In Egypt, there was no plastic bottle collection and recycling system despite the estimated 5.4 million tons of waste generated in the country yearly. To address the situation, Dawarha created a solution that allies mobile apps with AI-based collectors. With the solution, Dawarha collects around 15,000 plastic bottles monthly.
Egyptian tech firm Dawarha is carving its name in its origin country with its artificial intelligence-based plastic recycling machine. For mechatronics engineer Mohamed Kabil (photo), Dawarha CEO and co-founder, the recycling machine is the startup’s contribution to the fight against plastic pollution.
To get the population involved in the fight against plastic pollution, the said solution rewards every user who deposits plastic bottles with bottled water, vouchers or discounts to be used in local stores.
Dawarha also developed an app that allows users to locate the nearest collectors. According to Mohamed Kabil, Dawarha was created to address the lack of sorting and recycling infrastructure in Egypt where an average of 5.4 million tons of waste is generated yearly.
He explains that in Western countries like Germany where he took pre-masters courses, catering companies are in charge of plastic bottle collection via a national deposit system. “... Companies add extra fees to the price of the bottles available for sale at retailers. Customers can [be] refunded the extra fees when returning the bottles at the local shop or retailer,” he stressed.
“This [system] does not exist here, so people tend to be more encouraged to recycle waste when they are rewarded. Therefore RVMs are found to be one of the most effective methods of waste collection and separation from the source,” Mohamed Kabil added.
The research and development enthusiast, who worked from 2018 to 2019 as a researcher at the Micro and Nano Robotics Laboratory at the German University in Cairo, believes that technological innovation has an important role to play in protecting the planet.
In April 2022, he estimated the volume of bottles collected by Dawarha's system monthly to be around 15,000.
Melchior Koba
In Africa, the startup ecosystem is buzzing with all sorts of tech from fintech to healthech and e-tourism. Food delivery startup Elmenus is one of them. With its mobile app Elmenus, it wants to showcase Egypt's culinary specialties.
Elmenus is a digital platform launched in 2018 by the eponymous startup to showcase Egyptian culinary specialties and the restaurants where they can be found. The startup was founded in 2011 by Amir Allam. Between February 2012 and February 2022, it completed several funding rounds totaling US$19.5 million to support its local expansion. Its investors include notable names like Careem and Luxor Capital Group as well as local fund Unicorn Fawry.
According to Amir Allam (photo, center) by investing in Elmenus, investors have approved the startup’s “unique strategy.” “We are accelerating the adoption of online ordering by users while enabling restaurants with new verticals – to help them scale. This funding demonstrates the investors’ strong belief in our position in Egypt, and our capability to dominate the market,” he explains.
The digital platform is available on PlayStore, AppStore, and AppGallery (the app store developed by Huawei). It allows users to easily and quickly order food from more than 6,000 restaurants without making a single call. The user can even track the status of his/her order all through the delivery process. They can pay on delivery with cash or bank cards.
The mobile app has a social sharing feature that allows users to share pictures of the foods they ordered through Elmenus. To access the services, users have to register on the platform, by entering their name, email, and a secure password.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In Africa, doctor density is below the World Health Organization’s recommendations. To alleviate the issue, startups are developing local e-health solutions.
Waspito is an e-health platform set up by a Cameroonian start-up that connects patients with doctors for live video consultations. Founded in 2020, by Jean Lobé Lobé (photo), Waspito successfully completed a US$2.7 million funding round, in March 2022, to support its growth and expand into Côte d’Ivoire. The seed fund was contributed by notable investors like Launch Africa Ventures, Newtown Partners, and Orange Ventures.
“We are proud of the pool of investors we were able to get on this round. Their experience and network will add value to our team as we continue this journey to solving Africa’s health care accessibility and affordability problem,” said Jean Lobé Lobé commending the investment.
According to the founder and CEO, Waspito plans to enter a dozen countries in the next four years.
The platform offers its services through internet but it also has a mobile app available on PlayStore and AppStore. Users can book consultations with doctors and access a list of available pharmacists and laboratories. The aim is to allow users to quickly get medication or even get them delivered to their doorsteps and perform lab tests after the online consultations. It also has a forum managed by doctors. Through that forum, users can anonymously submit their problems to get help from doctors.
