TechTrends.Africa

23 Egyptian startups have completed the third cohort of the Startups Accelerator Program in Egypt, as announced by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) sweeps the globe, Rwanda will play host to a major technology firm that will perform AI research and develop AI solutions for Africa.

The stage is set for the largest gathering of fintech stakeholders from around Africa and the globe as the Africa Fintech Summit prepares for its 10th edition. The summit, renowned for fostering meaningful conversations, partnerships and other ecosystem-enabling engagements, is scheduled to take place from November 2-3, 2023, at Ciela Resort and Spa in Lusaka, Zambia.

eLearning Africa is a network of top experts, professionals, and investors dedicated to the future of education and training in Africa. It is the largest conference and exhibition on technology-supported learning, training, and skills development in Africa.

With cybercrime increasingly posing a significant risk to enterprises globally, cybersecurity experts in South Africa are forecasting more challenging times ahead as threat actors exploit emerging innovations to launch sophisticated cyber attacks.

The research for a national AI strategy is being conducted by top researchers, both Nigerians and foreigners, who have experience working in the Nigerian market, according to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy.

As the country’s general election nears its conclusion, the government of Gabon has announced that it will impose a curfew and shut down the internet, citing “calls for violence… and false information.”

The She Wins Africa program has been formally launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), marking a significant step toward supporting female entrepreneurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

AfriLabs, a pan-African network of innovation hubs and tech hubs that supports startups, business owners, and innovators all over the continent of Africa, has grown to include Eswatini as well as five additional African towns. Zanzibar, Ota, Matsapha, Musanze, and Baidoa are some of these cities.

Information and Digitalization Minister Moses Kunkuyu declared in Parliament that the government had modified the Connect a Constituency Project to the Connect a School Project with a goal of connecting the internet to 7962 public schools.

The African fashion industry pulsates with vibrancy and diversity, boasting a rich cultural heritage and an abundance of creative talent. From traditional textiles to contemporary designs, African fashion has earned widespread global recognition for its unique aesthetic and remarkable craftsmanship. Indeed, Africa has become a compelling new frontier for fashion, offering the industry a fresh perspective on style and boasting a burgeoning creative class that is propelling Africa’s wealth of talent and resources onto the world stage.

11 of the 25 businesses chosen for the first NextGen Accelerator by Harvard Innovation Labs and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are African. The NextGen Accelerator, a two-week founder boot camp, is open to early-stage student entrepreneurs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

BasiGo, a Kenyan electric bus maker, plans to enter the Rwandan market in the fourth quarter of this year. The startup has announced plans to deliver its first unit to Rwandan public transportation providers.

AfriLabs, an African hub network, has collaborated with the US Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships (E/GP) to address the climate issue and foster entrepreneurship in Africa.

The first-ever WWBA Assembly will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 13–14. Women Who Build Africa (WWBA), a community established to bring together and support women working in tech across Africa, has issued an open call for women founders, investors, and ecosystem partners to express interest in attending.

The Ethiopian government has finally restored internet restrictions on popular social media platforms after barring access for five months. The limits, which were first put in place on February 9, 2023, had an impact on services including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, and YouTube.

The establishment of Deloitte Africa’s Generative AI practice for the African market has been announced with pleasure. With the goal of accelerating commercial innovation, this new profession combines domain knowledge, competent AI developers, and strategic ecosystem and alliance ties.

Since the introduction of AI systems such as ChatGPT, Mid Journey, Dall-e, and Bard, a lot of individuals have become concerned about how AI would affect their businesses and occupations.

The second FAST Accelerator program has begun, according to Flapmax, an artificial intelligence (AI) company that seeks to improve everyone’s lives through innovation. The program is intended to support and finance the next wave of innovative businesses and entrepreneurs across the African continent.

The country’s first online university was founded with support from Kenya’s legislators, opening up a new path to academic education. The National Assembly anticipates an initial intake of 7,100 applicants after the institution’s charter has been approved.

The digitalization of pharmaceutical payments in Egypt will be fueled by a partnership between the Egyptian entrepreneurs Paymob and Chefaa.

