He is a determined entrepreneur who stands out for his commitment to finding innovative solutions to financial challenges in Africa, particularly for immigrants and their families.
Egyptian entrepreneur Adham Azzam (photo), co-founder and CEO of Balad, has established a multi-currency, multi-channel cross-border payment infrastructure for Africa. Balad, founded in 2022 by Azzam, Sally Asaad, and Mohamed Assem, provides a comprehensive digital platform to facilitate financial transactions between immigrants and their families back home. The startup’s services include money transfers, mobile banking applications, and prepaid debit cards, offering low fees and instant fund delivery via Balad cards.
Before this venture, Azzam co-founded Lnddo in 2019, serving as COO until 2022. Lnddo is a forward-thinking company that leverages technology and data analytics to provide innovative credit solutions to businesses in the region, including the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Azzam, a civil engineering graduate from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Toulouse, France, furthered his academic credentials with an Executive MBA from INSEAD in 2012. He began his professional career in 1999 with Bouygues Construction as a site engineer.
In 2006, he joined VINCI Concessions, a transport infrastructure firm, as a project manager of the Compagnie Financière et Industrielle des Autoroutes (Cofiroute), a subsidiary of the company. He later joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a Senior Investment Officer in 2016. In 2018, he assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer at EgySolar, a company specializing in solar energy development, before fully committing to entrepreneurship in 2019.
Melchior Koba
ExxonMobil Foundation, in partnership with Junior Achievement Africa (JA Africa), a subsidiary of JA Worldwide, has recently initiated a non-profit organization aimed at empowering youth: the ExxonMobil STEM Africa initiative. This $300,000 program is designed to foster science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education among approximately 3,000 African students across Nigeria, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique. Further details about the program are available upon request.
Like many African countries, Burkina Faso is accelerating its digital transformation, affecting various sectors of activity. In the education sector, the country has decided to join forces with several universities, including Russia's Synergy University.
On Monday, April 8, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Adjima Thiombiano, welcomed a delegation from Moscow’s Synergy University, led by Denis Bondgreuskiy. The Russian university aims to share its expertise in digital sciences with Burkina Faso.
“Synergy is a university that has built its education on the digital science system, and we would like to share this experience with Burkina Faso in terms of new technologies and science,” Bondgreuskiy said. The officials discussed many topics, including the educational systems of both countries and the significance of digital sciences in education.
The visit is part of a memorandum of understanding signed between Burkina Faso and Russia in various sectors, including higher education, last June. In December 2023, Synergy University President Vadim Lobov met with Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélèm de Tambèla, to discuss potential collaboration between the Russian university and Burkina Faso.
According to the “Measuring Digital Development: The ICT Development Index 2023” report published by the International Telecommunication Union in December 2023, Burkina Faso scored 28.5 out of 100 on the information and communication technology development index, ranking 40th in Africa. This score surpasses Madagascar’s 26.4 but falls short of DR Congo’s 29.1 in a ranking led by Morocco with 85.1.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In a bid to enhance tax services management, tax authorities have invested in a new digital solution. It will replace the existing E-tax portal.
On Monday 8 April in Libreville, Gabon's tax authority inaugurated the "Digitax Gabon," a platform designed to simplify the collection of corporate tax revenues. The initiative mainly aims to optimize tax management and improve relations between taxpayers and the tax authorities. The launch ceremony was attended by Minister of Economy Mays Mouissi, Minister of Public Accounts Charles M'Ba, and Minister of Communication Laurence Ndong.
"This initiative, supported by the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI), aims to revolutionize tax management in Gabon by digitalizing administrative procedures. Digitax Gabon represents a major shift in the modernization of Gabon's tax administration. This innovative platform will enable the integrated management of all tax processes, including the management of the tax base, tax collection, tax auditing, the handling of disputes, and the remote payment of taxes," explained the tax authorities.
The new platform is in line with the public administration modernization drive initiated by Gabonese authorities in 2021, with the rollout of a plan to transform the economy. The country has since undertaken several initiatives to remain at the forefront of the technological revolution underway on the continent. Last January, Gabon secured a $68.5 million loan from the World Bank to accelerate its digital transformation through the "Digital Gabon" project.
