Recruiting digital and IT talents can be a significant challenge for companies. To alleviate this burden, Mustapha Moutout is pioneering a tailored recruitment approach in Morocco.
Mustapha Moutout (photo) is the founder and managing director of Novancy One, a recruitment agency specializing in digital and IT professions. After completing his classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPEG) in 2003, he enrolled at the High National School for Computer Science and Systems Analysis (ENSIAS), where he obtained a Master's degree in IT in 2006.
The Moroccan-born entrepreneur founded Novancy One in 2012. His recruitment company specializes in sourcing, assessment, coaching, and training services. Based in Morocco, it has regional offices in France, Côte d'Ivoire, the USA, the UK, Bulgaria and Tunisia. It positions itself as a strategic partner for companies seeking to strengthen their teams with qualified, motivated talent. It also organizes tailor-made events such as Africa IT Days, a virtual recruitment and experience-sharing forum, to strengthen team bonds and attract top talent. Today, the company has over 100 satisfied customers and places over 300 candidates each year.
Mustapha Moutout's professional career began in 2006, as a consulting analyst for Inetum, a digital services and solutions company, and an international group that helps companies and institutions capitalize on digital opportunities. He then joined Société Générale, where he spent two years as a project manager in analysis and organization.
In 2008, he spent three months working for Ribatis, a Casablanca-based digital operator, as a senior consultant before joining Deloitte Consulting in August of the same year. There, he worked as a consultant in the financial services sector. In 2011, he became Strategic Project Manager at Arsen Consulting, a consulting firm where he worked until the creation of Novancy One.
Melchior Koba
Over the past few years, the world has undergone major technological changes. Africa is among the latest to embrace this revolution. It is also one of the most dynamic currently, thanks notably to contributions from actors like Malawi’s Mzuzu E-Hub.
Mzuzu E-Hub is an entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation hub that provides business development support services to firms and emerging entrepreneurs in Malawi. Founded in 2017 by business development professional Wangiwe Kambuzi, it aims to help entrepreneurs acquire the knowledge and skills they need to create and grow their businesses.
The center offers business incubation programs that provide personalized coaching, access to funding, training, and mentoring to selected entrepreneurs, as well as technology integration programs that facilitate access and use of digital technologies for entrepreneurs.
Mzuzu E-Hub also offers a flagship incubation program called Bizcubation. It is a six-month program that helps its portfolio companies establish a sound business model and market strategy enabling them to commercialize their idea and measure social impact. It gives entrepreneurs access to investors and helps them build up an important network of contacts. The program has already graduated 345 emerging entrepreneurs across eight cohorts, with 46.5% female participation since its inception.
Through its Media and Information Literacy Education (MILE) program, the center offers Malawians access to digital skills training, including computer programming, digital marketing, photography and videography, graphic design, and IT. The program has enabled 1,400 community members to learn about existing digital technologies and internet safety.
Mzuzu E-Hub also organizes networking events that connect entrepreneurs with peers, experts, investors, and potential partners. It also provides coworking and meeting spaces that offer a conducive environment for collaborative work and innovation.
The innovation hub has an undeniable impact in Malawi. With the support of partners like the World Bank, Digital Malawi, Make-IT in Africa, Lenovo Digital Opportunity Trust, and AfriLabs, among others, it has trained 572 young people in digital professions and supported 345 entrepreneurs. In 2019, it was awarded the SII Malawi Community Builder Award. Two years later, in 2021, it won the Afrilabs Capacity Building Award-Business Development award.
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With his company Excel@Uni, he helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get university degrees to succeed in life. The company has earned him several awards.
Lungelo Linda Gumede (photo) is the co-founder and CEO of Excel@Uni, a company that uses technology to help scholarship students from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed in their studies and prepare for the world of work.
Born in South Africa, he studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting in 2012. He is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Business, where he earned a master's degree in finance in 2015.
While still studying, Lungelo began working at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business as a corporate finance tutor. He soon became a lecturer, teaching corporate finance to students in the MBA program and financial risk management to students in the MCom program.
His most significant impact lies in his role as co-founder and CEO of Excel@Uni. The company was founded, in 2013, by Lungelo Linda Gumede, Ludwick Marishane, and Lesedi Makena. In partnership with several universities, it offers support and development programs for students. It also offers students mentoring, tutoring, scholarship management, skills development, and job preparation services. It is one of the 25 African startups selected for the 2023 cohort of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund program.
