Thanks to the e-tourism company she cofounded some four years ago, she allows Tunisians and foreigners to take a dip in the past of some Tunisian cultural locations. The XR reality company has earned her several awards and distinctions.
Houda Bakir (pictured) is the CEO of Historiar, a deep tech startup. The startup, founded in 2019, combines artificial intelligence and augmented reality to offer a digitized version of some Tunisian centuries-old historical and archeological sites, allowing tourists and curious individuals to visit them using tech equipment.
During the 46th edition of the Dougga International Festival, held in August 2022, guests were able to gauge Historiar's expertise by going back several years in time to contemplate the archaeological site of Dougga. In February 2023, this expertise earned Houda Bakir a spot in the fifth edition of Orange Fab Tunisia’s acceleration program.
The CEO, born in Carthage, Tunisia, is a graduate of the National Higher Engineering School of Tunis (ENSIT). In 2009, she earned a master’s in electrical engineering and, about seven years later, she obtained a Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a specialization in medical image segmentation. Since 2021, she is the Vice President of Tunisian Startups, a network of entrepreneurs that aims to create a friendly environment for successful and budding entrepreneurs alike. In 2018, she co-founded Super-Viz, a startup specializing in artificial intelligence and computer vision.
A post-doctoral researcher at ENSIT's Productics Research Center laboratory since 2013, Houda Bakir founded Grace Light Tunisia, an interior design and IT service company. She led the company -founded in 2013- until 2014.
The Tunisian entrepreneur started her professional career in 2009, as a contractual assistant professor at ENSIT. Some months later, she became an assistant professor. Then, in 2014, she joined international IT consulting firm Intellixx as a consultant. In 2016, she was hired as a senior research and development engineer at Datavora, a data management company for online commerce companies.
Thanks to Historiar, Houda Bakir took part in several international events, including the Digital Tunisia Days organized on the sidelines of the Expo 2020 in Dubai. In 2021, the company won the Best EdTech Solutions Provider award issued by the digital publication MEA Markets.
As for Ms. Bakir, in 2022, she was named one of the seven North African female tech founders to know by online media Exclusive Africa. Ventures Africa also named her one of the twelve North African female tech founders to know. Still, in 2022, she won the first prize in the Startup Bootcamp organized by Réseau Entreprendre Tunisia and Qatar Fund for Development.
Melchior Koba
In Africa, under banking is a key issue. It greatly affects merchants, but tech entrepreneurs are gradually stepping in to solve it.
Rouzo is a fintech solution developed by Nigerian startup Owafara Fintech Services. It allows small businesses access to loans provided by individuals and other businesses. The solution is in line with Owafara Fintech Services’ goal of empowering more than 1 million small businesses in Africa with the funding and support that will allow them to grow, become self-sufficient, and add value to the economy.
“Rouzo is a portfolio managed platform that allows smart individual and corporate investors to invest in portfolios that are used to provide financing for small businesses.[…]By investing on Rouzo, investors generate a healthy return and contribute to economic development by empowering small businesses to grow and expand,” the platform explains.
Via its web platform, users can create their accounts to access the services offered by Rouzo. Individuals can invest funds in Rouzo, which will lend them at attractive rates to micro and small businesses that meet the necessary requirements. The interest generated by these loans will be shared between the fintech and the individuals who deposited their money.
Thanks to Owafara's expertise, Rouzo can easily get businesses that want to work with it evaluated. The fintech company has a special preference for women-owned businesses because it was itself founded by a woman. " As a female-founded Company, we also understand how women relate with finance and we are especially committed to helping women who are majorly underserved get access to loans and business support to grow," Rouzo explains.
" Eighty percent of our current loan book is to unbanked women micro-entrepreneurs," said Owafara Fintech Services’ founder in 2022. Rouzo claims more than 150,000 completed transactions and nearly 5 billion naira (about $10.9 million) lent. In 2021, it was one of 16 companies selected in the first cohort of the ShEquity Business Accelerator (SHEBA). In 2022, the institution helped the startup raise funds for its goals. The amount of the deal was, however, not disclosed.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Since November 2022 when he assumed office as Governor of Osun, Ademola Adeleke has initiated several projects aimed at anchoring his territory in the digital age. The latest move is the deployment of 64 kilometers of optic fiber.
The Governor of Osun State in Nigeria, Ademola Adeleke, announced on Monday, March 6 the deployment of a 64 km fiber optic cable in the state.
