News (1573)
Since 1996, Algerian authorities are stepping up efforts to protect their cultural heritage against vandalism, theft, concealment, and trafficking. The digital platform is one of the actions that will further protect the country’s cultural properties.
Algerian Minister of Culture Soraya Mouloudji launched Monday (May 9), Turathi.dz, a digital platform for the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural properties. Developed in collaboration with the US embassy, the platform will be the new tool to protect the country’s cultural assets.
For Ms. Soraya Mouloudji, the platform is a digital photo guide with detailed information on Algeria’s cultural properties most exposed to contraband and illicit trafficking. The properties listed on Turathi.dz include prehistoric items, sculpture, figurines, manuscripts, and funerary arts.
Despite the measures taken since 1996 to protect cultural assets, more than 35,752 items have been stolen, according to Algerian authorities. To enhance protection, the Ministry of Culture stepped up actions and even created a joint action plan to protect the cultural heritage from any type of damage. In 2019, the country signed a memorandum of understanding with the USA to limit or stop the export of archeological objects per the UNESCO 1970 convention.
In addition to protecting the cultural heritage, Turathi.dz can also be used as an educational tool since it lists and describes Algeria’s numerous cultural properties. Students and even researchers can use it for academic purposes.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
In Africa, digital transformation is on the rise but so are cybersecurity threats. However, the continent does not have enough cybersecurity professionals to face the threats. Various partners are moving to bridge the skill gap.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and Deloitte Morocco Cyber Center (Deloitte MCC) signed Monday (May 9), a cooperation framework agreement to promote high-level scientific and technological research in cybersecurity.
The partnership was announced in a release published the same day on UM6P’s website. According to the release, the aim is to build cybersecurity talents and create new solutions. To do so, the three pillars will be prioritized. The first pillar is the development of a certification program recognized by international cybersecurity standards bodies. The second is the creation of a research and development program aimed at encouraging innovation and preparing for major changes (post-quantum cryptography, artificial intelligence, etc). The last one is the development of a professional integration pathway at Deloitte MCC and Deloitte as a whole.
“I am confident that our partnership with our colleagues at Deloitte MCC will contribute significantly to sealing the link between research and the professional world in Morocco and Africa,” said Hicham El Habti (photo, right), President of the UM6P. According to the latter, UM6P’s digital adoption has led to positive outcomes. For instance, the university’s startup ecosystem is growing steadily while its computer science, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence academic programs are renowned nationwide. However, students need to apply their knowledge in the professional world. The partnership with Deloitte MCC will facilitate that transition.
“This new ambitious partnership allows the construction of a bridge between the academic world and the business world, thanks to the support of public institutions and the State. We believe that this is the only way to create ecosystems that can train and retain high-level talent while fostering the emergence of new business models that are attractive to start-ups, scale-ups, and specialized investment funds,” commented Imane Elbaraka (photo, left), Managing Director of Deloitte MCC.
Ruben Tchounyabe
With the acceleration of digital transformation in Africa, the continent will need more human resources with adequate digital skills. With Academia Raqmya, Morocco intends to develop those skills.
Morocco’s Digital Development Agency (ADD) launched, Tuesday (May 10), the country’s e-learning platform, Academia Raqmya. By launching the platform, Morocco wants to boost digital skills and e-learning.
For Minister of Digital Transition Ghita Mezzour (photo), who presided over the launching ceremony, Academia Raqmya is a key step in the operationalization of the country’s digital transition. It is “in line with instructions given by Mohammed VI for human capital development,” she added.
Academia Raqmya is launched in a context marked by accelerating digital transformation in most African countries. As a strategic sector for socio-economic development, training is one of the areas prioritized. Through the platform, Morocco will offer a range of digital courses allowing learners to acquire new skills and actively participate in the development of the digital economy. With the platform, Morocco also wants to boost digital inclusion.
To introduce learners to the digital world, the platform offers two programs, namely “digital enhancement,” and “digital literacy.”
The platform aims to teach 12,500 learners in its first year with 173 courses that make up a total of 1,200 training hours. In its first three months (the pilot phase), it will train 1,350 learners and in the active phase (fourth to twelve months), it will train 11,150 learners to reach its target.
Ruben Tchounyabe
The coronavirus crisis accelerated digital transformation projects across Africa. Morocco, which is already a leader in digital governance is also following the trend with projects and initiatives to improve services offered to users.
