Tech (561)
The online training platform has already convinced several investors with its innovative model. Its ambition is to enter new African markets and prepare millions of residents for the digital economy.
Malagasy start-up Sayna raised, Thursday (April 28), US$600,000 from Orange Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, and MAIC Investors Club, to develop its operations.
The startup created Sayna Academy, a computer skills training platform, and Sayna Works, a micro-task platform. With the funds raised, it wants to upgrade its platforms to be able to host 257,000 microtasks and attract more than 3,000 active freelancers and 12,000 learners by 2024.
In 2021, its founder, Matina Razafimahefa, unveiled the startup's plan to enter the Ivorian, Ghanaian and Senegalese markets.
“This fundraising is both a crucial step for SAYNA’s international development and a strong symbol for the Madagascar tech scene. Our team is today composed of 25 people split between France and Madagascar. This is also a sign of hope for hundreds of thousands of young African talents who, until now, have not had the opportunity to become professionals to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution underway on the continent,” she said commenting the fundraising.
Sayna was founded in 2018 and quickly attracted ambitious young people looking to acquire soft skills to improve their living conditions.
For Zach George, managing partner of Launch Africa Ventures, “Sayna, with its focus on soft skills training, mentorships, and a peer-to-peer learning environment, stands a good chance of becoming a direct gateway to projects, experience, and income for youth across the African continent.”
In 2021, the startup obtained over US$105,000 from I&P Acceleration Technologies, a program that funds startups in sub-Saharan Africa thanks to support from the French Development Agency (AFD), through the Digital Africa Initiative. To date, it claims 450 learners trained and over 609 corporate partners and clients served.
Muriel Edjo
With the digital library created, Moroccan authorities want to encourage reading and contribute to the development of new skills.
The Moroccan Ministry of Youth announced, Monday (April 25) the creation of a digital library with more than 36,000 books, freely accessible to every citizen. The books are categorized by age group and subject. Every week, the digital library will be updated with new books published by more than 400 authors, we learn.
According to the Ministry, the library is created to diversify the digital services offered by media libraries and contribute to the vulgarization of new information technology standards in the publishing sector.
With its digital library, the country wants to encourage the population to read, learn and acquire new skills. They can access it anywhere they are. As for users of media libraries and cultural centers supervised by the Ministry of Youth, they will receive a username and password to visit the digital media library anytime they are within the premises of those cultural centers.
The digital library is launched just days after World Book and Copyright Day (April 23) and just weeks before the national reading day (May 10).
In 2019, the Morrocan High Commission for Planning (HCP) revealed that only 0.3% of the Moroccan population read daily and the average daily reading time is two minutes. The HCP also stressed that 55% of the young population have never read a book while 33.8% reads occasionally and 11.2% read regularly.
Ruben Tchounyabe
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
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
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
The video game industry is rapidly growing in Africa. It offers employment opportunities to millions of young enthusiasts and, on November 24, 2021, by approving the organization of the international cup, Beninese authorities proved their ambitions to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the industry.
The International Africa Gaming Cup, a competition bringing together African video game enthusiasts, will take place in the coming days, in Benin. The competition was unveiled during a press conference held, Wednesday, April 13, by the co-organizers Mike Hessabi (photo, right) and Médard Djékété (photo, left), respectively founder of Nicecactus Gamer and President of Africa Gamers.
Officially, the competition will be launched next April 23 with the regional qualifying and final phases between several Bennese gaming communities. After the regional phases, the continental phase will be between the best African teams at Cotonou Congress Center during a weekend-long show in July 2022.
According to Médard Djékété, three games will be played during the competition. They are namely Clash Royal, the most played mobile e-sport game in Benin, Tekken 7- a reference game, and Battlegrounds Mobile- a widely popular action and adventure game.
The organizers were authorized, on November 24, 2021, during a press briefing, to host the first edition of that gaming cup in Benin. During the press briefing attended by the Beninese Minister of the Digital Economy, Ms. Aurelie Adam-Soule Zoumarou, the organizers claimed the competition aims to make Benin the hub of E-sports in Africa.
For Mike Hessabi, with its internationally-renowned gaming community, Benin has what it takes to become the champion of that continental competition. Indeed, many young Beninese are illustrating themselves in international gaming cups.