Speaking at a program held at the Adolak Events Center in Osogbo, the state capital, the governor said the NGN16 billion (about $35 million) project will accelerate digital transformation in various sectors and make the state’s digital economy one of the best in Nigeria.
“In line with the new National Broadband policy and the urgency of internet Fiber connectivity for Osun state, this government is waiving payment for Telecom Right of Way in return for free connectivity to our schools and health centers when the broadband project is completed,” the governor said.
In addition to the implementation of the fiber optic project, the Osun State governor disclosed several other projects ongoing in the state. Ademola Adeleke announced the inauguration of the first 15-member Digital Economy Advisory Board, whose mission is to support the state in its plan to transform Osun State’s economy.
The governor also informed the audience of a new partnership with ICT company Oodua Infraco, for the execution of the state's digital economy projects. The said partnership will identify and apply information and communication technologies in various sectors.
In the same vein, the Osun governor unveiled the recently launched Osun Google Mapping project, which aims to ensure businesses and landmarks are added to Google Maps. To date, the mapping coverage is over 50%, up 20% within four months, according to the governor.
Osun State plans to forward a Start-up Bill to the State House of Assembly for validation in the coming days. "This will be my first Executive Bill I will be forwarding to the State Assembly after this event. The Act is programmed to ensure that new start ups promoters and entrepreneurs secure desired mentoring and financing. The law once domesticated will enhance the goals of both the ICT and the Tech Innovation policy," governor Ademola Adeleke said.
Mining is a key sector in the South African economy. It is therefore important to digitize and simplify processes and provide new solutions for the sector.
Last Thursday, Swedish IT company Ericsson announced an agreement to provide its “Ericsson Private 5G” solution to global simulation software specialist Comsol in South Africa.
The combination of Ericsson's high-end connectivity solution and Comsol's mining and systems integration expertise will provide the mining industry with robust standalone 4G/LTE and 5G connectivity, and help Comsol's customers optimize and simplify business operations through data creation, collection, and analysis.
“We are thrilled to offer Comsol our pre-packaged and pre-integrated private network solution, Ericsson Private 5G. With its reliable, fast, and secure connectivity, Comsol’s customers will have the platform to enable innovative smart solutions for better operational efficiency and safety,” commented Todd Ashton (photo, left), Vice President and Head of Ericsson South and East Africa at Ericsson Middle East and Africa.
The agreement gives Comsol the right to resell the Ericsson Private 5G high-speed wireless network solution. It will enable Comsol to expand its corporate activity within the local mining sector, which is one of the key investment sectors in South Africa.
The country is the world's largest chrome and platinum producer. The latest Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data on mining production shows that total production has increased by 11.2% in 2021 compared to 2020. In that key sector, “Comsol will utilize the PoC solution to experiment and test various use cases for mining and other industries, including Augmented Reality, Autonomous Vehicles, and Fixed Wireless Access.”
Samira Njoya
She is a business leader with experience in the financial and crypto industries. As the head of Binance in Francophone Africa, she will lead efforts to democratize access to crypto assets and blockchain in the region.
Carine Dikambi (photo) is the regional director for Binance in Francophone Africa. Appointed in June 2021, the executive is "responsible for defining, launching and leading expansion plans, operations and partnerships across Francophone Africa."
"Binance is a digital marketplace (an exchange) where people can buy, sell and exchange cryptos. In addition to being a crypto exchange (the largest in the world by volume), Binance is a blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a suite of financial products, and we continue to build key facets of the blockchain ecosystem and contribute to the development of broader industry infrastructure," explained Carine Dikambi in 2022.
Born and raised in France, Carine Dikambi holds a bachelor's degree in banking and finance from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Paris Descartes University. She also holds a Master's degree in Management Science from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. A graduate of New York University, where she earned a postgraduate certificate in financial risk management, she started investing in cryptocurrencies in 2016. About four years later, in 2020, she moved to Cameroon to promote digital finance in Africa.
Her professional career began in 2010 when she joined Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking as an associate. A few months later, she also became a financial analyst.
In 2011, she became Vice President of the Institutional Clients Group at Citi Bank. Then, in 2013, she was named director of risk and information management at fintech company American Express, before being promoted to director in 2016. She held this position until 2021 when she joined Binance.
Since 2018, she has been an IoT and blockchain mentor for Startup Weekend Paris, a 54-hour event that allows different groups to pitch their startup ideas. In 2010, she received the SGCIB Leadership Development Program Class Award. Then, in 2015, she received the Rookie of the Year award at American Express.