Moroccan Pension Fund CMR is moving to improve its services and transparency with digital transformation. In that regard, last May 5, the pension fund signed a framework agreement with the Digital Development Agency (ADD), which will assist in the endeavor.
According to an official release, the signing ceremony was co-chaired by Finance Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui (photo, right) and Ms. Ghita Mezzour (photo, left), Minister of Digital Transition.
With the framework agreement, ADD and the CMR want to cooperate for a successful digital transformation by implementing common advanced tech projects, interoperability, digital training, and the development of e-inclusion, the release indicates.
"The partnership confirms the two parties’ commitment to leveraging tech innovation for the improvement of services provided to citizens,” it continued.
ADD is a government agency launched in 2017 to implement the national digital transformation strategy as well as promote and vulgarize digital tools. In 2020, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ranked Morroco as the seventh leading African country in terms of digital governance.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
When the AfCFTA became effective in January 2021, it boosted the business opportunities available for actors. Yet, some players are still left out because they have poor or no access to market information. Ancestral House Eastern Africa wants to address that issue.
Online trading platform Ancestral House Eastern Africa recently launched its activities to facilitate intra-African trades. With offices in Abuja, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya, the platform acts like a facilitator offering administrative, technical, logistics, and commercial assistance.
According to Ancestral chairman Ose Imoukhuede (photo), although most African SMEs can easily export or import goods from other continents it is hard for them to carry out intra-African trades despite the yearly US$1 billion potential of the market.
Ancestral House Eastern Africa, therefore, wants to make intra-African trades easy for those firms by addressing a certain number of challenges. The said challenges are namely “lack of market information, inexperienced exporters/importers, poor logistics infrastructure, inefficient cross-border payment systems/infrastructure, cultural differences, gaps, and trust deficit, as well as varied Competitive landscapes.”
For the time being, the online trading platform will connect East and West African traders with services like business matchmaking, market research, logistics, consumer trends, and behaviors.
Ancestral connects “producers and consumers of goods and services across Africa through technology-driven go-to-market information and expertise,” explains chairman Ose Imoukhuede.
In January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) became effective in a market of 1.2 billion people covering 55 countries with combined GDP estimated to be some US$2.5 trillion. In those countries, SMEs represent 80% of the economic fabric but they are still struggling to penetrate overseas markets. With Ancestral’s trading platform, they can capitalize on regional markets to reach buyers outside the continent.
Ruben Tchounyabe
In five years, the African gaming community has recorded outstanding growth. The industry now appears like a strong job and wealth creation catalyst on the continent.
Goethe Games Station -a gaming tour- was launched in Burkina Faso last May 7. Organized by Goethe-Institut Ouagadougou and Enter Africa, a creative African organization initiated by 15 Goethe-Institutes, it aims to teach “young people about the ins and outs of digital and virtual reality.”
Over seven months, in the framework of Goethe Games Station, a caravan will be organized at selected popular places in Ouagadougou on the first weekend of every month. During the events, the national gaming community will be introduced to the youth.
For Evelia Gadegbeku, president of Enter Africa, the project is aimed at giving the “Burkinabe youth the opportunity to discover gaming, the opportunities it offers, and its career paths.”
The caravan will also educate participants on how to make good use of digital technologies and avoid the dangers of gaming addiction, notably social division and aggressive behaviors.
Last year, a Newzoo report revealed that of the 1.14 billion residents in Sub-Saharan Africa, 186 million (16% of the overall population) were video game players. 95% of the game players (177 million) play mobile games. According to the report, with an annual growth rate estimated at 9.2% yearly between 2020 and 2024, the region has the fastest-growing mobile gaming community in the world.
Also, 34% (63 million) of Sub-Sarahan African gamers pay for games. Sub-Saharan African gamers are also expected to be the fastest-rising in the world.
According to Newzoo, the gaming industry generated US$590 million in 2021, with promising growth prospects. With democratization actions, Burkinabe youth can capture part of those revenues in the same way South Africans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans, and Ethiopians are already doing.
Muriel Edjo
In Africa, healthcare access remains a major challenge despite the numerous e-health solutions being developed. The issue is mainly caused by financial problems. The low-cost insurance policy being developed by the two partners aims to address that situation.