In addition to his duties at Excel@Uni, Lungelo Linda Gumede is also a mentor at Akro Accelerate, which provides venture funding and advisory services for entrepreneurs. In 2013, he worked as a business research consultant for South Africa's state-owned Technology Innovation Agency.
With Excel@Uni, he received a lot of recognition. In 2017, the company was selected as a finalist in the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Awards. In 2018, it won second place in the inaugural IBM South Africa Startup Accelerator pitch competition.
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Through its commitment to technology education, skills development, and entrepreneurship, Mt Kenya Hub promotes inclusive economic growth in Kenya and across Africa.
Founded in 2015 by Savio Wambugu, a software developer, Mt Kenya Hub is a key player in Kenya's technology ecosystem. Located in the heart of the country, this innovation and incubation hub is dedicated to training, skills development, and mentoring for young entrepreneurs. It is a meeting place for all those interested in innovation.
Mt Kenya Hub offers a physical platform to support entrepreneurs and startups. Its events, training, and entrepreneurship programs transform ideas into job-creating businesses and add value to the African economy in general, and Kenya in particular. One of its flagship programs is Mt Kenya Innovation Week Acceleration, an intensive six-month program designed to help entrepreneurs and innovators grow their businesses and take them to the next level.
An example of its notable initiatives is Mt Kenya Innovation and Investment Week, an annual event that aims to bring together inventors, entrepreneurs, and innovators for a week of discussions, panels, conferences, exhibitions, and hackathons. The event gives young people, startups and women access to fundamental knowledge, digital tools, and platforms to enable them to become better innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders.
In addition to its incubation and acceleration activities, Mt Kenya Hub offers an innovative and user-friendly coworking space to provide an environment conducive to meeting, networking, and collaboration. It provides services ranging from small-scale investigative research to large-scale data collection and analysis. It also offers consulting services in several fields.
The center also organizes competitions to reward the best entrepreneurs and encourage innovation. In 2022, its Mt Kenya Innovation Week Awards challenge awarded $3,000 to three of the best innovators. It was then in its second edition.
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Aklilu Tadesse is an innovative and ambitious entrepreneur contributing to the development of the logistics sector in Ethiopia. His company Garri Logistics is supported by Google through various programs.
Aklilu Tadesse (photo) is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Garri Logistics, an Ethiopian startup that facilitates domestic freight and digitalizes supply chain processes. He graduated from the University of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, with a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering.
In 2020, he launched Garri Logistics, together with Daniel Temesgen and Michael Andersland. The idea is to enable shippers and importers to easily and reliably move their goods anywhere in the country, using approved carriers. With that in mind, Garri Logistics takes care of all aspects of the supply chain, from requesting quotes to delivering paperwork, including real-time transport tracking. The logistics company is also beneficial to professional drivers, who can earn more money per trip, have a safer and more flexible work experience, and develop better relationships with shippers. It strives to find multiple, round-trip routes to minimize empty miles and maximize user revenue.
In 2022, Garri Logistics was selected as one of the 60 startups in the second cohort of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund for Africa program. More recently, on October 5, 2023, the company was selected to participate in the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First program.
Prior to Garri Logistics, Aklilu Tadesse was a Business Systems Analyst at Construction Solutions. In 2006, he became a Quality Engineer at Flintstone Engineering, an Ethiopian construction company. As a senior consultant with GIZ Ethiopia, he has helped over 100 construction companies achieve ISO 9001 QMS certification, and trained over 2,500 people in leadership, project, operations, and quality management as well as process analysis and optimization.
Melchior Koba
According to the UN, climate change is one of the major challenges of our times. More so in Africa, which is bearing the highest cost despite accounting for the lowest carbon emissions. In Ghana, a tech entrepreneur wants to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions, therefore helping combat climate change. Through Solar Taxi, he ensures a clean and sustainable environment with taxis that use renewable energy.
Ghanaian tech entrepreneur George Kwadwo Appiah (photo) is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Solar Taxi, a local transport services company offering solar-powered vehicles.
He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in 2016, earning a master's degree in renewable energy technology. The same year, he earned a master’s in business administration from the Edinburgh Business School.
His company was founded in 2018. It provides locally assembled electric motorcycles, tricycles, and cars, as well as access to solar charging stations. Doing so, it aims to reduce air pollution caused by gasoline-powered vehicles, offer Ghanaians an affordable transport alternative, and create jobs for young people.
It also has a training academy where Ghanaians are taught how to drive and maintain electric vehicles. On September 21, 2023, it was announced among the selectees for the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change.