Currently, the platform claims more than 15,000 patients served. In 2020, it was one of the seven winners of Orange Ventures' MEA Seed Challenge.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Her startup was founded to save Egyptians from her difficult experiences. Combining her digital marketing skills with her passion to serve the population, she developed a mobile app used by 75,000 people in Egypt.
Doaa Aref (photo) is the co-founder and CEO of Chefaa, a healthcare startup she launched with Rasha Radi in 2017. Chefaa allows users to discuss with pharmacists, through a mobile app available on AppStore and Playstore, scan their medical prescriptions to order the drugs they want to buy, and get them delivered to their doorsteps.
Currently, the startup claims 75,000 users in Egypt. To develop its services and enter new markets, Doaa Aref launched a fundraising operation that brought in several investors including Newtown Partners, Global Brain, and GMS Capital Partners. The amount raised was not disclosed but Doaa Aref is confident about the impact the funds would have on Chefaa.
“I believe this venture round is pivotal not because it will only help us scale our validated business models, but because it will also help us capitalize on untapped market opportunities. We are confident Chefaa will dominate over a much larger market share in the next two years,” she said.
Chefaa was created to save users from the tribulations Doaa Aref went through at one point in her life. Indeed, when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, she had a hard time traveling to get her medications, as she was living alone, and even accurately following the treatment plan.
"I passed through many problems, I really didn’t know how to handle medicine. And when I got better and started to do some market research I found out that everyone literally has these problems. We need a solution. That’s how I got the idea for Chefaa," she explained.
No one would have guessed Doaa Aref would go into the healthtech industry. In 2008, she graduated from Tanta University with a BSc in Agricultural Sciences. In 2010, she enrolled in Alexandria University where she got her diploma in quality control in 2012. In 2013, she got her MBA in business Administration and Management from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Shipping. Despite her various diplomas, she was more attracted to the marketing world.
From 2006 to 2012, all through her university studies, she held various marketing positions for firms like Mega Trade Co, Radwty For Advertising Services, Just4arab E-Magazine, and Maven Agency For Advertising Services. In 2015, she decided to get proper digital marketing training with the Digital Marketing Training Center, where she got a social media diploma. Up till her sickness and subsequent creation of Chefaa, she held digital marketing positions with Seven Agency, Mnbaa, Speakol, and Stylish Eve, among others.
Melchior Koba
The Port Authority of Douala is set on making digital transformation its choice weapon to improve efficiency, security, and revenues. In that regard, in the past five years, it implemented several projects with more to go.
In Cameroon, the entrance fees generated by the Port of Douala rose fourfold thanks to digitalization. According to Lieutenant Colonel Bertrand Mekinda, deputy MD of Douala Port Security -the firm in charge of securing the Port of Douala- entrance revenues jumped from XAF250 million in previous years to XAF1 billion currently. The revenues may rise further to XAF2 billion yearly when new entrance booths become operational, he estimates.
To digitize the entrance fee collection system, the port created an access badge system for users, the official revealed during a press conference on Friday 15, 2022.
The badge costs XAF1500. It stores users’ information on a server allowing QR code readers to read it when they return . Therefore, users can not resell them once they are within the port and the 24 hours validity period is still on. Unlike the old system that consisted in selling paper tickets, entrance revenues are more secure with the digital system because port authorities now have a clear view of the number of people who access the port during a specific period.
In the past five years, the Port Authority of Douala (PAD) implemented several projects to secure its operations, and improve port security and efficiency. For instance, it installed more than 400 HD video surveillance cameras and built a security task force building that houses a data center and a CCTV operations and control room.
The PAD also plans to buy a management software that will facilitate the digitalization of all the port operations and services. Ten departments are concerned, namely customer relationship management, performance monitoring, incoming and outgoing ships’ management, and cargo tracking.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In Africa, the low bancarisation rate, combined with the digitalization fever, offers a fertile ground for the development of fintech startups.
Yoco is a South African fintech startup co-founded in 2013 by Katlego Maphai, Carl Wazen, Bradley Wattrus, and Lungisa Matshoba. Through its platform, it allows entrepreneurs to accept card payments. In 2017, the startup launched an eponymous mobile app to serve more clients in the local market.
The platform allows Yoco clients to collect card payments but, it also gives SMEs the possibility to get cash advances to develop their businesses, through Yoco Capital. With Yoco Capital, the South African startup aims to help SMEs that are unable to get loans from traditional institutions develop their operations with no worries about deadlines, interest rates, or even defaulting risks and their consequences.