Kenyan fintech Power Financial Wellness (PFW) recently announced a partnership with insurtech Turaco. According to a release dated April 26, the partnership aims to offer low-cost insurance -as low as US$2 monthly subscriptions- to African gig and salaried workers.
“Power is dedicated to providing a marketplace of financial services to working individuals across Africa. With Turaco, we now have a partner that helps digitize tailor-made insurance offerings. With Power’s ability to finance premiums and collect from workers, this partnership will help scale the delivery of affordable insurance to working individuals in Kenya and beyond,” commented PFW CEO Brian Dempsey.
PFW clients can subscribe to the insurance policies once Turaco’s API is integrated into the fintech’s digital platforms. PFW offers payment and loan services (insurance services will soon start with the API integration). As for Turaco, it offers low-cost claim settlement packages in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States of America.
In addition to health insurance, PFW clients have access to other insurtech products. These include credit life insurance, disability, theft, and a comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient insurance.
Some African countries have a national health insurance scheme but only a small portion of the population is covered. According to the World Health Organization, while 91% of the population in Rwanda is covered by the national health insurance scheme, 33% is covered in Ghana and only 3% in Nigeria
Adoni Conrad Quenum
The digitalization of trade processes helps avoid administrative delays. By rolling out the electronic phytosanitary certification platform, South Africa wants to reduce fraud and save time.
The South African Ministry of Agriculture presented its online phytosanitary certification system last May 9. It thus became the second African country to introduce such a certification system after Morocco (in 2020).
The platform accelerates the issuance of phytosanitary documents, which are necessary for the exportation of farm products. It also guarantees the credibility of the inspections carried out by the national plant protection organization NNPOZA while boosting the trust of foreign partners’ certification agencies, notably in European markets that have adopted the e-phytosanitary system.
According to a media advisory published by the Ministry on May 8, with the e-certification system, phytosanitary applications are fully managed online, the responses are automatic upon completion of the application. Also, applicants can track the status of their applications. The system reduces “fraudulent activities related to phytosanitary certificates,” the media advisory explains.
Once approved the certificate is issued and sent directly to the requester’s email. The latter can share it directly with trading partners who will, in turn, send it to the national plant protection agencies in exporting countries. The authenticity of those certificates can be verified via the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)’s platform. Therefore, South African exporters will no longer face suspensions about the quality of their products. The issue used to delay the entrance of their products into destination countries because of the additional inspections required.
South Africa’s phytosanitary e-certification system is the result of a collaboration between the local government and the Netherlands. The process started in November 2019, with the dematerialization of phytosanitary procedures for grape exporters. Months later, in April 2020, citruses and other plant products were added to the list of farm products whose phytosanitary certificates can be requested online. In April 2021, the whole procedure was dematerialized.
“We are delighted to have reached this milestone within a short time and we also owe the existence of this system to our industry. We had extensive stakeholder consultations and ensured that there was awareness created and therefore a better opportunity to implement the painful process of change management with ease,” said Minister of Agriculture Thokozile Didiza.
For the government official, the next step will be to “further collaborate with the Netherlands on the boarding of animal products for exports and the imports of plants, animals and their products.”
“In line with our commitment towards achieving the ideals of agenda 2063 of the African Union, South Africa commits to extending our experiences to assist fellow African countries to also join and have e-certification systems. (...) This will also help us to broaden trade through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, especially its annexure on sanitary and phytosanitary measures,” Didiza added.
Muriel Edjo
Based on three factors, StartupBlink ranked the top 100 countries that had a conducive ecosystem for startup development in 2021. Three African countries have joined the top 100, and all of them are located in West Africa.
In 2021, the number of African countries in the best 100 countries for startups rose to 14, up from 11 in 2020. The ranking was presented in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 published by StartupBlink.
Though minimal, the progress demonstrates a certain dynamism in the investments made by African countries to offer the youth an appropriate innovative entrepreneurial framework. In Africa, most countries are aware that startups are important players they can rely on to improve residents’ access to various services and curb unemployment.
In the 2021 ranking, there were no Central African countries. East Africa was represented by six countries (up from four in 2020) against three countries for North Africa.
Southern Africa was represented by two countries, including South Africa which won a spot in the best 50 countries for startups. The region that achieved the most notable progress is West Africa with three countries (Nigeria, Ghana, and Cape Verde), which were absent from the top 100 last year.
