News (1494)
World-leading tech firms’ interest in Nigeria has been growing since 2020. One of those firms is Microsoft. The group has made several commitments to the government. The Africa Development Center is the fulfillment of one of those commitments.
Microsoft's first Africa Development Center (ADC) was officially launched last Monday, March 21, in Lagos. Located at the Kings Tower in Ikoyi, it is Microsoft's 7th ADC worldwide. The about US$100 million infrastructure is dedicated to the development of technology and engineering solutions that will have “local and global impact.” In that regard, it will help build a continental “talent pipeline” and boost innovation in various strategic areas. Also, it will provide employment opportunities to millions of young people.
“The ADC is a place for world-class engineers to create products and services that would power the future global economy,” commented Joy Chik, Corporate Vice President, Identity at Microsoft. She also revealed that the ADC had already surpassed the target of 500 engineers it was planning to hire, by 2023, in the identity, Mixed Reality, Microsoft 365 services as well as data services divisions.
The Africa Development Center is one of many digital investments Microsoft has made in Nigeria since 2020. It "is in line with the federal government's digital economy project," said Ali Isa Pantami, Nigeria's Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, commending the fulfillment of that promise.
In May 2021, Microsoft ha promised to support the rise of the digital economy in Nigeria through the development of connectivity, youth training, and transformation of the public administration.
Today, March 24, Microsoft will inaugurate ADC Nairobi, Kenya. Like Nigeria, the country is one of the major digital hubs that Microsoft wants to capitalize on to boost its influence on the continent.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The government of Benin has in recent years made e-education a priority. The need for such a system has been highlighted with the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting the government to accelerate the process.
Benin wants to build a solid e-education system inspired by the model used in Côte d'Ivoire through the “Digital School” project. Last March 18, the Higher Education Minister, Eleonore Yayi (pictured) led a visit to the Lycée classique d'Abidjan, one of the sites where the project is rolled out.
With the Minister of Digitalization Aurélie Adam Soule, Eleonore Yayi visited two multimedia rooms and a data center. The first one is equipped with more than thirty computers, two giant touch screens, and last generation cameras and is intended for courses by videoconference. It is interconnected by optical fibers to 149 other sites across the country. The second room, equipped with computers and a high-speed Internet connection, allows students to follow courses remotely. The data center contains all the educational data produced during the courses, the teaching manuals, etc.
The Minister said her department is already in talks with tech giant Huawei to reproduce the Ivorian model in Benin. This measure aligns with the ambitions of President Patrice Talon, the official said. With e-education, the Beninese government wants to give young learners access to experts, the most current research, and the most advanced knowledge. With digital technology, interacting with education professionals remotely will be facilitated. This will enable the country to gradually build a strong human resource to boost growth.
Muriel Edjo
Gabon will soon have a data center that will manage and store cadastral data, announced the Minister of Housing Olivier Nang Ekomie.
According to Le Nouveau Gabon, the Gabonese authorities deemed this measure necessary in an international context marked by the resurgence of cybercriminal attacks or computer hacking.
For the acquisition of supplies, installation, and configuration of the Data Center, tender documents have been prepared and sent to the Directorate General of Public Procurement (DGMP) for a no-objection opinion.
Gabon also plans to interconnect the provincial land registry offices to repatriate, centralize and process land information to carry out the work on the same information system. On this issue, tender documents have also been sent to the DGMP for a no-objection opinion.
SG
To increase the safety of boda boda (motorcycle cab) users in Kenya, the government has announced that it will issue biometric plates with a unique color code for each county to facilitate the identification of drivers. The decision was announced yesterday by Governor Ann Kananu.
The plates will integrate information such as the name, identification number, and telephone number of each owner and/or driver, their area of operation, etc. These biometric plates will also be equipped with anti-counterfeiting features such as holograms, watermarks, and laser markers to allow police to easily locate them.
The governor said that this measure will help reorganize the boda boda sector. “This will help us identify the real boda boda riders and the rogues who have infiltrated the industry. Some people pose as boda boda riders yet they are criminals. However, they have assured us that they will identify such elements and have them arrested,” she added. The digital identification of boda boda follows the meeting held on Thursday between the governor and the Association of boda boda on the series of new regulations applicable to motorcycle cabs. The meeting came after President Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured) called for a nationwide security crackdown on rogue boda boda drivers on March 8 after a motorist was assaulted along Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi County.
“I have given an executive order for petty offenders with documents to have their motorcycles released. However, no boda bodas will get into the city center until we have streamlined the sector,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said, stressing that “your boda boda license is not for you to harass or to strip our women of dignity.”
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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
In 2008, The Kenyan government started deploying a development vision that runs until 2030. Digital technology, a part of this vision, hadn’t attracted much interest in the past but the narrative has changed now.
Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Youth and Innovation has announced the elaboration of a national digital master plan. The 10-year plan, which was the focus of a validation workshop held last Friday, aims to advance Kenya’s socio-economic development by leveraging technology.
The strategy focuses on the following areas: digital infrastructure, digital services, and data management, digital skills, digital innovation, and digital business. It should help the country create wealth and jobs, in line with its 2030 Vision adopted on June 10, 2008.
Lucy Mulili (picture), Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of ICT, representing the Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Joe Mucheru, explained that “the document draws heavily on the 2019 National ICT Policy, which explains how ICT as a foundation creates a robust economy and thus improves the lives of Kenyans.”
The Kenyan government's strategic actions under the National Digital Master Plan reflect a commitment to advancing digitalization which the World Bank sees as an asset for development–and clearly demonstrated by Covid-19.
Under the new plan, Nairobi is set to, among others, lay 100,000 km of fiber optic cable–52,000 km for the government and 48,000 km for private companies– to provide reliable and affordable connectivity for all. It also plans to provide 1.2 million laptops to schools, train 350,000 teachers in the use of technology, and connect 40,000 schools to a sustainable Internet network. The plan should cost Sh5 billion ($43.7 million) to implement.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Less than two months after raising $10 million, mobility fintech Moove Africa secured additional resources to fund its expansion on and off the continent.
Moove Africa, a Nigerian-created fintech company that makes it easier for African entrepreneurs to access financing for new vehicle purchases, announced on Monday, March 14, that it raised $105 million in equity and debt in a Series A2 financing. The deal brings to $174.5 million the total funds raised to date by the company founded in 2019 by Nigerian-born Britons Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi.
“Less than two years ago, we discovered this white space of mobility fintech and launched Moove. After surpassing 3 million trips in Moove-funded vehicles across Africa, rolling out our service in six new African cities, and connecting mobility entrepreneurs to the ride-sharing, e-logistics, and delivery markets, we are now leading this growing Fintech sector... We are thrilled to have the support of investors around the world who will help us take our model to the world,” commented Ladi Delano.
This new fundraising comes less than two months after Moove Africa obtained a $10 million financing facility from UAE-based investment firm NBK Capital Partners. The money, raised on 1 February 2022, was aimed at supporting the West African expansion of Uber's exclusive partner for vehicle financing and provisioning in sub-Saharan Africa.
The mobility fintech plans, over the next six months, to continue its expansion into seven new markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company, which is present in six African cities, also intends to build new partnerships while expanding its range of vehicles.
In Africa, less than 5% of all new vehicles are purchased with a loan compared to 92% in Europe, Moove Africa complains. On the continent, the vehicle ownership rate is below 44 cars per 1,000 people, compared to 640 per 1,000 in Europe and 816 in the United States, the mobility fintech continues. According to the company, Africa’s low ownership is due to a low penetration rate of borrowing, which it believes has limited the ability of more than 1 billion Africans on the continent to purchase new vehicles. According to Ladi Delano, millions of entrepreneurs in emerging markets have limited or no access to vehicle financing, even though the market opportunity is vast. The two-wheeler rental market is estimated at $80 billion in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data provided by Moove. Yet the continent recorded fewer than 900,000 new vehicle sales in 2019, compared to 17 million in the United States.
Chamberline MOKO
In the past decade, Mauritius has invested heavily in ICT to create a digital economy as announced in 2010. This has helped the country better cope with the economic crisis induced by Covid-19.
The Mauritian government has decided to leverage its digital assets to boost tourism, whose contribution to the country’s GDP plunged by 62.1% in 2020 due to Covid-19. From 19.5% of the GDP and $2.4 billion of revenues in 2019, the sector tumbled to 8.7% and $945.5 million in 2020.
Now, the Island no longer focuses on using the Internet and the web for tourism promotion; rather, it wants to build a robust digital environment to attract location-independent workers.
Last month, Nilen Vencadasmy (photo), chairman of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, started touring some African countries to sell this new vision. On 26th February, he was in South Africa which is considered an important market; 130,000 South Africans visited Mauritius in 2019.
The Premium Travel Visa is the first digital asset that Mauritius will use to achieve its new ambitions. Launched on November 16, 2020, this one-year renewable residence permit granted to non-Mauritian nationals is accessible online. The Mauritius Economic Development Committee specifies that applicants for this permit must meet several criteria, including not being involved in the Mauritian labor market, proving that the main place of business and the source of income and profits are outside Mauritius.
Mauritius' other digital assets are grouped into a digital ecosystem conducive to remote work. The country ranked 8th in Africa for average mobile Internet speed in January 2022 with 20.59 megabits per second (Mbps), as well as 7th in Africa for average fixed Internet speed with 19.88 Mbps, according to Speedtest Global Index.
