right) and Ms. Ghita Mezzour (photo, left), Minister of Digital Transition.
With the framework agreement, ADD and the CMR want to cooperate for a successful digital transformation by implementing common advanced tech projects, interoperability, digital training, and the development of e-inclusion, the release indicates.
"The partnership confirms the two parties’ commitment to leveraging tech innovation for the improvement of services provided to citizens,” it continued.
ADD is a government agency launched in 2017 to implement the national digital transformation strategy as well as promote and vulgarize digital tools. In 2020, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ranked Morroco as the seventh leading African country in terms of digital governance.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
When the AfCFTA became effective in January 2021, it boosted the business opportunities available for actors. Yet, some players are still left out because they have poor or no access to market information. Ancestral House Eastern Africa wants to address that issue.
Online trading platform Ancestral House Eastern Africa recently launched its activities to facilitate intra-African trades. With offices in Abuja, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya, the platform acts like a facilitator offering administrative, technical, logistics, and commercial assistance.
According to Ancestral chairman Ose Imoukhuede (photo), although most African SMEs can easily export or import goods from other continents it is hard for them to carry out intra-African trades despite the yearly US$1 billion potential of the market.
Ancestral House Eastern Africa, therefore, wants to make intra-African trades easy for those firms by addressing a certain number of challenges. The said challenges are namely “lack of market information, inexperienced exporters/importers, poor logistics infrastructure, inefficient cross-border payment systems/infrastructure, cultural differences, gaps, and trust deficit, as well as varied Competitive landscapes.”
For the time being, the online trading platform will connect East and West African traders with services like business matchmaking, market research, logistics, consumer trends, and behaviors.
Ancestral connects “producers and consumers of goods and services across Africa through technology-driven go-to-market information and expertise,” explains chairman Ose Imoukhuede.
In January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) became effective in a market of 1.2 billion people covering 55 countries with combined GDP estimated to be some US$2.5 trillion. In those countries, SMEs represent 80% of the economic fabric but they are still struggling to penetrate overseas markets. With Ancestral’s trading platform, they can capitalize on regional markets to reach buyers outside the continent.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In five years, the African gaming community has recorded outstanding growth. The industry now appears like a strong job and wealth creation catalyst on the continent.
Goethe Games Station -a gaming tour- was launched in Burkina Faso last May 7. Organized by Goethe-Institut Ouagadougou and Enter Africa, a creative African organization initiated by 15 Goethe-Institutes, it aims to teach “young people about the ins and outs of digital and virtual reality.”
Over seven months, in the framework of Goethe Games Station, a caravan will be organized at selected popular places in Ouagadougou on the first weekend of every month. During the events, the national gaming community will be introduced to the youth.
For Evelia Gadegbeku, president of Enter Africa, the project is aimed at giving the “Burkinabe youth the opportunity to discover gaming, the opportunities it offers, and its career paths.”
The caravan will also educate participants on how to make good use of digital technologies and avoid the dangers of gaming addiction, notably social division and aggressive behaviors.
Last year, a Newzoo report revealed that of the 1.14 billion residents in Sub-Saharan Africa, 186 million (16% of the overall population) were video game players. 95% of the game players (177 million) play mobile games. According to the report, with an annual growth rate estimated at 9.2% yearly between 2020 and 2024, the region has the fastest-growing mobile gaming community in the world.
Also, 34% (63 million) of Sub-Sarahan African gamers pay for games. Sub-Saharan African gamers are also expected to be the fastest-rising in the world.
According to Newzoo, the gaming industry generated US$590 million in 2021, with promising growth prospects. With democratization actions, Burkinabe youth can capture part of those revenues in the same way South Africans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans, and Ethiopians are already doing.
Muriel Edjo
In Africa, healthcare access remains a major challenge despite the numerous e-health solutions being developed. The issue is mainly caused by financial problems. The low-cost insurance policy being developed by the two partners aims to address that situation.
Kenyan fintech Power Financial Wellness (PFW) recently announced a partnership with insurtech Turaco. According to a release dated April 26, the partnership aims to offer low-cost insurance -as low as US$2 monthly subscriptions- to African gig and salaried workers.