StartupBlink bases its ranking on the three factors notably, quantity, quality, and business environment. The quantity factor measures the number of startups, co-working spaces, accelerators, and “Startup related Meetups” in a said country. As for the quality score, it takes into account several elements including the number of employees per startup, private sector investments, and the presence of unicorns.
The third factor (business environment) “focuses on general indicators connected to infrastructure, business environment, ecosystem critical mass, and the ability to freely operate as a startup founder.”
Even though their countries are absent from the best 100 ranking, some African cities are among the best 1000 cities for startups. For StartupBlink, it is “a testament to their entrepreneurs’ ability to disconnect from geopolitical barriers, inefficient governments, or the painful lack of national resources available to support their growth.” Those cities are notably Luanda, Dakar, Douala, Buea, Yaoundé, Kinshasa, Cotonou, Alger, Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Conakry.
Muriel Edjo
Urban mobility is a real challenge in large African towns. To address the situation, startups like GoMetro are developing alternative solutions.
South African logistics startup GoMetro secured ZAR16.3 million (US$1 million) in pre-A funding from Kalon Venture Partners, Hlayisani Capital, and several others.
According to the release published Thursday (May 5) by Kalon Venture Partners, the funds raised will help GoMetro “accelerate its growth, bolster its commercial team and rapidly expand into the South African, UK, and American markets.”
GoMetro was founded in 2011 by Julien Coetzee. It helps manage bus and car fleets and improves operational efficiency, security, and predictability. Unlike on-demand transportation, with GoMetro, trips depart and arrive at specific points.
“By using our mobility management platform and digitizing their entire fleet, operators can save up to 30 percent in operating costs by increasing overall vehicle utilization, controlling excess mileage, and managing back-office costs. We have also seen our customers increase the certainty and accuracy of their delivery windows by 50 percent,” said the CEO of GoMetro, Justin Coetzee.
GoMetro’s Android and iPhone apps show pickup points, departure and arrival points, routes, and the schedule of available shuttles. Users can therefore choose the closest locations and save time. Payments are made with the integrated wallet.
The startup also has a mobile app specially made for drivers. On that platform, drivers can view pending tasks, check their driving scores and perform vehicle inspections.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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The coronavirus pandemic accelerated digital transformation across the globe. In Africa, about 230 million jobs will require “some level of digital skills” by 2030, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). However, there is still a huge digital skill gap on the continent. Hence the importance of such programs.
Pan-African organization Power Learn Project (PLP) announced, Thursday (April 28), the launch of its "One Million Developers for Africa" program. As its name implies, the program aims to train one million Africans in software development by 2025. In its first phase, launched this year, the program will train more than 10,000 learners in six countries, namely Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Zambia.
According to Ms. Mumbi Ndung'u, PLP Chief Growth & Operations Officer, the project’s “goal is to drive transformative change for the youth of Africa through technology skilling.”
“The program will offer online junior software development training, consisting of curated programming languages as well as a soft skills component in employability, and entrepreneurship to enable the learners to acquire entry-level smart technology jobs. Through support from partners, the course will be covered on full scholarships, so the learners’ only concern is to learn and absorb as much as they can, as they prepare to navigate the digital revolution with us, ” she added.
The coronavirus pandemic proved how important digital transformation is for Africa. However, there is still a shortage of digital skills required on the continent. Meanwhile, about 70% of the population in Africa is aged between 18 and 35 and 60% of that population is underemployed or unemployed. Digital skill training can thus become an important tool in addressing that situation and at the same time providing the skills necessary for digital transformation on the continent.
For John Kamara, chairman of the board of PLP, the pan-African organization is “working towards the Pan African dream of building relevant capacity to extract value from the fourth industrial revolution."
During the 16-week training, learners will be taught courses like Python programming, Dart programming with the Flutter framework, introduction to blockchain technologies, web technology (PHP, HTML, JAVA), databases (SQL programming), and employment and entrepreneurship skills.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
To boost efficiency and improve decision-making, Algeria has embarked on a digitization program covering all of its Ministries. The digital platform announced will provide accurate information on the ongoing, suspended, or completed housing and urban development projects.
In Algeria, stakeholders can now monitor the completion rate of public housing projects through the Ministry of Housing’s official website. On Sunday, April 24, 2022, during a meeting to assess the Q1-2022 performance in the social housing sector, Housing Minister Mohamed Tarek Belaribi (photo) announced the launch of the digital platform enabling the feature.