Melchior Koba
The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the African countries with the largest rural-urban connectivity gap. In that context, the post-Covid-19 growth in demand for broadband connectivity coupled with the country’s large population is attracting local and foreign investments in the digital sector.
In the coming months, more than 2.5 million people living in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will benefit from a faster, cheaper, and more reliable internet connection. A financing agreement to this effect was signed on Saturday, March 4, between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group (BCS).
Under the agreement, BCS will receive $10 million to deploy 1,200 km of fiber optic cable out of the 20,000 km that it plans to install in Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa over the next three years.
The investment will help connect areas with poor or no access to broadband internet. It will create jobs and connect 319 schools and 70 hospitals and health centers. According to Yonas Maru (photo, left), founder and CEO of BCS Group, it "will go a long way to ensure implementation of the MOU between the Government of DRC and BCS to connect over 1,900 schools, 1,640 public hospitals and government institutions along the BCS backbone and metro fiber infrastructure."
“The Digital is such a powerful driver of equity, inclusion, and growth, that the EU has made it a pillar of our Global Gateway strategy. Expansion of the fiber-optic infrastructure will enable local communities, schools, and hospitals to benefit from mobile broadband, which ultimately means new opportunities for learning, business, jobs, and healthcare,” said Thomas Östros, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank.
The funding was officially announced last November at the AfricaCom 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the EIB’s first quasi-equity investment and its second cooperation with BCS. In 2018, the institution provided an $18 million long-term loan for BCS.
Samira Njoya
To accelerate the implementation of its 2021-2023 digital transformation strategy, Gabon initiated several projects including the construction of a national data center. The offer made by the Indian businessmen includes the designing, construction, and maintenance of those infrastructures.
Last Thursday, Gabon’s Digital Minister Jean Pierre Doukaga Kassa welcomed a delegation of Indian businessmen from the Shapoorji Pallonji group who expressed their interest in the Gabonese digital sector.
On social media, the Ministry of Digital Economy said that the businessmen "offered their expertise in the design, construction, and maintenance of digital infrastructure, including data centers.”
The group also presented the projects it completed in Egypt, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They also exchanged with the Minister on the extension of the national backbone to three of Gabon’s provinces. The backbone projects discussed include a 623 km network between Lambaréné, Mayumba, and Doussala on the border with Congo-Brazzaville.
The Minister of Digital Economy then instructed his collaborators both in the central administration and the state companies under his supervision to analyze the Indian businessmen’s offers.
The construction of a national data center is one of the Gabonese government's flagship projects for the management and storage of its data. According to the news website Le Nouveau Gabon, the Indian businessmen’s visit comes after a meeting between the Gabonese Ministers for Investment Promotion and Digital Economy to discuss the construction of that national data center.
Despite being a fast-growing sector in Africa, real estate faces inherent challenges. To address some of these challenges, tech entrepreneurs are beginning to step in with interesting solutions.
Sakneen is a proptech solution developed by an Egyptian startup. It allows users to buy, sell or rent a home.
Through its web platform, a user can create an account to view available properties on a map, along with accurate valuations that reduce the stress of long negotiations.
The valuations are “based on a unique pricing algorithm that […] brings information & transparency to the real estate industry in Egypt. We collect over 30 unique data points per home to ensure that our benchmarks are a relevant starting point for conversations between sellers and buyers,” the web platform explains.
The solution provides both buyers and sellers with all the information they need to complete real estate transactions. It allows buyers or renters to easily find properties that meet their search criteria and budget.
According to Omar Khashaba, Principal at Egyptian venture capital fund Algebra Ventures, " Sakneen brings unique efficiencies to the real estate market, which despite heavy VC funding, hasn’t seen enough disruption. Trying to find a home online today is often a frustrating experience, plagued by inaccurate listings and overzealous brokers. [It] can meaningfully differentiate itself by re-inventing the search experience and managing the supply side in novel ways." In 2020, the Egyptian proptech behind the solution participated in the Y Combinator acceleration program. From its inception in 2019 to date, it has raised about $1.3 million to accelerate its growth.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
She is an entrepreneur and digital transformation consultant who has initiated several projects to support the Tunisian tech ecosystem. Betacube, her latest venture, helps entrepreneurs build their startups.