“We understand that accessing capital is one of the hardest challenges faced by small business owners. It's also one of the biggest reasons why small businesses remain small. We continue to offer solutions that leverage smart technology to help small businesses grow,” indicates Yoco co-founder Katlego Maphai.
Yoco Capital is accessible to eligible Yoco merchants only. Within one day, applicants can receive the loans requested. The amounts granted can range from ZAR2,500 (US$160) to ZAR75,000 (US$4,800).
Since its creation, the startup has completed several funding rounds. The latest is a Series C funding round completed in July 2021. During that round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, Yoco raised US$83 million “to accelerate product development.”
In 2021, the startup claimed it had 150,000 businesses in its portfolio with 500 new merchants adding to that portfolio daily. Currently, the startup plans to expand into new African markets. Indeed, 90% of SMEs operating on the continent are small businesses. Yoco’s offers will be highly valuable to African entrepreneurs.
In 2017, Yoco was selected by CB Insights as one of the top 250 financial technology companies in the world.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Given his training, one would expect Hossam Taher to create a healthtech, not an edtech. However, his choice proved well-founded as he is now trusted by several investors who are committed to the development of ORCAS.
Hossam Taher is a young Egyptian entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of ORCAS, a startup that networks parents and students with nearby tutors through its eponymous mobile app.
Founded in 2018, ORCAS allows tutors to offer quality training to students in elementary, middle, and high schools with personalized learning plans and assessments. It is “currently working on growing (..) to become the biggest school in terms of hours taught in the world by operating in developing countries on K-12 students,” as Hossam Taher puts it.
To fulfill its ambition, the startup co-founded by Amira El Gharib successfully raised US$2.1 million, on January 16, 2022, during a pre-Series A round led by NFX Ventures and Access Bridge Ventures.
Thanks to the funds raised, Hossam Taher plans to add more features to ORCAS, attract more talents and expand into the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (this year, it is expected to launch operations in Lahore).
ORCAS was previously CairoSitters. It was founded in 2014, months before Hossam Taher graduated from Cairo University with a BSc in Medicine. From 2014 to 2016, CairoSitters was an “online virtual platform where parents can find, book and manage sessions with high-quality babysitters and tutors.” It was an avenue to offer flexible work opportunities to university students and above all fill the demand for qualified and trusted tutors.
To address the specific needs of every student, CairoSitters was rebranded as ORCAS with more offers. “Learners today have different needs that edtech companies must cater to. For that reason, we have evolved into a learning platform that offers the complete spectrum of teacher-led & self-paced learning environments,” Hossam Taher explains.
Melchior Koba
The barcoding project is one of the 52 projects included in the country’s strategy to boost digital transformation by 2023. Launched in 2021, the project will help boost public revenues and improve the competitiveness of made-in DRC products.
DRC will soon start using bar codes to ensure the traceability of its commercial exchanges. During a workshop organized from April 18 to 20, by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the national strategy for seamless implementation of that project was validated.
According to Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, the strategy is the government's commitment to "build a strong, prosperous and united country” by controlling the local production, monitoring commercial exchange data, and efficiently curbing counterfeits.
During the December 24, 2021, ministerial council, Minister of Digital Transformation, Désiré-Cashmir Kolongele Eberande, announced that the DRC obtained its personal barcode prefix (605) that identifies where a product comes from.
"With 605 as the barcode prefix for every product made in DRC, we independently chose to join the global network of countries that implement the bar coding system. We highlighted our country in global supply chains to create a favorable environment for the digital economy,” indicated Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.
According to the government official, a successful implementation of the national barcoding strategy will make made in DRC products compliant with international standards on security and traceability and boost their competitiveness in local, regional, and global markets.
Ruben Tchounyabe
Training is a crucial economic development issue in Africa. The continent currently has the highest unemployment rate, the youngest population in the world, and a high NEET population. The initiative launched by Trace aims to bridge the education gap.
French media group Trace launched, Thursday (April 21), Trace Academia, a free training platform for young Africans.
The mobile app was officially presented during a virtual press conference hosted on April 21, in Johannesburg. It offers technical and cross-cutting courses covering 15 industries and skills including energy, beauty, fashion, DIY, digital marketing, hospitality, creative arts, journalism, film, technology, entrepreneurship, public speaking, and well-being.
The courses are developed in partnership with well-known international groups like Orange Visa, and Google.
