In Kenya, transactions at the Mombasa tea auction house are now exclusively performed online through the electronic portal iTTS (Integrated Tea Trading System). With the US$2.12 million portal, the Mombasa Tea Auction House officially ends its physical interactions with tea traders. 

For Arthur Sawe, chairperson of the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), the portal funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), will boost tea traders' and farmers’ benefits by reducing operating costs. 

“The digitization seeks to fill gaps in the current procedures, which are done manually including membership and cataloging,” he added

According to Morgens Strunge Lursen, Councilor at the Danish embassy in Kenya, "the launch of the iTTS is particularly exciting because it helps position such a critical sector for future growth and success by driving efficiency and supporting both increased traceability and information exchange."

The Mombasa Tea Auction House serves Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi, Ethiopia, DRC, Rwanda, Madagascar, and Uganda. Its digitization, which led to the creation of the iTTS portal, began in May 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It helped the industry respect social distancing requirements by allowing buyers to place their tea bids online.  After a two-year pilot phase, the iTTS portal was launched on March 31, 2022. 

According to a release announcing the launch, “in time, iTTS is expected to shorten the pre-auction, auction and post-auction stages; create the potential for increased frequency in trading volumes; reduce the tea trading cycle by about 65 percent from the current 45 to 60 days to less than a month; and, fast track payments to farmers and reduce the need to take loans to finance farming operation.” 

Users will only need connected devices (phones for instance) to track the tea they bought through auctions from factories to shipping companies. The portal also includes features allowing resellers to analyze global market trends.  According to Kenya's Permanent Secretary for the East African Community, Kevit Desai, “the manual procedure involves middlemen, producers, warehouses, brokers, buyers. (...) The trickle-down effect was that farmers had little say in the prices of their tea but the new system is inclusive, and farmers will benefit immensely.” 

The iTTS “will ensure that stakeholders of the tea auction, including farmers, buyers, and sellers receive real-time information on what is happening on the auction bourse, which will boost confidence in the Process,” concludes EATTA Managing Director, Edward Mudibo. 

Ruben Tchounyabe 

During the coronavirus pandemic, Aida Kandil preserved the income of hundreds of Moroccan artisans. Her alternative solution, MyTindy, allowed them to continue selling their services online. She plans to scale the solution to a larger audience. 

Aida Kandil (photo) is a Business and Commerce graduate, with a major in Strategic marketing management, from McGill University, Canada.  To show her dedication to her native country, she co-founded MyTindy, in 2019, to promote local crafts to international buyers. Through the platform, visitors from all over the world can buy jewelry, furniture, decorative objects, etc., directly from Moroccan craftsmen and get them delivered to their doorsteps.  

Since the launch of MyTindy, Aida Kandil has been supporting Moroccan artisans in their digital transition and their upgrading projects. She trains them in ways to leverage the power of the internet to boost sales. She also handles the logistics to deliver the artisans’ sales. 

In 2018, the young entrepreneur then based in Montreal, Canada decided to relocate home. At the time, she was managing online referencing for a global brand. Despite the promising career, her passion for Morrocan crafts took over and Aida Kandil who was born in Paris and studied in France, Canada, and Morocco decided to contribute her skills and experience to the development of that sector. 

The idea to create MyTindy came because there was no other platform offering such a service, she explains. “When going back to Canada after each of my trips to Morrocco, I used to buy decorative items. When people see those items, they ask me where I bought them and how they can order the same. (...) At one point, I traveled to Morrocco and toured New Medina asking artisans if they had online platforms through which they could sell to international buyers. I also asked them if they would be interested in offering their items for sale if there was one,” said Aida Kandil to explain the origin of her platform. 

Aida Kandil currently claims a catalog of 8,000 reference products offered by 250 artisans on MyTindy. The platform also offers personalization features for the clientele -70% foreign- that is very sensitive to the environmental-friendly label. 

The platform she co-founded and jointly funded with Chakib Yasmine is gaining popularity and since February 2022, MyTindy has been on the hunt for investors for its MENA expansion.  