“We have carried out a survey on the ground and we know that there are many active gaming communities in Benin,” he explained.
Nicecactus Gamer is an “all-in-one platform for gamers of all levels worldwide.”
It can host up to 2,000 online tournaments monthly.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In 2018, the French Development Agency provided US$872,000 for the creation of an incubator in the digital content industry. This new commitment is focused on the gaming industry that has strong job and wealth creation potential.
The French Institute of South Africa renewed, Friday (April 8), the contract of Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, the University of Witwatersrand’s digital hub. The contract consecrates €450,000 financial support to the digital hub for the development of innovative and cultural industries, the creation of a video game studio incubator, and many other projects and programs.
According to Lesley Williams, CEO of Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, South Africa needs to meet the demand “where creativity and digital meet.” “There's a massive demand for African aesthetics in creativity, the world is calling for digital content from Africa and we need to meet that demand,” she added.
Through the video games incubator, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, AFD, and the French Institute want to foster the emergence of young talent in this digital sector with strong job and wealth creation potential. The incubator will provide startups active in the industry with access to training that will help them create market-ready products and develop their entrepreneurial and technical skills.
The initial contract was signed by the French Development Bank, the French Institute, and the South African digital hub in 2018. The ZAR14 million (about US$872,000) financial support provided by the French institute helped Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct create an incubator for innovative and creative audiovisual content. The contract provided an avenue for collaboration between French and African experts in the animation, video, gaming, virtual reality, digital arts, and music industries.
Eary this year, investment bank Drake Star Partners published a report revealing the growing volume of funds being invested in the global gaming industry. This year, the industry is expected to attract US$150 billion of additional investments. There is thus an opportunity for Africa to attract a sizeable chunk of those investments.
Ruben Tchounyabe
For many development agencies, e-commerce is now one of the key factors that will boost Africa’s post-Covid-19 recovery. The momentum generated by the pandemic attracted investors from all horizons to the sector, which is growing day in and day out.
Four Cameroonians launched Kuruba.cm, a wholesale e-commerce platform last week. They are namely Pierre-Lionel Ebe, Ivan Kharl Manga, Armel Fotso, and Simon Mbelek. All four are former employees of Jumia Cameroon, which ended its operations in Cameroon in November 2019. Through Kuruba.cm, they aim to help retailers quickly source their products from reference brands and get them delivered anywhere they like in Cameroon.
“We launched Kuruba to help retailers, who are crucial parts of our daily lives, to access millions of products at better prices than what they are currently offered. We connect independent merchants with a wide range of suppliers, allowing them to easily buy their products,” explains Pierre-Lionel Ebe, CEO of the eponymous start-up that launched the e-commerce platform.
In Cameroon, there are currently thousands of supermarkets, stores, and small shops that usually turn to wholesalers, resellers, distributors, and producers to acquire their merchandise. Kuruba.cm wants to facilitate this costly and time-consuming task by allowing them to quickly contact producers and distributors.
With its online platform, the startup is positioned in a market segment with high economic potential in Africa. In Morocco, chari.ma has been doing the same thing since January 2020, with much success. For instance, it claims nearly US$2.5 million orders processed monthly. In January 2022, it was valued at US$100 million.
In Cameroon, Kuruba.cm has a warehouse and large storage facilities, and pickup points to reduce delivery time and costs. To quickly attract clients, it unveiled an aggressive commercial policy. For instance, the startup promises free delivery for orders exceeding XAF100,000 (US$164.66). It also announced discussions with financial partners to allow clients to obtain supply credits they can pay after 30 days.
Currently, the startup claims over 200 reference brands in categories like household appliances, agri-food, cosmetics, and home maintenance. Its ambition is to expand out of Cameroon once it consolidates its presence in the country.
“We are only at the beginning of the adventure because the African e-commerce market is growing exponentially and Kuruba wants a large share of that market. We want to offer an innovative, convenient and affordable online service for African retailers and help them meet their customers’ daily needs,” said Pierre-Lionel Ebe.
Muriel Edjo
It is still difficult for African video game publishers to effectively market their games in local markets. Strategic partnerships between actors of the ecosystem are rare but, the partnership between Ethio Telecom and Qene Games may be a breakthrough.