Through a collaboration with the Ugandan government and the World Bank, internet connectivity will soon be available in refugee camps in Uganda.

BoxCommerce is now the leading B2B e-commerce platform in Kenya having reached 5,400 merchants to make it 16 times larger than main competitor Shopify in the East African country.

54 fellows from 22 countries have been chosen by the African venture capital talent network Dream VC to join the 2023 cohort of its renowned VC accelerator program, which aids present and aspiring investors in breaking into the African startup arena.

Tunisia-founded expense management software company Expensya is to be acquired by Swedish counterpart Medius for an undisclosed sum.

Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital have announced the first closing of their uMunthu II fund, which invests in early and growth-stage SMEs in Africa, with a particular emphasis on women-led firms. A diversified collection of international investors led the fund’s capital round.

Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has partnered with Token.io, A2A payments also known as ‘Pay By Bank’ – a fast and secure way to move Europe’s leading account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure provider, to power Pay By Bank transfer capabilities for Flutterwave’s platform.

The tech sector in East Africa is expanding at an unheard-of rate, and companies there are transforming a variety of industries.

Kenyan taxi service for women An Nisa has 10,000 customers in its native market and is considering an expansion into Saudi Arabia.

South African Rand (ZAR) deposits and withdrawals are now possible for users of Roqqu, a Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange platform, in that country thanks to regulatory permission.

An apprenticeship program has been launched in Rwanda by Andela, a global network for remote technical talent, with the goal of connecting international businesses with the enormous potential of rising Rwandese digital talent.

CloudClinic Limited (CCL), a digital healthcare service company, has launched its cloud-based healthcare solution called CloudClinic to facilitate virtual consultation between patients and licensed medical practitioners.

In order to give youth-led and e-commerce firms in Africa the tools, training, and resources they require to improve their financial skills, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Visa have partnered.

Policymakers, opinion leaders, and business experts will gather for the second Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence Africa Leaders’ Summit in Nairobi to discuss the impact of AI on Kenya and Africa as a whole. Thematic areas to be covered include ethical AI and AI investment.

UmojaHack Africa 2023, a 2-day event for data scientists that aims to solve Africa’s toughest challenges through machine learning, was hosted by Zindi, the network for data scientists, on March 18–19, 2023.

International powerhouse brands turn to inaugural GITEX Africa 2023 as launchpad to scale operations in the world’s next biggest digital economy. Marrakech, Morocco: Global tech pioneers and innovators are preparing to supercharge double-digit business growth across Africa, as they eagerly anticipate the debut of the continent’s largest and most inclusive tech and start-up event in Marrakech, Morocco.

Hyperspace Technologies (https://hyperspace.ng), a Lagos-based Web3 startup specializing in next-level smart security infrastructure and key management systems, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking product, the Keymaster VAULT (https://keymaster.ng).

Almentor, the top Arabic-language online video learning platform, has acquired $10 million in pre-Series C fundraising from investors to help it develop faster and reach its target of servicing 10 million learners in the MENA area.

A $4 million Series A fundraising round, led by AK Holding and included Al-Wazzan Educational Group, Rasameel Investment House, and other investors, has been secured by Baims, a prominent edtech firm in the MENA area.

Bellafricana has opened its tech-enabled community as a FREE platform to support creative entrepreneurs in the fashion, arts & craft, beauty, home & living, food produce & snacks industry, to gain visibility, increase sales, have the right business support and structure that gives them the capacity to grow their business.

Microsoft has unveiled a variety of fresh initiatives with the goal of boosting digital development, skill development, and infrastructure in the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa have all contributed $47 million to the AfricaGoGreen Fund (AGGF) (SEFA)

In order to grow across the continent, Umba, a digital bank for emerging countries that has only previously operated in Nigeria, has begun operations there.

The largest fiber optic cable in the world, 2Africa, has arrived in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban.

In spring 2023, the ThinkYoung Coding School, which operates coding schools for teenagers and young people in Kenya in collaboration with Boeing, plans to expand to Rwanda and Ethiopia with the goal of empowering teens and young people throughout Africa.