For the September 2023- February 2024 period, the Ministry of the Economy’s tax collection target was XAF419.5 billion (around ‘686.3 million) but the actual collection stood at XAF560 billion.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
On Wednesday 10 April, Botswana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lemogang Kwape, and France's Secretary of State for Development and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, signed a partnership declaration dubbed the "𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆".
The declaration outlines the primary areas of cooperation where Botswana and France aim to bolster their partnership. These areas include digital entrepreneurship, sustainable agriculture, and tourism.
With a solid background in finance and accounting, she decided to focus on e-commerce to meet the needs of Gabonese people for online shopping and fast delivery.
Gabonese auditor and entrepreneur Malika Gadault Deacken (photo), founder of FastBox, has created a platform that connects customers and merchants offering a wide array of products. Established in 2020, FastBox provides an online sales application, FastBox App, which markets a range of items from beauty products to clothing, home accessories, and food.
To enhance customer experience, FastBox has developed an integrated delivery service, FastBox Livraison, allowing customers to receive their purchases at home. This service aims to alleviate the need for physical shopping trips, offering increased convenience to Gabonese consumers.
Beyond her entrepreneurial success, Deacken serves as the Managing Director of Bet241, a Gabonese sports betting company, a position she has held since January 2023. She joined the company in 2017 as the administrative and financial director.
Additionally, Deacken leads the finance committee of Gabon’s TECH 241, a union of technology companies, and mentors with the Women In Africa organization.
Deacken graduated from the Catholic University of Lille in 2009 with a degree in economics and finance. She later earned a master’s degree in auditing, accounting, and management control from ESG Finance in Paris in 2012, and a strategy certification from HEC Paris in 2023.
Before her entrepreneurial journey, Deacken gained valuable experience with major companies such as BforBank, Orange France, and Deloitte. Her tenure at Deloitte from 2013 to 2017, where she held various positions including auditor, senior assistant, and project manager, allowed her to hone her auditing and management skills.
Melchior Koba
A computer scientist by training, he leverages his expertise to benefit South Africans by offering solutions aimed at making education more accessible and effective for every student, whatever their background.
South African computer scientist and entrepreneur Dacod Magagula (photo), a University of Cape Town graduate, co-founded FoondaMate in 2020 with Tao Boyle, after honing his expertise at various companies. FoondaMate, where Magagula serves as CEO, aims to provide accessible, high-quality educational resources to South African students.
The company uses artificial intelligence to develop chatbots for messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The goal is to equip students, especially those without internet access or who have difficulty finding pertinent information, with the necessary tools for academic success.
Magagula’s inspiration for FoondaMate stemmed from his educational struggles. Raised in a resource-scarce rural township in Mpumalanga, South Africa, he fully understands the challenges many students face. “I went to a school in a rural township school in Mpumalanga, South Africa, that didn’t have resources. I did not have electricity at home until I was 7,” he recounted.
FoondaMate, which initially offered downloads of old exam papers, now boasts over a million users who use the service via WhatsApp or Messenger for homework assistance and exam preparation.
Before his entrepreneurial venture, Magagula gained significant web development experience. In 2016, he interned at Lumico, a digital marketing agency, as a web application developer. From 2017 to 2021, he held successive positions as a full stack developer at Monetise E-commerce, an e-commerce agency, and as a full stack engineer at ninety9cents, a South African advertising agency.
Melchior Koba
Algeria is stepping up initiatives to implement its "paperless" strategy to achieve a successful transition to paperless administration by 2029.
The Algerian education sector will undergo a series of digital reforms starting from the 2024-2025 school year, Education Minister Abdelhakim Belabed announced on Monday, April 8, during a working visit to Mostaganem.
“The next school year will mark an unprecedented new digital era, following the complete digitization of all pedagogical, educational, administrative, and organizational operations in the education sector,” Belabed said.
The announced reforms include distance enrolment, particularly for the first year of primary school, set to launch on May 2, as well as guidance mechanisms and other programs to be announced shortly. The aim is to eliminate the need for parents to travel to school.
These reforms align with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s instructions to speed up the digitization process in key sectors, including education. In a national address in late December 2023, Tebboune spoke of completing the first phase of the digitization project by mid-2024.