As for the cost of the Internet, Cable.co.uk, in its report "Worldwide mobile data pricing 2021. The cost of 1GB of mobile data in 230 countries," ranks Mauritius 5th in sub-Saharan Africa for the average cost of accessing 1 Gigabit (GB): $0.75. The Portulans Institute and STL's Network Readiness Index 2021 rank the country among the best in Africa in terms of Internet coverage. In the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Global Cybersecurity Index 2020, Mauritius ranks first in the level of security of its information systems since 2014.
By targeting digital nomads, Mauritius, which plans to "relax the entry protocol in the coming weeks," according to Nilen Vencadasmy, hopes to once more make tourism a strong contributor to GDP, not only by ensuring that the industry regains its previous dynamism but also by attracting quality visitors.
Muriel Edjo
The government of Seychelles announced it is now connected to a second undersea optical fiber system that will boost access to connectivity in the country. The Pakistan East Africa Cable Express (PEACE) system landed on the Perseverance Island, a man-made island northeast of Mahé, the country's largest island, on Monday, March 7.
Benjamin Choppy (pictured), the Principal Secretary of the ICT Ministry, sees this infrastructure as an opportunity for the country to secure and improve its means of communication. Since 2011, Seychelles has been connected to a single undersea optical fiber cable, the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS), which links it to Tanzania.
“For over 10 years, we had only one and this presented a risk for us if anything happens, especially today. If you look at the amount of traffic that we have on the cable, over 95 percent is on the SEAS cable. If something went wrong it would be catastrophic,” said Benjamin Choppy.
The PEACE is a 15,000 km undersea cable system spanning Africa, Europe, and Asia. It incorporates the latest 200G and WSS technology in its design to transmit more than 16 terabits of data per second per fiber pair. These capabilities give it the means to meet the growing connectivity needs in the country.
The Seychelles government has invested $20 million to connect to this new high-speed telecom infrastructure that will support the digitization of public services and the development of the digital economy. Amadou Dina, managing director of Airtel Seychelles, said the telecom company has already designed new products that will be launched when the new system goes live next May.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Since 2019, the telco has been deploying measures to strengthen its footprint on its markets in the MENA region. Last March 10, Madagascar officially became the ninth country in Africa and the Middle East to join the Orange telecom group's digital training and innovation support network. The company inaugurated its "Orange Digital Center" in Antananarivo, in the Redland Tower in Ankorondrano.
This is an ecosystem entirely implemented with the German cooperation and dedicated to the development of digital skills and support for innovative project leaders. It has been operational since October 19, 2021.
According to Alioune Ndiaye, President, and CEO of Orange Africa and the Middle East, Orange Digital Center Madagascar "is part of the network of 32 Orange Digital Centers of the Orange Group, which will be deployed in all our markets in Africa and the Middle East, but also in Europe. The aim is to democratize access to digital technology for young people, both graduates, and non-graduates, to give them access to the latest technological skills to enhance their employability, and to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow.”
The site covers 800 m2 and includes a Coding School, a digital manufacturing workshop, FabLab Solidaire, run by the Orange Foundation and located at the University of Antananarivo, and an Orange Fab startup accelerator, supported by Orange Ventures, the Orange Group's investment fund. All training and coaching programs are free and open to all. The collaboration between Orange and the German Cooperation in Madagascar is part of the development partnership of the "develoPPP program" developed on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The objective is to achieve a common vision, which is to promote youth employability and access to ICT jobs for women and girls while supporting sustainable growth and digital transformation.
To contribute to the access of an even greater number of young people to digital-related knowledge, two Orange Digital Center Clubs, extensions of the Coding school, are also planned to be set up at the University of Fianarantsoa and the University of Antsiranana.
Muriel Edjo
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Digital transformation has accelerated across Africa in recent years, driven by Covid-19. Several countries have taken action to avoid missing the next global revolution.
The Ivorian government announced it has taken steps to make the Internet accessible across the territory. Under this plan, the government launched last March 7 in Abidjan the study on the universality of the Internet. The ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Digital Economy, Telecoms and Innovation, Roger Adom (pictured).
This study, initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), through the UNESCO Chair, will be conducted with the monitoring of an advisory committee of the digital sector. "After making consensual findings, we will make recommendations to improve the Internet in Côte d'Ivoire," said Professor Alain Kiyindou, Representative of the Unesco Chair. He said an official validation ceremony for the study is planned between May and June 2022 before the results are presented in December 2022 in Addis Ababa at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
According to the ICT Regulatory Authority of Côte d'Ivoire (ARTCI), the Internet penetration rate was about 78% in Q3 2021. It is calculated by comparing the number of Internet subscriptions to the total population. ARTCI says this rate may not reflect the true level of Internet access in the country because many individuals in urban areas hold multiple SIM cards, which increases the number of subscriptions. In their Digital Report 2022, We Are Social and Hootsuite estimate Internet penetration in Côte d'Ivoire at 36.3%.