A Kenyan business called eWAKA that seeks to enhance sustainable mobility has received strategic investment from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Swiss Confederation.

The AYuTe Africa Challenge has identified three African agri-tech firms as winners.

Yebo Fresh, a South African e-commerce business that delivers fresh goods and food to townships, has secured a ZAR78 million (US$4.5 million) pre-Series A equity investment in addition to a Jobs Fund grant.

Nigeria’s central bank today carried out its plan to introduce the AfriGo national domestic card program. The program, which was first unveiled at a Bankers’ Committee news conference in October 2022, involves the central bank in the market’s triopoly of card payment programs for Nigeria.

Sama, the primary subcontractor for content moderation for Meta in Africa, declared earlier on Tuesday that its hub in Kenya will be the final destination for its content moderation division due to the need to consolidate operations.

As presale sales for Elon Musk’s Starlink, a satellite internet service, commence in Nigeria, the costs for its starter kits have been disclosed.

A $480,000 financing has been launched by Millesima Technologies, a Tunisian firm licensed under the StartupAct and focused on data technology, streaming media, and VOD.

Mahaseel Masr is a smart digital platform that offers a variety of digital tools to make online transactions more reliable and secure, while also ensuring farm traceability through geospatial farm profiling. Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC), the strategic investment arm of National Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based group with investments in leading sectors in the UAE and the MENA region, has provided the startup with an undisclosed amount of funding.

The majority of Solarise Africa’s operations are in Kenya, and the company has secured $3 million from EDFI ElectriFI to develop there.

105 blockchain developers from the first cohort of the Africa Blockchain Center’s Blockchain Programming training course have graduated, according to the Kenyan Web 3.0 firm, which serves as Africa’s center of excellence for blockchain development.

Targeting small and large enterprises worldwide, Senegalese startup Kwely has released the minimum viable product (MVP) version of its B2B web store for “Made in Africa” products.

MyHealth Africa, a Kenya-based healthtech startup, has raised $1 million in seed funding to expand its presence in Africa.

JuicyScore, a global leader in antifraud and risk management technologies for online businesses, recently expanded its global footprint to Nigeria, appointing Lawrence Osayemi as Regional Director of Sales and Business Development.

Owoafara, a Nigerian fintech startup that provides digital banking to help the world’s unbanked population gain access to financial products and services, has received funding from gender lens investment firm ShEquity.

Africa is undergoing a digital revolution at the rate at which various countries keep harnessing emerging technology. More people now have better internet access, making it easier for the younger generation to become tech-savvy.

Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2023 will bring together tech pioneers from the African ecosystem and global players under one roof on February 15–16, 2023, following a sold-out Summit in 2022.

In order to promote cross-border trading of securities throughout the continent, seven African stock exchanges on Wednesday started an integration experiment in the Ivory Coast. Nigeria, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and West Africa’s stock markets are all a part of the effort, which is known as the African Exchanges Linkage project. Later on, Botswana and Ghana will also join.

An initial $200 million has been pledged to the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), a fund of funds that works through African investment vehicles to promote early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs on the continent.

A $2 million seed funding round headed by Stillmark and Jack Dorsey co-founded payments company Block has been secured by Gridless, a bitcoin mining business that helps develop new energy sources in remote East African areas, the company said on Tuesday.

Women-led small to medium enterprises (WSMEs), as well as community enablers and entrepreneurship support programs in Africa, are encouraged to apply for the Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in Africa (EWEA) program’s mentorship and skill-building workshop series.

The social commerce startup Kapu from Kenya has announced the raising of $8 million in early money. As food costs rise nationwide, the firm, which has emerged from stealth, wants to make it easier for Kenyan consumers to shop for food.

Google held graduation ceremonies in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to honor the 5,000 entrepreneurs who completed its Hustle Academy training program.

Solarise Africa, a pan-African Energy-as-a-Service provider, has received a $33.4 million facility from Lion’s Head managed fund, the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), to help the company solidify its position in Kenya’s solar market and expand across Africa.

Founders from Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt have been named Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition winners, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation to highlight and support African entrepreneurs.