The platform is a sort of directory of the various urban development and housing projects launched, ongoing, or suspended in the country. Decision-makers involved in a housing or urban development project are therefore advised to regularly update project data to give an accurate estimate of progress. In that regard, the country plans to train focus groups on how to provide the required information.
The digital platform was developed to support the monitoring and evaluation missions of project managers, housing directors, property management agencies, and sectoral officials in the housing segment.
According to Minister Mohamed Tarek Belaribi, the platform is the result of instructions given by the President of the Republic to accelerate the digitization of institutions supervised by the Ministry of Housing and update the national housing database. For the government official, the platform is crucial for the government because it will provide quality information to guide decision-making in due time.
Ruben Tchounyabe
During the COVID-19 lockdown period, 79% of Ghana’s retail business was carried out online. The growth of this innovative means has attracted scammers. The program announced is aimed at weeding them out of the segment.
Ghana’s Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) announced Tuesday (April 26) the upcoming registration of e-commerce and logistics operators.
The program aims to create a secure online profile for the said operators to “root out” frauds and scams in that booming segment.
According to an official release signed by PCSRC executive secretary Hamdaratu Zakaria (photo), “a free-to-use electronic portal has already been developed to enable (...) the public to obtain directory information on all registered e-commerce traders and logistics companies (including courier services) in good standing with the PCSRC before doing business with them.”
The announcement comes days after the publication of an investigation by a local media, The Fourth Estate. According to the non-profit media launched by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), crooks are forging the documents of duly registered companies to scam unsuspecting buyers. They also swindle goods worth millions due to clients’ inability to verify the authenticity of the documents they are presented.
For the PCSRC, the registration program will rid the segment of those shady practices at a time when domestic regulation is “complicated” by the “ongoing trade liberalization regime under the AfCFTA and ECOWAS.” The local platform is also integrated with the AfCFTA’s African Trade Gateway, a digital platform that provides market and due diligence information about counterparties. That way, Ghanaians can get information on whether foreign operators are legit or not while foreigners will avoid being scammed by selected legit Ghanaian operators.
The PCSRC release explains that in the future, the agency will work with other Ghanaian institutions to root out digital fraudsters wherever they operate.
According to conservative estimates by the Ghana E-Commerce Association, the country’s e-commerce market will grow from US$481 million in 2021 to US$674 million in 2025. Its size will also grow to 11 million users by that time.
Ruben Tchounyabe
Since 2020, most African governments are set on digitizing strategic sectors, including the public service. Within two years, Ghana, which has become one of the digitally-advanced countries, raised US$315 million for that purpose.
The World Bank approved, Thursday (April 28), a US$200 million loan to accelerate digital transformation in Ghana with a new project dubbed Ghana Digital Acceleration Project. The funding was announced in the same release published on the institution’s website.
According to the release, it will help “increase broadband access, enhance the efficiency and quality of selected digital public services, and strengthen the digital innovation ecosystem in Ghana to help create better jobs and economic opportunities.”
For Pierre Laporte (photo), World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, “expanding digital access and adoption, enhancing digital public service delivery, and promoting digitally-enabled innovation is essential for Ghana’s digital transformation, which will help drive a robust post-COVID-19 recovery.”
Likewise, for Maria Claudia Pachon -Senior Digital Development Specialist of the World Bank and Task Leader of the new Project- the digitization of public services will “result in significant cost savings due to decreased travel and processing time to obtain services, as well as transaction costs such as manual entry errors, fraud, and corruption.”
The Ghana Digital Acceleration Project builds on the ongoing e-Transform Ghana project, which allows Ghana to become one of the most digitally advanced countries in Africa. In its latest report on the e-government development index, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ranked Ghana the fifth in Africa, in 2020. At the same time, the country jumped from being the 143rd out of 193 countries worldwide in 2004, to the 101st place in 2020.
The new digital acceleration project supports regulatory change to create an environment that facilitates access to mobile and broadband internet for six million people, in underserved rural areas notably. It will also favor the digital inclusion of women and people with disabilities, enhance the local digital entrepreneurship ecosystem, improve startups’ growth and survival rate, facilitate smallholders’ involvement in data-driven agriculture and promote advanced digital innovation skills.
Muriel Edjo