The courses already available are notably Entrepreneurship developed by Valued Citizens and the University of Johannesburg, Becoming a DJ developed by Trace, and Introduction to the Electrical Trade by Schneider Electric. There is also DIY by Leroy Merlin, Tech the Power by MasterCard, Sexual Wellness by Durex, and Introduction to Digital Marketing by Google. French telecom group Orange will also offer ten training modules to showcase digital professions in Senegal, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“To build Trace Academia, we’ve combined our expertise and experience in entertainment with cutting edge learning approaches adapted to the realities and cultures of Africa…We believe that Trace Academia has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of young people in South Africa and across the continent,” indicated Olivier Laouchez, Trace Co-Founder and Executive Chairman.
With Trace Academia (available on PlayStore and AppStore), Trace wants to offer professional and cross-cutting skills to 26 million Africans by 2025. In its 2020 “Report on Employment in Africa (Re-Africa),” the International Labour Organization reveals Africa is the only continent where the labor force is expanding quickly. In 2020, 34.2% of the continent’s working-age population was constituted of young people aged 15-24 against a global average of 23.6%.
The ILO also estimated that the continent’s unemployment rate (6.8%) was higher than the global average (5%). Africa’s unemployment population was close to 34 million at the time, including 12.2 million people aged between 15 and 24. The organization added that between 2010 and 2020, the unemployed population aged 15-24 grew by 6.4 million in Africa.
At the same time, in Africa, the number of young people not in employment,
education or training (NEET) was four times (53.5 million actually) higher than the number of unemployed youth (aged between 15 and 24).
Ruben Tchounyabe
In Africa, thanks to technology, citizens now have easy access to alternative financial solutions. Lucky is one of those solutions.
Lucky is a digital app that gives users in the MENA region the chance to win discounts, as well as access interesting offers, cashback, and credit products from 20,000 local and international brands. The platform was developed by the eponymous startup, Lucky, co-founded in 2018 by two Egyptians, Momtaz Moussa and Ayman Essawy (photo).
In March 2022, some four years after its creation, the startup completed a US$25 million series A funding round to support its growth in the MENA region. Lucky gives users transparent offers and increased buying power in a region where consumers usually have poor or no access to credit. For Momtaz Moussa, “the MENA region’s huge unbanked, young population and cash-dominated economy is a significant market opportunity” for Lucky.
All users have to do is to download Lucky from AppStore or PlayStore, register, and shop as they usually do to start accumulating points to be redeemed for discounts and cashback from the numerous e-commerce platforms Lucky is partnered with. Most of the time, the offers and cashback come from brands seeking more visibility. In their quest, they pay commissions to Lucky, which redirects part of those commissions to its users through the offers and cashback.
Currently, the startup claims more than eight million users and a network of 30,000 stores.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, African countries have sped up their digital transformation plans. Demand for the internet is growing, as a result. However, though internet adoption is rising tremendously, millions of residents are still unable to access the service because of its prices. Yet, affordable and quality internet is one of the requirements for successful digital transformation.
The Internet now appears like a necessary service in the likes of drinking water and electricity. According to the GSM Association (GSMA), in 2020, global internet penetration was 51% with 4 billion users. However, some countries have lower penetration rates. In its 2022 internet poverty index, the World Data Lab identified Nigeria as the country with the largest number of people living in internet poverty, meaning the number of people who “cannot afford a minimum package of mobile internet.”
The World Data Lab based its index on three factors, including affordability, quantity, and quality. “Affordability refers to the price of mobile broadband service and is set with a person’s total expenditure. (...) quantity refers to the amount of data that can be sent or received per theoretical use” while “quality describes a multitude of factors such as download and upload speed, bandwidth, latency, 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage, as well as the number of servers per 100,000 inhabitants,” the data agency explains.
The World Data Lab estimates that 103.015 million people are internet poor in Nigeria out of an estimated 217.366 million people. In the world, Nigeria is followed by India and China, we learn. In Sub-Saharan Africa on the other hand, Burundi is the country with the highest percentage of the internet poor in 2022, that is 96.6% of its 12.026 million residents.
According to the latest broadband affordability data from the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), in Africa, one-gigabyte bundles cost less than US$3 in ten countries while in 17 countries it ranges between US$3 and 5. In the remaining countries, it is over US$5. For the A4AI, broadband internet is deemed affordable when it is less than 2% of average monthly per capita incomes.