Amel Saidane (photo) is a Tunisian entrepreneur and venture builder. She holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany (2003) and a Master's degree in Digital Economy from the University of Maryland, USA (2007).
She entered the professional world in 2004 when she joined the IT company Nokia as an Account Manager. In 2008, she joined Microsoft as an Enterprise Account Manager before becoming Managing Director of the consulting agency SlickStone. Between 2016 and 2018, she was the Seedstars Ambassador in Tunisia.
In 2017, she co-founded Tunisian Startups, a network of entrepreneurs that aims to create a friendly environment for successful and budding entrepreneurs alike. She is currently the president of the association. Two years later, she also co-founded Digital2Value (D2V), a platform that aims to accelerate digital transformation by connecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to a comprehensive ecosystem of consultants, development organizations, and digital solutions.
D2V has three flagship products. The first is the D2V Digital SME Accelerator, a six-month program that enables SMEs to accelerate their growth by leveraging digital transformation. The second is D2V Market Place, a platform that connects startups. The third product is D2V Studios, a place for entrepreneurial skills development and startup development.
Her most notable startup is Betacube, of which she is a co-founder and CEO. Founded in 2019, Betacube is a venture builder supported by the European Union and Expertise France. It invests, builds, and develops B2B startups in the financial and mobility sectors. Its vision is to create a technology innovation ecosystem where Tunisian and international talent can connect with the world, build successful businesses and drive digital transformation in specific industries. According to Ms. Amel, Betacube supports entrepreneurs from ideation to validation, then to initial funding, and takes stakes in the startups created. In 2022, she revealed that the venture builder has 12 startups in its portfolio.
Amel Saidane is also a member of the advisory board of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, a member of the startup selection committee of the Tunisian Ministry of ICT, and a member of the Responsible Leaders Network of the BMW Foundation. She also sits on the board of the Digital Arabia Network. In 2022, she was named on Ventures Africa's list of the twelve North African female tech founders to know.
Melchior Koba
This officialization marks the beginning of a digital process announced in July 2022.
Last Thursday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya (photo) signed a decree updating the conditions of entry, stay and exit for foreigners in Cameroon.
According to the said decree, obtaining an electronic visa requires the prior submission of a visa application on a dedicated website that will soon be launched. The application can be made, regardless of the geographical area of the applicant, following established administrative and financial terms.
After the application, an online visa authorization will then be issued to the applicant who will then be able to go either to a diplomatic mission or to a border post to formalize the visa. This final phase will be completed with an enrolment process consisting of taking fingerprints and photographs. According to the decree, the visa is issued within three days after the online application.
The e-visa project is part of the Cameroon Digital Strategic Plan. In June 2022, the government received the computer equipment that was to serve in the project, which will be implemented by the Abidjan-based firm Impact Palmarès R&D SAS. The bill updating the legal framework for entry, exit, and stay in Cameroon was submitted to the National Assembly on July 2, 2022.
The implementation of the e-visa project will help centralize and protect data, control entries, and exits and monitor the revenues generated by the government from visa applicants, who will now pay the fees online.
In July 2022, Minister for Foreign Affairs Lejeune Mbella Mbella indicated that the e-visa will also save time and costs for users since it will address two of the grievances always pointed out by foreigners seeking Cameroonian visas. Namely, it will end both the long trips to embassies and the long queues involved.
Samira Njoya
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She has over seven years of experience in the e-commerce industry. Her resume boasts experience in several e-commerce companies and financial institutions.
Mame Fatou Ba (photo) is a Senegalese businesswoman with experience in e-commerce and management. The Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France and the University of Lille graduate is now the general manager of Yoonema, a digital marketplace that gives sellers access to a secure online store, easy payment options, and marketing tools.
Appointed in March 2022, she is expected to contribute her experience to grow the marketplace, which currently boasts more than 1,000 clients. In February 2023, while presenting the marketplace she is now leading, Mame Fatou Ba said: “Yoonema aggregates the different stages of the merchant-buyer journey from first contact to the completion of a transaction and beyond, through continued marketing and customer outreach. We simplify the experience for both the seller and the customer by closing the transaction facilitation gap. Furthermore, Yoonema offers a secured payment platform that builds and reinforces trust in the buyer-seller journey, while mimicking the day-to-day payment landscape known to customers, and also providing payments with major credit cards to suit our already established international customer base.” About a month earlier, the marketplace was selected for the third edition of the Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP), which entitles it to $18,000 in equity funding and $750,000 in credit, services, and in-kind benefits.