“Power is dedicated to providing a marketplace of financial services to working individuals across Africa. With Turaco, we now have a partner that helps digitize tailor-made insurance offerings. With Power’s ability to finance premiums and collect from workers, this partnership will help scale the delivery of affordable insurance to working individuals in Kenya and beyond,” commented PFW CEO Brian Dempsey.
PFW clients can subscribe to the insurance policies once Turaco’s API is integrated into the fintech’s digital platforms. PFW offers payment and loan services (insurance services will soon start with the API integration). As for Turaco, it offers low-cost claim settlement packages in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States of America.
In addition to health insurance, PFW clients have access to other insurtech products. These include credit life insurance, disability, theft, and a comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient insurance.
Some African countries have a national health insurance scheme but only a small portion of the population is covered. According to the World Health Organization, while 91% of the population in Rwanda is covered by the national health insurance scheme, 33% is covered in Ghana and only 3% in Nigeria
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Over the past ten years, François de Wet has sharpened his expertise through various professional experiences. With his online Wamly, he extended his reach to a wider range of business leaders who are intent on surrounding themselves with qualified staff.
François de Wet (photo) is a South African registered Industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologist. In 2018, he founded Wamly, the startup which developed an eponymous one-way interview software to ease recruitment processes.
With Wamly, firms can organize many interviews at the same time without mobilizing personnel. All they have to do is to create interview questions and send them to multiple applicants who will record a video of themselves answering the interview questions. That video is then sent to the interview panel, which will review it whenever they want.
According to François de Wet, “companies run because of people. People are the most valuable piece of the puzzle in any business.” So, “it should make sense that we place a high value on the process that we are using to find and retain these people,” he adds.
Wamly is the result of years of experience accumulated in human resources consulting by its founder. As a trained industrial and organizational psychologist, he knows quite well how to make firms more efficient.
In 2012, he graduated from North-West University, Potchefstroom, with a Bachelor of Commerce in Industrial and organizational psychology. Months before his graduation, he “completed vacation work as a vocational consultant at EXXARO HQ, a human resources consultancy firm in Pretoria.
He later joined another human resource consultancy firm, Top Talent Solutions, where he spent over five years in various positions.
In 2018, he left Top Talent Solutions to create the talent intelligence platformTalent Insights and Wamly. The one-way interview platform is now used by large firms to save time.
The next stage for Wamly is to enter additional African markets and ultimately export the solution out of continental borders. For that purpose, in January 2022, the startup raised a series B financing of an undisclosed amount from Knife Capital.
Melchior Koba
The digitalization of trade processes helps avoid administrative delays. By rolling out the electronic phytosanitary certification platform, South Africa wants to reduce fraud and save time.
The South African Ministry of Agriculture presented its online phytosanitary certification system last May 9. It thus became the second African country to introduce such a certification system after Morocco (in 2020).
The platform accelerates the issuance of phytosanitary documents, which are necessary for the exportation of farm products. It also guarantees the credibility of the inspections carried out by the national plant protection organization NNPOZA while boosting the trust of foreign partners’ certification agencies, notably in European markets that have adopted the e-phytosanitary system.
According to a media advisory published by the Ministry on May 8, with the e-certification system, phytosanitary applications are fully managed online, the responses are automatic upon completion of the application. Also, applicants can track the status of their applications. The system reduces “fraudulent activities related to phytosanitary certificates,” the media advisory explains.
Once approved the certificate is issued and sent directly to the requester’s email. The latter can share it directly with trading partners who will, in turn, send it to the national plant protection agencies in exporting countries. The authenticity of those certificates can be verified via the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)’s platform. Therefore, South African exporters will no longer face suspensions about the quality of their products. The issue used to delay the entrance of their products into destination countries because of the additional inspections required.
South Africa’s phytosanitary e-certification system is the result of a collaboration between the local government and the Netherlands. The process started in November 2019, with the dematerialization of phytosanitary procedures for grape exporters. Months later, in April 2020, citruses and other plant products were added to the list of farm products whose phytosanitary certificates can be requested online. In April 2021, the whole procedure was dematerialized.
“We are delighted to have reached this milestone within a short time and we also owe the existence of this system to our industry. We had extensive stakeholder consultations and ensured that there was awareness created and therefore a better opportunity to implement the painful process of change management with ease,” said Minister of Agriculture Thokozile Didiza.