The education sector, which is receiving special attention, will see ongoing digitization in areas such as re-registration, reorientation, and the use of school documents, which will be exclusively available on the Ministry’s digital platform. Additionally, 1,200 new schools will be equipped with electronic tablets.
Samira Njoya
The financial solution was set up by three African tech entrepreneurs to assist African migrants in their transition to life in France.
Moneco, a fintech solution founded by three African tech entrepreneurs Algerian Bilal Dahlab, Beninese Jimmy Kuassi Kumako, and Malagasy Shams Radjabaly was launched in 2022. The France-based startup, which raised approximately $1 million for technology development and growth, allows users to open a euro account, obtain an international VISA payment card, and make transfers throughout Europe or between Moneco users.
The Moneco mobile application, available on iOS and Android, requires users to create an account using a passport and a selfie. A physical address in France is necessary to complete the account creation process. Once the account is set up, users can order a Visa card for payments and other financial transactions. Moneco’s ultimate goal is to serve as a comprehensive financial resource.
The Moneco debit card is priced at €20, with a monthly fee of €1.5. Withdrawals outside France but within the Euro zone also incur a €1.5 fee. Transfers, account maintenance, direct debits, transfers to another Moneco user, card payments within the eurozone, and account opening are all free of charge.
Moneco took part in the Summer 2022 cohort of the Californian accelerator Y Combinator. Since its launch, the Android version of its mobile application has been downloaded over 5,000 times, according to the Play Store.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
With a degree in finance and accounting, he combines his knowledge with technology to provide digital banking services to his customers, contributing to financial inclusion in Africa.
Tanzanian entrepreneur Victor Joseph (photo) is the CEO of Tembo, a startup that offers digital banking services across Africa. Established in 2020, Tembo enables customers to manage their finances, make secure investments, and save, integrating and launching financial products.
Tembo, positioned as a business partner, provides essential technology tools to integrate and launch programmable payment collection, card, wallet, and bank account services across Africa. Its business partners include major players such as fintechs, e-commerce companies, digital banks, mobile money operators, and digital lenders. Licensed by the Central Bank of Tanzania and with other regulatory approvals, the startup aims to expand its influence across East and West Africa.
Its CEO, Joseph, is a graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting. He also holds a master’s degree in business strategy and entrepreneurship from Cardiff University, Wales, obtained in 2019.
Prior to founding Tembo, Joseph had already left his mark on the Tanzanian entrepreneurial ecosystem with his previous initiatives. In 2011, he launched Beeble Technologies, a web design and digital marketing agency. In 2015, he founded Tango TV, an on-demand internet streaming media platform. From 2011 to 2018, Joseph successfully led the Universities Entrepreneurship Challenge, an initiative to support and encourage entrepreneurship among African students.
Joseph’s achievements have been recognized, with accolades such as Tango TV’s inclusion among the top 30 emerging technology startups in Africa by Demo Africa in 2015.
Melchior Koba
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The digital sector offers a wide range of employment opportunities for young people. By developing the necessary skills, they can seize these opportunities and improve their integration into the labor market.
Orange Digital Center announced on Tuesday, a partnership with Coursera, a leading provider of open online courses. The collaboration aims to equip young individuals in Africa and the Middle East with crucial digital skills, free of charge and at their own pace.
“At Orange, we firmly believe that digital inclusion is the key to creating a fairer and more prosperous future for everyone. In partnership with Coursera and through the Orange Digital Centers, we are opening the doors of certification training to all our beneficiaries, offering educational and professional development opportunities to those who need them most,” said Asma Ennaifer, Executive Director CSR, Orange Digital Centers and Communications, Orange Africa and Middle East.
The partnership will enable young people to acquire knowledge in vital areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship via Coursera, a leading global online platform.
The initiative aligns with Orange’s commitment to equip young talent with the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the job market, advance their professional careers, or inspire them to become digital entrepreneurs. For Coursera, the partnership continues its mission to offer transformative learning experiences to learners worldwide.
The partnership comes at a time when digital skills are increasingly in demand, especially among young people, who make up 60% of all unemployed Africans, according to the World Bank. The training courses provided by the two partners aim to prepare these young individuals for the business world and job market.
Samira Njoya
With a population of over 220 million, Nigeria is the most populous country on the African continent. It is therefore crucial for the government to establish an effective system for the clear identification of its citizens and residents.