Ethiopian video game publisher Qene Games, on Monday (April 11), signed a partnership agreement with Ethio Telecom to facilitate access to its games for local users. Thanks to the agreement, Qene Games will leverage the telecom operator’s fintech solutions to ease users’ subscriptions and in-app purchases.
For Dawit Abraham (photo), Qene Games CEO, " Africa has a great potential to become a major games exporter and compete in the global creative and entertainment industry. However, the first step we need to take to make this a reality is to give African creators easy access to sell their content in the African market.”
Considered the first video game publisher in Ethiopia, Qene Games has developed games like Kukulu, Gebeta, and Feta, inspired by African art and characters. In 2021, With its first two games, Kukulu and Gebeta, Qene Games won the best entertainment app and best app of the year award at Apps Africa Awards.
The subscription and purchase models envisaged in the partnership agreement will be tested on Kukulu, which is a popular game available in four local languages. The game follows the adventures of a chicken running from its farmer.
Once successful, Qene Games will eventually include its whole game catalog, therefore making the first moves towards its dream to conquer the African market.
Qene Games and Ethio Telecom’s partnership comes just weeks after ten African game publishers formed a continental alliance called Pan African Gaming Group (PAGG). The alliance aims to create more monetization opportunities and jobs in the African gaming market.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In the previous decade, the Kenyan government made significant investments to transform the country into a digital hub in East Africa. With the new plan, it is setting higher goals.
Kenya's Minister of ICT, Joe Mucheru (photo), launched the National Digital Master Plan 2022-2032 on Tuesday, April 12. Launched on the sidelines of the Connected Kenya summit being held from April 10 to 14 in Diani, the about US$45 million master plan will guide the government’s investments in digital transformation over the next ten years.
“The National Digital Master Plan, which will be launched will guide us in shaping our discussions towards a transformed digital Kenya where technology plays a pivotal role in economic development. (...) I do not doubt that with the successful implementation of the identified programs and projects in the master plan, this country can live up to its reputation as the Silicon Savannah in matters of ICT and economic development,” indicated Joe Mucheru.
According to the master plan, by 2032, Kenya will deploy, 100,000 km of fiber optic cable to connect 40,000 schools and other educational institutions, 20,000 government institutions, and 13,000 health facilities. The country will also install 25,000 Internet access points to support its youth and innovators and create 1,450 digital innovation hubs, two software factories, and two electronics manufacturing plants. Overall, the plan will help create 10,000 jobs for software engineers.
The master plan strongly emphasizes digital skills development by building the capacities of 20 million citizens, 300,000 civil servants, and 10,000 professionals.
On the regional level, it is agreed to establish a hub on future technologies and another dedicated to the maintenance of submarine cables.
“To position the country as a regional ICT hub, the plan proposes the establishment of regional ICT smart hubs as well as regional submarine cables maintenance depots. (...) To enable a one-stop-shop for all government core services, the plan proposes accelerated automation and digitization for all government core services in both national and county governments” to quickstart the digitization of 5 billion government records, ICT Minister Joe Mucheru indicates.
Ruben Tchounyabe
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Presented as the first venture builder in Morocco and Africa, "Moroccan Retail Tech Builder" aims to help entrepreneurs develop innovative digital solutions tailored to the e-commerce industry.
Morocco officially launched Moroccan Retail Tech Builder (MRTB), a platform for the digitalization of the retail sector, on Thursday, April 7. The platform aims to support project leaders in the development of innovative, simple, and accessible digital solutions to help retailers upgrade their operations and create more value.
For Ryad Mezzour, the Minister of Industry and Trade who chaired the ceremony, the MRTB “initiates the digital shift of a vital sector, which played a crucial role during the pandemic and is also one of the strong segments of our economy.”
According to Hicham El Habti, President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), qualitative changes are already observed in the operating methods of the retail sector, which is one of the backbones of African economies.
“The flow of ideas and the potential of that sector call for solutions to incubate, support, and accelerate startups and promising projects in that area,” stressed Hicham El Habti.
MRTB is part of the authorities’ plan for the recovery of the retail sector. One of the key points of that plan is to digitize the sector for enhanced competitiveness. The plan includes acceleration of the digital transformation, generalization of digital services as well as simplification of administrative formalities and procedures in line with the country’s economic and institutional reforms.