Currently, its CEO, George Kwadwo Appiah, is a research assistant at KNUST's The Energy Center. In 2014, he founded Ghana Hubs Network, a network of Ghanaian innovation centers. He is also the CEO of QuadSolar, a solar system installation company, and Executive Director of Ghana Tech Lab, an ecosystem that serves as a digital innovation space aimed at accelerating digital skills and digital entrepreneurship in Ghana.
In 2015, he co-founded Kumasi Hive, a coworking, training, and incubation space that aims to promote social and technological entrepreneurship in Ghana. Kumasi Hive offers young innovators access to equipment, mentors, training, and funding opportunities to develop their ideas and solutions. Solar Taxi was founded through Kumasi Hive.
George Kwadwo Appiah received the Academic/Research Excellence Award (student category) in 2014. His company, Solar Taxi, has also attracted international attention. It was featured by The Org network as one of three African electromobility startups to watch in 2023.
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Far from being just a workspace, Com'Work is a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to change the Comoros. It offers personalized support tailored to each beneficiary startup’s development stage.
Comoros Coworking (Com'Work) is a modern, creative coworking space and incubator located in downtown Moroni. It was created in 2018 by young entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs.
The incubator offers a variety of services to professionals, associations, and creative agencies wishing to work in a stimulating and collaborative environment. It has 4 individual offices, a coworking open space with 10 workstations, a meeting room, a relaxation room, and two furnished studios.
It regularly organizes training courses, expert meetings, and meet-ups to encourage exchange, networking, and capacity-building among entrepreneurs. It also assists project leaders in their search for financing.
The center offers both pre-incubation and incubation programs. Its pre-incubation program supports entrepreneurs in the process of moving from idea to action. It can be delivered face-to-face over three months or online over six months. The program consists of educational content, thematic workshops, and daily individual coaching.
The incubation program, meanwhile, enables entrepreneurs to explore the market to validate their business model, test the market to acquire the first customers, establish and commit to a financing strategy, and build the start-up team in line with the target market. Program beneficiaries have privileged access to financing and tailor-made training.
In addition to these two programs, Com'Work also offers an à la carte support program to help entrepreneurs develop their projects at their own pace and according to their needs. At the end of the programs, the incubator offers business consulting services in several areas of expertise.
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Ms. Amira Cheniour pushes the boundaries of innovation to heal the planet and improve the lives of farmers. With Seabex, she demonstrates that agriculture can be a promising sector for Tunisia and Africa.
She got the Seabex idea during a trip to southern Tunisia, where she met a farmer who lost a large part of his date crop to drought. She then decided to put her skills at the service of agriculture, a vital sector for her country, but one facing many challenges.
The company has developed a remote AI-based irrigation monitoring and control system that uses sensors installed on the farms to determine the water and fertilizer needs, enabling farmers to act efficiently.
Seabex also offers a Software as a Service service to farmers, who can access data and recommendations on their smartphones or computers.
Since its creation, Seabex has enjoyed remarkable success, both nationally and internationally. The startup has won several prestigious awards, such as the Orange Prize for Social Entrepreneurship in Africa and the Middle East in 2017, and the Innovation Trophy at the Agreen Startup 2023 competition in the category of startups that collaborate with chambers of agriculture. It was also selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change program for the Middle East and Africa.
Amira Cheniour began her professional career in 2011 at Orange Tunisia, where she completed an end-of-study internship. She then worked for software publisher I.T.Grapes between 2011 and 2020. She launched Seabex, in 2015, with Taher Mestiri, the founder of I.T.Grapes.
Internationally, she is celebrated for her exceptional career and leadership. She was voted Star-Female Entrepreneur at the 2017 G20 in Berlin and received the Ye Star-Female Entrepreneur award at the Global Inclusion Awards program held in 2017 in Berlin, Germany.
In 2018, she was the winner of the Women in Africa and Social Entrepreneur of the Year in MENA issued by Orange Tunisia. She was selected among 6 winners at the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019 final in Paris. She was also on the 2020 edition of the Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Tunisia published by The Next Women Tunisia network.
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He aims to improve access to healthcare services in Africa. With Zinacare, he offers over 20 different tests, ranging from sexually transmitted infections to chronic diseases and even Covid-19.
Philip Mngadi (photo) is a South African serial entrepreneur with a decade of experience building products in Africa and Europe. He is the founder and CEO of Zinacare, a company revolutionizing access to essential health testing services in Africa.