Mame Fatou Ba joined Yoonema in January 2023 as a senior program manager. Her professional career, however, began in 2011 at B2B service company Asepex, where she was an intern in the textile and handicraft department. In 2012, she also interned at the IT company Soft Solutions as an international marketing assistant.
After an internship in the trade department of Ecobank Senegal and another as a sales assistant at UBA Group in 2013, she was hired by ouiCarry, a freight forwarding company, as a customer service agent. In 2014, she was promoted to director of sales and customer services. After leaving ouiCarry, she freelanced as a consultant and business manager for e-commerce companies before joining Yoonema.
Melchior Koba
The solution was launched by Jean-Fabrice Gnohi, the owner of a tourism company in France. Besides allowing users to rent cars, it also allows car owners to earn money by renting out their cars.
Monbolide is a digital solution developed by an Ivorian startup. It allows users to easily rent luxury cars.
Through its mobile applications -available for Android and iOS devices, users can create the accounts they need to access the cars available for rental. Besides the account, there is no requirement or step to take to be able to rent cars with Monbolide.
The solution lists cars for every budget. For instance, the 2016 Mercedes costs CFAF150,000 (about $244) daily, while a Range Rover Sport can be rented at CFAF250,000 per day, and a 2011 Peugeot at CFAF30,000 per day.
Users can also book the specific brands they need. In this case, they need to provide information like the location, and the rental start and end dates.
The solution also allows individuals to rent out their cars. They just need to follow the required process. Thanks to one of Monbolide’s partners, they can install a tracker in their cars to know their positions at any time. Currently, Monbolide only operates in Côte d'Ivoire but it plans to expand to other West African countries.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
Nigerian universities train thousands of talented young people every year. However, most of them lack the valuable experience and knowledge to engage in technology entrepreneurship after college.
Last Wednesday, The Nest Innovation Technology Park, a Nigeria-based community that fosters tech startup innovation, launched the “Netlings Playbook,” a program designed to give university students access to the resources they need to explore digital entrepreneurship.
By giving access to the resources, the pioneer program, launched in partnership with Campus Innovation Circles (CIC), wants to allow beneficiaries to gain valuable experience and knowledge without significant risks.
“We believe that student entrepreneurs have the potential to create groundbreaking solutions to everyday problems. With The Nestlings Playbook’s innovative program, we’re empowering them to unleash their full potential and make a real impact in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem,” said Joba Oloba (photo, right), one of the co-founders of The Nest Innovation Technology Park.
For Nest, the Nigerian student ecosystem has numerous talented individuals but, there is a need to provide those individuals with the tools and resources to transition into the digital economy as entrepreneurs and not as primarily working-class talent. The goal is to “contribute to Africa’s transition to a digital economy through youth engagement.”
According to Toyin Bamidele, the lead, and coordinator of the Nestlings Playbook, the program is “one of the biggest collaborations to support founders across university communities exploring digital entrepreneurship to create prosperity.” The flagship program will launch with university communities and a call for applications will open in March 2023.
Samira Njoya
In Africa, the development of mobile telephony has greatly impacted critical sectors, including healthcare. By leveraging its technologies, the GSMA and Africa CDC want to improve the lives of millions of people and improve disease control.
Last Wednesday, the GSM Association (GSMA) and the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) signed an agreement to harness the power of mobile to fight disease in Africa.
Under that agreement, the GSMA will work closely with Africa CDC on HealthConnekt Africa, a bold new initiative to connect all health facilities and personnel in Africa to the Internet by 2030.
“Bringing together expertise and resources will help establish a powerful new infrastructure, providing African healthcare workers access to the information they need in a timely fashion and the intelligence necessary to help prevent the spread of disease across international borders,” said Angela Wamola (photo, left), GSMA Head of Sub-Saharan Africa.
HealthConnekt Africa will begin with a small group of pioneering African Union member countries and communities. In the pioneering countries, health facilities will be connected to the Internet, and health workers equipped with smart devices that will allow them access to critical online resources to improve the quality of care provided to patients.
Over the past two decades, Africa has recorded phenomenal growth in mobile adoption. According to the World Bank and the African Development Bank, Africa had 650 million cell phone users in 2013, more than the users in the United States or Europe. At the same time, Swedish telecommunications group Ericsson indicates that Africa’s smartphone penetration will reach 70% by 2024.
Samira Njoya