Ryad Mezzour believes MRTB will allow retailers to enhance their contribution to economic growth in Morocco by modernizing their operations, boosting turnover, and enhancing competitiveness while tailoring their offers to clients’ needs and requirements.
As far as Hicham El Habti is concerned, with MRTB, the UM6P will improve the support it provides through its startup campus, StartGate, for improved socio-economic development.
The venture builder will transform the national entrepreneurial ecosystem into a collaborative space that exposes startups to various knowledge sources. That way, it can help them implement creative processes for the development of innovative solutions useful for Africa, as a whole, indicates Abdelhadi Sohib, Secretary-General of the OCP Foundation.
For its initial operations, the MRTB has launched the recruitment of 100 startups that will benefit from its services till 2024.
Ruben Tchounyabe
The first phase of Ethiopia’s blockchain-based national student and teacher ID and attainment recording system will be launched in “the next two months,” announces IOHK, the U.S. firm that developed the blockchain platform Cardano.
The said system will allow the government to remotely monitor academic performance in secondary schools as well as verify students’ identities and grades. Ultimately, it will give authorities an idea of the impact of the national education policies on employment nationwide and allow employers to easily validate applicants’ credentials.
In its first phase, the system based on IOHK’s blockchain solution Atala Prism will target 800,000 students. Eventually, the recording system will include 3,500 schools, five million students, and 750,000 teachers, per the agreement between the Ethiopian government and IOHK.
“We have completed the first pilot and are beginning to train users at the Ministry of Education on functionality and usage,” indicates John O'Connor, IOHK Director of African Operation.
Launched in April 2014, the project is part of Digital Ethiopia 2025, the national strategy validated by the government in 2020 to transform several strategic sectors like public administration, health, agriculture, and education.
“We truly believe that this project could light the touchpaper for a wave of third-generation blockchain innovation across Africa and the developing world, bringing vital services to those who have previously been unable to access them,” John O’Connor commented.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In Africa, medical density is currently below the World Health Organization’s recommendations. In recent years, startups have sprung up using technology to fill health offers.
E-health platform Altibbi will introduce drug delivery and virtual consultation services in Egypt. The move follows the announcement, on March 28, 2022, of a successful US$44 million series B round led by investors like Foundation Holdings and Hikma Ventures.
The health tech founded in 2008, in Jordan, aims to digitalize the whole medical procedure allowing users to get checked by physicians, receive prescriptions, and lab test interpretations online. It wants to capitalize on the low competition in the market due to tough regulations.
“The regulatory system is an ally of ours as, after so many years, we have managed to crack it. We are actually today the most licensed digital health company in the Arab world (...)We’re licensed in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. We’re working with the government as part of a round table to regulate telehealth and digital health platforms,” says Jalil Allabadi (Photo, left), founder and CEO of Altibbi.
In addition to its web platform, Altibbi has a mobile app, available on App Store, Play Store, and AppGallery. To access the over 10,000 doctors available daily on the platform, users must register on the platform, then log in using their phone numbers and a verification code. In 2013, Altibbi received the top prize in the health category during the Arab E-Content Award in Bahrain.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Nairobi residents can now report illegal dumping, unsafe waste disposal, and water shortages. It is possible thanks to Hatua, a mobile app launched last March 21, on the sidelines of the celebration of World Water Day at Kariokor Social Hall in the Kamukunji constituency. Hatua will also allow residents to report littered areas in residential districts.
Created by the sustainable development consultancy firm Niko Green, Hatua was developed with the support of the Kenya Alliance of Residents Association (Kara), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the European Union (EU).
When reporting a problem, users describe the issue, select the appropriate category and submit their contact information. The complaint will then be assigned a reference ID through which they can track the status of their report. According to Nickson Otieno, CEO of Niko Green, if the complaint is not processed within five days, the system will automatically forward it to another agency. “There is no chance for your report not to be processed,” he said.
“Our current system of reporting environmental pollution is long, tedious, and ridden with corruption. With the new platform, users can track the status of their complaints in real-time,” explained Henry Ochieng, CEO of KARA.
“The app will help NECC [National Environmental Complaints Committee] officials work even faster because they will be able to get reports of environmental pollution as they happen,” he concluded.
Adoni Conrad Quenum