His academic career began at University College Cork, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2017. After his studies, he worked for Stripe in Ireland as a payments specialist before embarking on entrepreneurship.
In 2020, he launched Zinacare, allowing access to more than 20 different tests, which range from sexually transmitted infections to chronic diseases and COVID-19. He enables users to order test kits from the Zinacare platform and get them delivered to their homes or offices. Users can also send their samples to Zinacare's partner laboratory, which sends back the results online confidentially and securely. Zinacare also offers medical consultation, prescription, and post-test follow-up services.
Under the leadership of Philip Mngadi, Zinacare has received accreditation from the Health Professions Council of South Africa, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, the South African National Accreditation System, and the International Organization for Standardization. In addition, the company succeeded in attracting over 20,000 customers in 2022 and is on track to double the figure in 2023.
In June 2023, the startup was selected by Google to be part of the annual Black Founders Fund cohort in Africa. It has also joined StartUp Health's global community of healthcare founders and investors.
In addition to Zinacare, Philip Mngadi also founded Pago, a low-cost mobile micropayments platform for the informal sector to enable an inclusive economy by digitizing remittances through the use of blockchain technology. The company was incubated by the AlphaCode Incubate initiative in 2018.
In 2019, the serial entrepreneur also founded Tuma, a fintech that enables users to transfer funds from any instant money wallet such as eWallet, CashSend, and Send-iMali, to any bank account in South Africa.
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Thanks to its innovative programs and ongoing support for women entrepreneurs, Ndoto plays a crucial role in promoting the economic empowerment of women on the continent.
Ndoto Hub is an innovation space dedicated to women who want to create and develop social and economic enterprises in Africa. Founded in 2017, it offers women access to shared workspace, information, mentoring, networks, and markets tailored to their personal and professional growth. The hub is supported by a digital learning platform and member-led community groups.
Its activities and programs aim to empower women entrepreneurs under the age of 35 in various areas, such as personal development, business development, leadership, financial management, digital, problem-solving, and more. Ndoto Hub also offers financing opportunities, partnerships, and introductions to investors, potential customers, and opinion leaders.
Its Ndoto Digital incubator enables women to learn, start, and develop a business. It also provides them with the experts and practical tools they need to learn.
Present in Dar es Salaam and Arusha, Ndolo wants to propel the next generation of innovative and successful women entrepreneurs. It is supported by a market-driven curriculum designed to meet the needs of young women entrepreneurs.
Ndoto Hub is therefore a key player in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. A member of the AfriLabs network, it is supported in its efforts by Digital Opportunity Trust Tanzania and the Government of Canada, as well as other national and international institutions.
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He is an entrepreneur in the field of renewable energy. As a team lead at energy startup NeedEnergy, he brings clean energy solutions to the world's most remote regions.
Leroy T. Nyangani (photo) is the team lead and one of the co-founders of NeedEnergy, a Zimbabwean startup that uses artificial intelligence to optimize renewable energy microgrids in sub-Saharan Africa and remote parts of the world.
A chemical engineer by training, he graduated from the Zimbabwe National University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor's degree in 2019. He co-founded NeedEnergy in 2016 with the ambition of deploying renewable and clean energy assets to over 200 million people by 2030.
NeedEnergy provides smart data to renewable energy microgrid operators, by analyzing meteorological data. It aims to extend access to clean energy in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in remote areas of the world.
Via its platform memeza.ai, NeedEnergy collects data from various IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as smart gas meters and home energy monitors to analyze the energy needs of the distribution network. This data is used to form models, helping to identify opportunities for the deployment of renewable energy generation assets. Once deployed, these assets are monitored and managed via the platform to guarantee their power and performance.
On September 21, 2023, the company was selected as part of the inaugural cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change program for startups in the Middle East and Africa.
Prior to NeedEnergy, Leroy T. Nyangani founded Mornay Foods, which offers an on-demand food ordering service and a restaurant that mainly targets university campuses and office parks. His professional career began in 2015 at Bakers Inn Zimbabwe, a bakery, where he was a production and packaging specialist.
He has been recognized as an innovative entrepreneur committed to the energy transition. He was selected as a Unreasonable Fellow by Unreasonable Group, an organization that supports entrepreneurs who solve the world's greatest challenges. Since March 2023, he is a Techstars Entrepreneur following the selection of NeedEnergy as part of the 2023 Class of the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator.
Melchior Koba
In addition to quality services, companies usually need good customer interaction to acquire new clients and retain existing ones. This realization prompted tech entrepreneur Japheth Dibo to develop customer support solutions for SMEs.