With MyTindy, Aida Kandil won the top prize of the Startup for Good Mediterranean Region organized by Emerging Valley in 2020, the award for the best digital solution at the 2020 World Summit Awards, the award for the best national Business and Commerce solution at the 2021 World Summit Awards 2021.

Ruben Tchounyabe

With Covid-19, the retail e-commerce market is booming in Africa. Noticing the developing trend, many international players are positioning themselves to meet the needs of clients who are increasingly attracted by the prospect of remotely buying what they need. 

Buying online and getting your package delivered to your doorstep, at a drop-off or pick-up point is now possible in Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria with United Parcel Service (UPS). On Monday, April 4, the US parcel delivery firm announced a partnership agreement with Jumia in that regard. 

In the framework of the agreement, UPS will capitalize on Jumia’s e-commerce logistics assets to develop its delivery service and strengthen its presence in Africa. It will also offer clients several payment options including mobile money.  

“At the beginning of our journey (launch of the e-commerce platform), 10 years ago, logistics infrastructure was one of the most challenging aspects of our operating environment. This challenge was a catalyst for us to build an unparalleled logistics platform in Africa, offering our sellers and consumers reliable, convenient and cost-effective delivery services. (...) Today, we are helping other businesses overcome these infrastructure challenges by giving them access to our logistics platform,” said Apoorva Kumar, Jumia's senior vice president for logistics.

According to Jumia, after Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria, the partnership with UPS will extend to Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and all the remaining African countries where it is present. For Apoorva Kumar, it is the opportunity to build “a world-class logistics business in Africa.” 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020, urban populations’ consumption habits are changing in Africa. As a result, the parcel delivery sector is growing as much. In its  Postal Economic Outlook 2021, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) reports that domestic parcel volume grew by 6.1% in 2020. International parcel volume on the other hand declined by 24.8% due to temporary air transport restrictions. 

Muriel Edjo

The startup, which took advantage of the slowdown of cultural and sports activities during the Covid-19 crisis, has improved its services. Now, it seeks more users.

The first fully-Moroccan smart ticketing platform Guichet.com, with more than 1,000 events and shows organized in collaboration with various partners, also plans to conquer other high-potential markets on the continent.

Guichet Maroc SARL, the startup behind Guichet.com, secured last Friday, March 11, a $309,000 (3 million dirhams) financing from CDG Invest, the investment arm of the CDG group. The startup, which was founded in 2009 by Ahmed Tawfik Moulnakhla (pictured), said it will use the money to consolidate Guichet.com’s operations in Morocco, extend to the sports industry, and conquer new high-potential markets in Africa.

Guichet.com is an intermediation platform between the public and event promoters (plays, soccer matches, music concerts, festivals, training courses, etc.). It provides them with tickets and digital tickets which can be paid for online. It's quite a useful app, especially for people who are not fond of waiting in line when going to see movies. The platform also provides partners with an autonomous management and steering environment with real-time ticketing monitoring.

The platform has tens of thousands of users, has covered over 1,000 events and shows, in partnership with several exclusive partners like the Mawazine Festival, the Marrakech Laughing Festival, the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, and the Oasis Festival.

In 2021, new features were added to Guichet.com. These include an option to purchase packages including accommodation, catering, and ancillary products for an event; there is also a store where partners can sell their products. The app is available on PlayStore and AppleStore.

Ruben Tchounyabe

E-commerce company Jumia has unveiled plans to upgrade its payment solutions in Egypt and Nigeria, where it is the most active. In the first country, the company said it has reached an agreement with vaIU, a financial technology services company, to develop a solution that will allow its local customers to buy goods and pay for them over time (BNPL, Buy Now and Pay Later).

In its main market, Nigeria, Jumia said it has added new services to its payment app. “On the JumiaPay app, we continued adding more relevant everyday services. In Nigeria, we set up an integration with Quickteller, the largest billing aggregator in Nigeria. This partnership allows us to offer over 70 additional billers on the JumiaPay app, including Government services, internet service providers, airlines, and many more,” the company said.

To comply with the Central Bank's requirements, Jumia agreed to partner with a third-party payment service provider to process card transactions via JumiaPay. “This change, which is expected to take effect in March 2022, may temporarily affect the payment experience in Nigeria and negatively impact payment volumes on the platform,” Jumia warned.