For the government official, the next step will be to “further collaborate with the Netherlands on the boarding of animal products for exports and the imports of plants, animals and their products.”
“In line with our commitment towards achieving the ideals of agenda 2063 of the African Union, South Africa commits to extending our experiences to assist fellow African countries to also join and have e-certification systems. (...) This will also help us to broaden trade through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, especially its annexure on sanitary and phytosanitary measures,” Didiza added.
Muriel Edjo
SeamlesHR is positively impacting Nigerian firms’ performance since its creation in 2018. It boosts their efficiency by streamlining their human resources management process.
Emmanuel Okeleji (photo) is a Nigerian investment banker, medical doctor, and serial entrepreneur. Through SeamlessHR, the startup he co-founded in 2018 with Deji Lana, he helps firms streamline their human resources and payroll management processes.
With its eponymous cloud platform, SeamlessHR allows firms to track applications, onboard employees, track performances and attendance, manage payroll, leave and skill development. In short, the cloud platform saves firms precious time. For instance, the firms can administer recruitment tests and carry out interviews remotely. So, there is no need for applicants and recruiters to be physically present for tests.
The core modules of the platform include Tracking System (ATS), Employee Onboarding, Payroll, Leave Management, Performance Management, Talent Management, Succession & Workforce Planning, Time & Attendance Management, and Learning & Development.
As a trained medical doctor, Mr. Emmanuel graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, Nigeria, in 2011. Three years into his medical studies, in 2007, he co-funded Waressence, a software development firm. Six years later, in 2013, he also co-founded Insidify.com, a Nigeran job aggregator.
Apart from his entrepreneurship career, Emmanuel Okeleji also has an extensive professional career. In 2011, he worked in the Investment Banking Division and Securities Division of UK investment banker Goldman Sachs. The following year, he joined the staff of St.Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, as a resident physician.
With his entrepreneurship experience, Emmanuel Okeleji has gained credibility nationwide. Last year, he was invited to the fifth annual lecture of the Kings University, Osun State, to speak on entrepreneurship, innovation, and employment.
His current plan is to continue to improve human resources management and SeamlessHR clients’ experience by adding new features to the cloud platform. For that purpose, in January 2022, the startup raised US$10 million in a Series A round led by TLcom Capital. Participating firms were Capria Ventures, Lateral Frontier Ventures, Enza Capital, and Ingressive Capital.
Melchior Koba
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In Africa, most firms and individuals face credit challenges because traditional banks are more inclined on lending funds to governments, large firms, and high net-worth individuals. In Nigeria, Lendsqr wants to address that issue by decentralizing credit access for individuals.
In Nigeria, fintech startup Lendsqr wants to solve credit problems. With its eponymous cloud platform, the startup founded in 2018 by Adedeji Olowe (photo) facilitates loans to small firms and middle-class individuals.
“At Lendsqr, we’re on a mission to simplify the lending process with an easy, but sophisticated technology that can guarantee an awesome lending experience. We strongly believe that our technology will solve the credit gap in developing countries and improve the lives of millions,” the startup promises.
With its cloud platform, it automates the loan process, allowing lenders to personalize, manage and optimize their offers. To access its services, borrowers must register and confirm their identities using official documents.
Lendsqr is currently more focused on small firms. Its ambition is to help them get access to the credit they need for their development. It has no mobile apps but, it is accessible through a USSD code that allows users, those living in remote areas notably, to easily request loans. In March 2022, the startup raised US$1 million to support its growth.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In the past five years, Africa’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly and several unicorns were created. With new opportunities still open, the continent is sparking investors’ growing interest.
Japanese investment fund AAIC Investment announced Tuesday (April 29), the formation of the Africa Innovation & Healthcare Fund VCC (AHF2); its second investment fund dedicated to African startups. Supported by Asahi Intecc Co., Ltd., Eisai Inc., Ohara Pharmaceuticals, and major Japanese trading firms, the fund will support healthtech startups over the next ten years.
Currently, it is still open for subscriptions and will remain open until its closing at US$150 million.