IDEMIA Smart Identity, a division of French identity technology firm IDEMIA, announced the renewal of its partnership with the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Tuesday. The collaboration aims to upgrade the NIMC’s biometric system, making it one of the most advanced globally, according to IDEMIA. The future biometric matching system will be capable of processing up to one million identity verification searches daily.
“Taking this next step in the enhancement of our system with IDEMIA Smart Identity was a natural choice for us. We wanted to ensure that we deliver the best-in-class solution to our fellow Nigerians, and the pure power of the biometric matching we will receive ensures that the solution is future-proof for our growing population,” said Abisoye Coker-Odusote, CEO of NIMC.
The initiative is part of the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project, funded by the World Bank since 2020. The project aims to issue digital identities to 148 million citizens by June 30, 2024, a goal that Nigeria appears to be on track to achieve, according to a recent World Bank report.
The partnership renewal follows the government’s recent announcement of the introduction of innovative identity cards with a payment function, powered by AfriGO, a national domestic card system. This will enable all types of social and financial services.
The system upgrade should allow NIMC to provide all Nigerians with access to a secure and reliable identity, enabling them to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens. The initial system was designed to handle 100 million entries, but it has now been upgraded to handle around 90 million registrations. This necessitates the extension, which will include 250 million entries to cover the entire Nigerian population.
Samira Njoya
He is passionate about using digital tools to improve various aspects of life, focusing on the field of health. Thanks to his startup, he has won several prizes and awards.
Hamidou Ouologuem (photo), co-founder and CEO of Kénèya Koura, a startup providing digital health services, is committed to enhancing patient care. Established in 2021 by Ouologuem, Fatoumata Diarra, and Oumar Dioni, Kénèya Koura delivers innovative digital solutions to improve healthcare accessibility. The startup’s services include online appointment scheduling, telemedicine consultations, and digital patient record management. It also promotes collaboration between local and international doctors, allowing patients to download their prescriptions online.
In addition to simplifying the patient experience, Kénèya Koura assists doctors in enhancing their organization, visibility, and patient retention. With operations in France, the startup also serves foreign patients.
Ouologuem, a native of Mali, holds a master’s degree in strategic marketing and communication from the École supérieure de commerce du Mali, earned in 2015, and a master’s degree in digital innovation from the Université de télécom in Saint-Etienne, obtained in 2018.
Owing to his dedication and expertise, Ouologuem was accepted into the Orange Digital Center in 2022, where he received financial support, training, and privileged access to Orange services.
With approximately a decade of experience, Ouologuem interned in Orange Mali’s marketing department in 2013. He served as the communications head at Pixel Communication in 2016 and was employed as a web designer by IT company CPG Consulting in 2018. The following year, he joined BCA Expertise, an automotive appraisal firm, as a communications officer.
His achievements have been celebrated with several awards. With Kénèya Koura, he won the Construire le Mali program in 2021. He was also honored as the best e-health startup at the Mali Digital Awards in 2022 and 2023.
Melchior Koba
The 2Africa subsea cable aims to interconnect Europe, Asia and Africa. Its landings in African countries are encouraging partnerships to improve connectivity on the continent.
Authorities in Akwa Ibom State have entered into a partnership with MainOne, a leading West African provider of data centers and connectivity solutions, to construct approximately 140 kilometers of fiber optic infrastructure in the region. The partnership, announced on April 5, aims to provide high-speed connectivity across several regions of southern Nigeria.
This collaboration follows the February landing of the 2Africa cable at Qua Iboe in Akwa Ibom State. The 45,000-kilometre fiber optic submarine cable, part of a consortium led by American company Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will connect Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a nominal capacity of up to 180 terabits per second.
Abayomi Adebanjo, Regional Director of MainOne, stated at the 2Africa landing that his company is "dedicated to improving Internet capacity and driving various aspects of development, including economic growth, digital transformation, healthcare, security, agriculture and increased state revenue in South-South Nigeria."
In addition to the 2Africa cable, Nigeria is connected to six other cables: Google's Equiano, SAT3, MainOne, Glo1, Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), and West Africa Cable System (WACS). As of February 2024, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reported that 163.3 million people in Nigeria had Internet access, with 93.4 million having broadband access.
Adoni Conrad Quenum