JumiaPay's technology enabled the group, now listed on Nasdaq (the main U.S. tech stock market), to channel $263.3 million worth of payments for more than 12.1 million transactions. This represents 34.7% of overall customer payments, up from 33.1% a year earlier. The value of goods purchased through the Jumia platform approached $1 billion in 2021, up 3.21% compared to that of 2020.

Jumia continues to grow its customer base, which was nearly 4 million in 2021. The improvement of its payment systems and compliance with regulatory requirements are important steps in its development.

French telecom group Orange launched in 2019 a plan - Engage 2025- to offer consumers a better experience.  To achieve this goal in Africa, the company has partnered with Atos to rethink its business process on the continent. 

The deal will see Atos - a company specializing in the provision of integrated solutions in the areas of cloud, cybersecurity, and supercomputing- support the digitalization of some of Orange's subsidiaries in Africa; 14 subsidiaries are targeted. Two contracts were signed to this effect last February 22 between the two parties. The objective is to significantly optimize Orange's operating expenses over the next five years, reduce its carbon emissions, and improve the group's operational resilience and business agility in the region.

The first contract requires Atos to support and maintain about 100 apps in key areas - such as billing, customer relationship management, business intelligence, big data, procurement, order entry, and management - across Orange subsidiaries. The contract also includes infrastructure management for four specific subsidiaries: Orange Burkina Faso, Orange Sierra Leone, Orange Cameroon, and Orange Madagascar. The same approach will be gradually applied to other subsidiaries in the region.

The second contract Orange signed with Atos is for the deployment of Orange Private Cloud - a dedicated cloud computing environment - in six subsidiaries (Burkina Faso, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo). In these countries, Atos will also be able to support the integration of multi-vendor applications into Orange Private Cloud.

“We have ambitious digital transformation projects for our affiliates (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tunisia). Atos’ expertise in cloud services and business-critical application management, its deep knowledge of the telecom market, and its local presence in several countries in the Middle East and Africa make it a very valuable partner for Orange in the region,” says Jocelyn Karakula, CTIO, Orange Middle East & Africa.

The collaboration between Orange and Atos comes as part of the renewal of the CISA contract signed in 2017 by the two parties, but which covered only seven African subsidiaries. This new contract incorporates new innovative areas that fall within the scope of Atos, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud monitoring services and cloud orchestration, predictive maintenance, and intelligent automation.

Orange's new step aligns with one of its four growth ambitions for 2025, which is "to deliver a reinvented customer experience, smarter networks as well as improved operational efficiency."

Muriel Edjo

The post-Covid economic recovery has increased competition in various industries, including air transportation. Only the most thriving businesses have a chance to remain profitable. To be part of this group, companies around the world, and mainly in Africa, have made digital transformation a priority. Air Senegal does not want to remain behind on the sidelines of this transformation. The airline signed a partnership with SmartKargo last February 16 to digitize its cargo service.

The deal will see Air Senegal deploy the SmartKargo solution in all functional areas of its cargo business, across its entire network of 22 destinations, including New York, Washington, and Paris, from its hub at Blaise Diagne International Airport.

The solution includes electronic air waybills (e-AWB), single screen data entries, user-configurable Business Intelligence (BI) and reporting, simple and more competitive pricing, and real-time capacity management. Ibrahima Kane, CEO of air Senegal, said: “the advanced SmartKargo platform will enable us to build and develop a new, modern and robust air cargo business. The fully digital solution is the best technology available and will propel Air Senegal forward by allowing us to grow our cargo business to its full potential.”

According to Air Senegal, the new platform will enable it to “transform its cargo business and successfully face the future with robust capabilities, cargo management solutions, and advanced technologies such as real-time information, business intelligence, and machine learning."

In its "passenger-it-insights-2020" report published in 2020, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) considered Covid-19 to be the most important stress test the airline industry has ever faced. IATA said a digital transformation was necessary for airlines to adapt to rapidly changing regulations, safety scenarios, and logistics.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

Two years after securing its first seed funding, Wasla announced a larger equity investment to finance its expansion in Egypt and beyond. 