The study on the universality of the Internet in Côte d'Ivoire is financed up to CFA13.250 million ($22.3 million) by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Investment and Development Bank. Its benefits should enable Ivorians to benefit from the $180 billion in revenue that the digital economy is expected to generate in Africa by 2025, according to Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Muriel Edjo
They were chosen among the eight candidates from the continent who were shortlisted in February. Their projects were judged to be in line with the major challenges facing society.
A Gabonese, an Ivorian, a Ugandan, and a South African won the 10th edition of Les Margaret Awards. Ariane Akeret Soufiano, Cleo Ngokoudi, Malebina Tsotsotso and Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa, were declared winners last March 8.
Ariane Akeret won with her project CaPay in the category Entrepreneur Africa. CaPay is an application designed to facilitate the payment of salaries and other financial transactions via mobile money in Gabon. It is a digital platform offered to employees, retirees and other unbanked populations of companies, social benefit funds, organizations, associations and public administrations.
Cleo Ngokoudi won the Intrapreneur Africa category with Anka, a platform that provides Ivorian merchants with integrated digital management solutions, facilitating international financial transactions. She is the CFO of the company.
Malebina Tsotsotso is 15 years old. She won in the Junior Africa category with MTutor, an e-learning platform designed to provide an adaptable, scalable, safe and secure edtech tool in South Africa.
Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa received the Jury's Hope Award. She is the founder of Chil AI Lab, a startup that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to extend essential health services to poor and marginalized women in Uganda.
According to Delphine Remy-Boutang, president and CEO of The Bureau and JFD, which organizes the award, each winner's project was the best of hundreds. "We received more than 300 applications," she said in February. The winners will benefit from JFD's Growth Acceleration Program for one year. This includes media exposure worth €1 million, mentoring and coaching in collaboration with JFD partners.
The Margaret Junior will benefit from JFD's growth acceleration program - to develop her entrepreneurial project, a scholarship and digital participation in the ARTEMIS I mission, the first preparatory flight for the return of humans to the Moon. The Jury's Hope Prize was offered an original work by artist Caroline Corbasson, specially designed for the JFD.
Muriel Edjo
The Cameroonian video game studio Kiro'o Games announced it will seek new investors, tomorrow March 10. To this end, the startup has issued an invitation for a Zoom meeting at 8 pm Yaoundé time, during which Founder and CEO Olivier Madiba (pictured) will present the company's business plan and expected results. He will also discuss with potential new shareholders the risks and return on investment.
Kiro'o Games, which launched its first products in 2013, claims to have raised $530,000 through Equity Crowdfunding to date. The funds have enabled it to bring new products to market and record more than 150,000 downloads of its products. Given the growing interest of African gamers in local games, the startup wants to grow quickly to take advantage of the potential multi-billion dollar industry.
"At Kiro'o Games we have been preparing since 2017 for this multi-billion dollar opportunity that the African mobile game market represents. That's why in 2019 we opened our capital to raise $1 million," explains Olivier Madiba.
The new capital raising that the Cameroonian startup is preparing comes a few days after it formed the Pan African Gaming Group (PAGG) alongside 9 other African video game studios. The African video game industry is expected to reach 680 million people by 2025.
Kiro'o Games relies on the credibility acquired in Cameroon and Central Africa over the past few years to convince new investors. This credibility has earned the company several awards from Games Industry Africa in several categories, including Innovation of the Year, Team of the Year, Mobile Game with the most impact, and Debut of the Year.
Muriel Edjo
After a recent $10.5 million fundraising round, Naqla is getting ready for a new stage in the development of its business in Egypt.
Egyptian logistics platform Naqla announced last March 7 it has raised $10.5 million in pre-series A funding. The company, which connects truck owners with freight companies, plans to use the money to digitalize its operations.
“We are now perfectly positioned to grow our digital logistics offering and market presence, bringing a much-needed technology infrastructure to the badly served Egyptian logistics and trucking industry, at a critical time in the country’s economic growth. We thank our investors for their part in the Naqla journey – this investment will enable rapid acceleration of our business and our planned vertical expansion into new segments,” said co-Founder and CEO Sherif Taher.
The fundraising comes three years after Naqla expanded into heavy-duty trucking in 2019, with a fleet of trucks carrying heavy items accounting for 16% of the company's business, and two years after its expansion into domestic light-duty trucking in 2020, transporting SMEs’ light materials. Since its inception in 2017, the company -which works with more than 400 shippers and 10,500 drivers across Egypt, claims to have delivered more than 4.6 million tons of cargo.
Egypt's logistics industry is worth an estimated $13 billion and accounts for nearly 3.5% of GDP, according to data published last December by Naqla.
Chamberline MOKO