According to Hiroki Ishida (photo), AAIC Investment’s Principal and Representative of the Kenya office, “the fact that hospitals in Africa are still lacking in basic infrastructure highlights the greater importance of the role of technology in developing countries than in developed economies.”
“I am looking forward to the next ten years of development, which is also the period of operation for our second fund,” he added.
AAIC Investment launched its first Africa Healthcare Fund in 2017. Through the fund, it raised US$47 million, which was invested in 30 startups. One of those startups is Chipper Cash, a cross-border payment provider which became a unicorn in 2021. That year, the startup raised US$150 million in Series C funding, raising its valuation to US$2 billion.
AAIC Investment already has offices in Kenya (2015), Nigeria (December 2020), and South Africa (March 2022). With AHF2, it plans to expand its operational footprint by covering the whole of Africa.
In the past five years, Africa’s startup ecosystem has grown rapidly. The growth was recently accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which highlighted the importance of digital solutions on the continent. Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt have attracted a sizeable amount of investment due to their innovation-enabling ecosystems. According to Partech, those countries captured close to 74% of the overall investments attracted by African startups in 2021.
Muriel Edjo
For several months, the social distancing measures issued to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic forced a shift in professional and social exchanges. That period saw significant growth in social media use. It was also the opportunity for platforms to get an accurate feel of users’ needs and try to solve them. With the current upgrades and more to come, Whatsapp is responding to users’ suggestions.
Messenger platform Whatsapp announced Thursday (April 5) new improvements to its platform; 512 people can now be added to Whatsapp groups, twice the number that was previously allowed. In addition, from 100MB previously, the max size of files users can send through end-to-end encryption is increased to 2GB.
In Africa, WhatsApp's latest upgrades are opportune for several players, including online businesses, educational institutions, professional groups, trade unions, NGOs, and political parties.
In its blog post announcing the upgrades, WhatsApp explained that they are in line with its vision to enable “organizations, businesses, and other close-knit groups to communicate securely and get things done.”
This year, it made significant improvements to its platform to make it more useful. In March, the messenger platform introduced new voice message options. For instance, users can listen to voice messages out of the chat where they were sent. That way, they can multitask and reply to other chats. They can also pause the voice messages they are recording or listen to them before sending.
In April, the "Community" feature was introduced to “bring together separate groups under one umbrella.”
The platform is also developing several features to take into account the suggestions made by its users during the Coronavirus pandemic that had a notable impact on social and professional exchanges.
Muriel Edjo
Based on three factors, StartupBlink ranked the top 100 countries that had a conducive ecosystem for startup development in 2021. Three African countries have joined the top 100, and all of them are located in West Africa.
In 2021, the number of African countries in the best 100 countries for startups rose to 14, up from 11 in 2020. The ranking was presented in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 published by StartupBlink.
Though minimal, the progress demonstrates a certain dynamism in the investments made by African countries to offer the youth an appropriate innovative entrepreneurial framework. In Africa, most countries are aware that startups are important players they can rely on to improve residents’ access to various services and curb unemployment.
In the 2021 ranking, there were no Central African countries. East Africa was represented by six countries (up from four in 2020) against three countries for North Africa.
Southern Africa was represented by two countries, including South Africa which won a spot in the best 50 countries for startups. The region that achieved the most notable progress is West Africa with three countries (Nigeria, Ghana, and Cape Verde), which were absent from the top 100 last year.
StartupBlink bases its ranking on the three factors notably, quantity, quality, and business environment. The quantity factor measures the number of startups, co-working spaces, accelerators, and “Startup related Meetups” in a said country. As for the quality score, it takes into account several elements including the number of employees per startup, private sector investments, and the presence of unicorns.
The third factor (business environment) “focuses on general indicators connected to infrastructure, business environment, ecosystem critical mass, and the ability to freely operate as a startup founder.”
Even though their countries are absent from the best 100 ranking, some African cities are among the best 1000 cities for startups. For StartupBlink, it is “a testament to their entrepreneurs’ ability to disconnect from geopolitical barriers, inefficient governments, or the painful lack of national resources available to support their growth.” Those cities are notably Luanda, Dakar, Douala, Buea, Yaoundé, Kinshasa, Cotonou, Alger, Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Conakry.
Muriel Edjo