Egyptian e-commerce platform Wasla has closed a $9 million equity financing from non-bank financial services provider Contact Financial Holding to expand its payment solutions. The company, co-founded in 2018 by two Rocket Internet alumni and investment banker Mahmoud El Said (pictured, right), plans to include "buy now and pay later" financing options, as well as online payment capabilities, to its current offering. The startup also wants to enter Nigeria, the largest economy and most populous country in Africa.

“It’s a huge market at the end of the day, you have roughly 250 million people. They’re very technologically advanced, and their adoption of e-commerce is quite good. It’s quite the right market. There’s all the infrastructure that you kind of need to set up a proper tech business. In terms of maturity within the tech ecosystem, Nigeria is probably one of the best markets in Africa, competing directly with Egypt, South Africa, and a couple of others,” said Mahmoud El Said.

In addition to financial support, Contact Financial Holding will bring its experience in the technology and consumer credit sectors to Wasla, enabling it to expand financing opportunities for its customers. In December 2021, Sherif Makhlouf, managing director of consulting firm Boost, reported that e-commerce transactions in Egypt reached the equivalent of $5 billion in 2021.

As a reminder, in December 2019, Wasla raised $1 million in seed funding to strengthen its working team and develop new financial products.

Chamberline Moko

Launched only one year ago, this startup has already established a large network of more than 10,000 grocers, to whom it offers discounts on major brand products. Its goal is to expand its network over the next few years.

WafR is a Moroccan startup that helps buyers and grocers get discounts on products from department stores and supermarkets. Currently, over 10,000 grocers are part of the startup’s customer network - a number it seeks to increase to 50,000 a few years from now.

To meet its ambitions, WafR recently raised 3.5 million dirhams ($374,000). While disclosing the news on February 16, 2022, the startup said the operation’s proceeds would mostly be used to expand its network of grocers, speeding up its growth as well in the process.

“After the 300,000 dirhams commitment we first secured, many other investors showed interest in WafR and joined the funding round. As a result, we raised 3.5 million dirhams and our valuation reached 30 million dirhams,” commented Ismail Bargach (photo), WafR's co-founder, after the fundraising.

According to WafR’s estimates, in Morocco, grocery stores capture 85% of sales while department stores and supermarkets get the remaining 15%. To balance these statistics is the startup’s main mission: encourage more grocers to turn to the products of department stores and supermarkets. 

Chamberline Moko

Led by the AfCFTA Secretariat, in collaboration with African regional economic communities and governments, the solution addresses the challenges related to the cumbersome process of implementing a single market.

On January 1, 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect. Supported by 54 countries, its objective is to create a single continental market that promotes the free flow of goods and services. Given the size of the measures that must be undertaken by every member country, and to ensure the successful implementation of the market, the AfCFTA secretariat has developed the digital tool tradebarriers.africa. The latter is a kind of customer service that will allow African entrepreneurs to report cases of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) within the market. NTBs include excessive border fees, cumbersome documentation requirements, or restrictive product regulations.

NTBs are classified into seven categories: government participation in trade and restrictive practices tolerated by governments, customs, and administrative entry procedures, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, specific limitations, charges on imports, others (transport, clearing, and forwarding, etc.).

To report an NTB, the user must first register on the platform by filling out a form. Next, they activate their registration on tradebarriers.africa via a link sent to the email address provided during registration for confirmation. Once this step is completed, the account is active, the reporting of an NTB is done with the "Report an NTB" button. A reporting form is then proposed to the user with information to be filled in.

According to the AfCFTA secretariat, once a non-tariff barrier is reported, the governments concerned will follow up to resolve the problem. The NTB coordination units of the secretariat, those of the regional economic communities, and the national focal points will support the process. The complainant can find out about his or her complaint - whether it is still being processed or resolved - directly on the platform, which is available in English, French, Arabic, and Portuguese.

For greater efficiency in reporting non-tariff barriers, the AfCFTA Secretariat is currently working on a service that will be accessible on mobile phones.

Adoni Conrad Quenum