High internet cost is one of the obstacles to digital transformation in Africa because it prevents millions of residents from accessing the socio-economic opportunities it offers.
For the International Finance Corporation and Google, the digital economy can help generate up to US$180 billion of GDP in Africa by 2035. For that, however, affordable internet is needed.
Muriel Edjo
After some 20 years of professional experience in the toy industry, Amir Shenouda returned to Egypt to implement a decade-long project, mumerz.com.
Amir Shenouda (photo, left) is the CEO of mumerz.com, an online shopping platform selling items specifically dedicated to mothers, babies, and children under 12 in Egypt. It offers a wide range of products in several categories, including food, clothing, toys, accessories for mothers, etc.
The platform was launched in 2021, by Amir Shenouda and Nadia Gamal Al-Din (photo, right) after a decade-long maturation that started in 2011. That year, Amir Shenouda joined, as a business development manager for mumzworld.com, which is also an e-commerce platform dedicated to mothers and babies in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon.
While working for mumzworld.com, he got the idea to leverage the experience he acquired while working for U.S. toy manufacturer Toys“R”Us to create a mumzworld.com-like platform that would be focused on the Egyptian market.
He later left mumzworld.com to join Cartoon Networks as Retail Business Manager (from 2013 to 2014). From 2014 to 2018, he was a senior regional manager for Amazon’s Toys and Babies department, and from 2018 to 2021, he was the e-commerce director of Toy Triangle LLC, a Dubai-based toy store. In July 2021, after years of evaluating the market, he decided to launch mumerz.com.
Months later, on March 1, 2022, the entrepreneur successfully raised US$1.2 million in a pre-seed round, led by DisrupTech Ventures, to develop its market offerings.
Melchior Koba
In the past few years, global leaders in on-demand transportation have heavily invested in African markets. Bolt, Yango, and Uber are notable names but, their solutions are sometimes not efficient. Local startups like Moja Ride are building their solutions to address those minor inefficiencies.
Moja Ride is a Mobility-as-a-Service startup launched, in 2017, to make life easier for Ivorians. In March 2021, the startup created by Jean Claude Gouesse (photo, center), raised an undisclosed amount from Mobility 54, a venture capital fund set up by Japanese firm Toyota.
The eponymous platform developed by the startup is an alternative to ride-hailing giants operating in Abidjan. With its platform, Moja Ride wants to offer an urban mobility solution to its users but it also wants to help them build a network by offering simple, affordable, and efficient alternative mobility solutions.
The app allows ride-sharing between friends, neighbors, and co-workers to help save on daily travel expenses. It also allows transport operators to easily manage their fleets and routes.
Each of the rides planned through Moja Ride is insured for up to XOF2 million for individual accidents and up to XOF300,000 for healthcare coverage.
To facilitate payments, Moja Ride developed an internal solution based on the payment network Visa and fare collection O-City’s systems. To access its services, users just have to download the mobile app from AppStore or PlayStore and fill in a set of information. Its revenues come from commissions generated on rides booked and payments collected by drivers.
In October 2020, Moja Ride was selected to participate in the Africa Tech Summit Connects, a competition offering startups the possibility to raise pre-seed, seed, or Series A funding.
In 2021, the startup was claiming over 1,200 taxis and buses available for booking through its platform in Abidjan.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Large U.S. tech firms are increasingly investing in Kenya. A few days ago, Microsoft inaugurated its tech talent hub in the country. It is now followed by Google, the world’s third-largest tech company by market capitalization.
Google announced, Tuesday (April 19), the launch of its first African development hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The U.S. tech firm also launched the recruitment of various tech skills to endow the product development center with skills necessary to contribute to innovation on the continent.
“We’re looking for talented, creative, and collaborative people who can help solve difficult and important technical challenges, such as improving the smartphone experience for people in Africa, or building products that will help everyone to thrive together,” reads a Google blog post announcing the vacancies.
According to the post, applicants must have great technical knowledge, a “passion for solving hard problems together with others” and “understand how people across the continent use their phones every day and the challenges they face.”
The African Product Development hub in Nairobi is part of Google’s efforts to support digital transformation in Africa.
In October 2021, during Google for Africa, a virtual event, Google CEO Sundar Pichai (photo) unveiled a US$1 billion investment to be rolled out over five years. The plan includes projects to provide fast, reliable, and affordable Internet access across the continent, create useful local products, and support entrepreneurs and small businesses that sustain African economies.
Muriel Edjo