Japheth Dibo (photo), CEO of Dial Afrika, is a Kenyan entrepreneur with a passion for information technology. He founded Dial Afrika, in 2021, with his partner Benard Gavana to provide a unified communications solution that enables African SMEs to stay in touch with clients and get insights into customer behaviors.
Through his company, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) graduate offers SMEs the possibility of receiving and responding to client comments, calls, and opinions right from a single platform that integrates various channels.
"It does not matter which platform a customer gives their feedback or query from. Once the company responds through the software, from the other end, the customer may think they are receiving the feedback from the platform they used to send their queries,” the tech entrepreneur explained in 2022.
Dial Afrika also uses artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data on customers to help companies make more informed decisions.
The company, endorsed by over 150 customers in five countries, aims to help SMEs build customer loyalty, increase sales and optimize customer service. On October 5, 2023, it was selected, along with 10 other start-ups, to participate in the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa: AI First program.
Before embarking on that exciting journey, Japheth Dibo worked for GoldBet, a Kenyan sports betting company between 2016 and 2017. There, he successively held the positions of customer technical support representative and IT team leader. He then joined the property management company Carnation Properties Ltd., where he worked as a system administrator until 2018.
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He automates SMBs’ customer interactions using AI-enabled chatbots. His innovations in science and technology have earned him several awards.
Ghanaian Ronald Tagoe is the founder and CEO of Chatbots Africa, a Kenya-based startup that helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) automate customer interactions and sales channels using social chatbots.
His remarkable academic career started at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where he graduated, in 2013, with a Bachelor’s in computer science. In 2021, he obtained a Master's in Management Information Systems from the University of Leicester.
Barely a year before that Master’s he had already founded Chatbots Africa to enable African SMEs to boost their revenues and improve customer engagements using artificial intelligence and chatbots. Through that company, he provides SMEs with AI-enabled conversational bots, which interact with clients on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
"Our solution enables clients to hold real-time conversations with customers, build brand credibility, and boost engagement in a way that drives sales and enhances business efficiency," Ronald Tagoe told news outlet TechCabal in 2021.
Nowadays, Chatbots Africa’s products are used in more than five countries with over one million active users monthly. On October 5, 2023, it was selected as one of 11 African startups to join the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First program.
Before launching Chatbots Africa, Ronald had co-founded (in 2012) mNotify, a telecom company that offers voice and SMS services to organizations. Between 2013 and 2014, he worked, as hub manager, for technology innovation center Tech Hub. He also served as GTBank's Head of Enterprise Solutions between 2014 and 2017.
Ronald Tagoe has been recognized for his dedication and commitment to science and technology. Notably, he won the Transformed Africa Youth Innovation Award in 2014. He was an Afric'Up 2019 finalist, won the Tech Cabal Future of Commerce Partnership Pitch in 2021, and was named Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 by the Ghana Startup Network. He was named the best science and technology personality of the year at the inaugural Forty Under 40 Africa Awards in 2022.
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The center offers cutting-edge entrepreneurship and digital skills training programs to develop a talent pool capable of taking advantage of the global digital economy.
Adei Technology Hub is a development and innovation center located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. It was founded in 2017 by Odomitchi Anikpo, its executive director and a former Google and Salesforce employee.
The innovation center offers technical and entrepreneurial training, as well as startup coaching programs. It has a coworking space, an events room, and private offices with access to international expertise and cutting-edge technologies.
Its stated mission is to train, support, and connect key players in the regional and international tech ecosystem, therefore promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa and showcasing local talent, ideas, and solutions.
To entrepreneurs, Adei Technology Hub offers Adei Elevate - Launch Boost Grow, a program that reinforces the fundamentals of entrepreneurship through e-learning, peer-to-peer interaction, and mentoring. Supported by FINCA Ventures, Creative Valley, Seedstars, and Impact Hub, the program offers a series of workshops tailored to each entrepreneur’s stage of development.
The hub also has the Adei Elevate & Fellowship program to support revenue-generating startups aiming for investment within two years. To professionals, Adei Technology Hub offers the Tech Talent Accelerator Program, a six-month theoretical and practical training program that equips them with the skills they need to excel in the technology sector.
Adei Technology Hub also organizes events such as Meet & Greet, which brings together students from its programs, members of the Adei Fondation Côte d'Ivoire, and other guests. All these offers contribute to the development of the technology sector in Africa.
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