Goodwell Investments, a social impact investment company, has established its EUR150 million (US$154 million) uMunthu II fund with the goal of fostering the expansion of inclusive enterprises in the area.

Making US$20k Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) with 1 full-time employee and two part-time co-founders: CEO working from overseas!

The Kenyan fintech firm Finplus Group has claimed that after five years of operation, its platform has processed transactions worth over US$1 billion.

DeveloPPP Ventures, a startup program sponsored by the German government, has announced a grant of €100,000 for startups in Kenya and Tanzania to help them grow their impact-driven businesses.

In order to launch the commercial delivery of locally produced electric buses and charging infrastructure, the Kenyan firm BasiGo has acquired US$6.6 million in new seed funding.

Following yesterday’s declaration by President William Ruto that the government is working on a plan to produce mobile phones that will cost less than Ksh. 5,000 in the next year, Kenya will begin manufacturing affordable smartphones.

To hasten the adoption of SD-WAN in Africa, CMC Networks has introduced IP Premier, a high-performance dedicated internet access (DIA) service. Along with the usual availability, IP Premier also offers tight service level agreements (SLAs) for jitter, packet loss, and round-trip delay (RTD). In some of the world’s most difficult markets, it offers a reliable platform for deploying SD-WAN services and delivering optimized user experiences.

The opening of our first AWS office in Nigeria excites us. Lagos is home to numerous rapidly expanding companies and has a talent pool of highly competent and creative individuals, according to Amrote Abdella, regional manager of Sub-Saharan Africa for AWS.

The charity arm of cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider Binance, Binance Charity, has teamed with Utiva, an organization that provides technical education for young people in Africa.

Nigeria launching the Startup Bill is the latest buzz that has brought excitement to many including startup founders, employees and graduates. On October 19, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria officially signed the Startup Bill into law, creating the Startup Act 2022.

Six African fintech businesses have been chosen as finalists in this year’s Ecobank Fintech Challenge in order to compete for the top prize of US$50,000 and admission into the Ecobank Fintech Challenge Fellowship program.

As the firm grows its “Quick-commerce” branch, Glovo, one of the top players in global multi-category delivery, has opened its third micro fulfillment center in Nairobi, Kenya.

A pan-African digital marketplace for business-to-business trade has been launched by Dooka in collaboration with Tradeshift, the worldwide network for digital trade.

Ampersand, an e-mobility provider of sustainable transportation solutions in East Africa, and Bboxx, a platform that facilitates access to vital goods and services, collaborate to expand Ampersand’s e-mobility program in Rwanda.

A policy brief by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) highlights how the use of digital currencies soared through the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. The impact was felt more intensely in developing economies, where consumers turned to cryptos as financial assets and enjoyed higher financial inclusion, despite their status as primarily unregulated.

IoT device maker CardoO, based in Egypt, has raised a $660,000 seed round of funding, which was led by The Alexandria Angels and included angel investors from Saudi Arabia, Sofico Investments, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

A list of 10 promising Nigerian startups that are overcoming the current obstacles and garnering attention in 2022 has been released by the world’s largest professional networking site, LinkedIn.

Victoria, Seychelles — Global cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is celebrating its fifth anniversary and announcing commemorative events while outlining its strategy for the coming years.

SweepSouth, a South African platform for on-demand home cleaning and services, has raised US$11 million in finance, lead by the private equity fund Alitheia IDF, with the goal of growing its current business and entering new markets.

To support its next phase of expansion and product innovation, FairMoney, a credit-driven mobile banking network for developing nations in Africa and Asia, has teamed with Oradian, a cloud-based core banking system.

Four new startups have been selected for the latest cohort of The Baobab Network (TBN), a Nairobi-based accelerator that funds and supports the growth of early-stage internet companies throughout Africa.

GIG Logistics (GIGL), Africa’s leading tech-driven delivery company, has expanded its services to China. This brings the total number of countries in which it is currently active to four. GIGL has already established branches in Ghana, the United States, and the United Kingdom, in addition to Nigeria.

Binance, a leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has launched a crypto education tour in five French-speaking African countries as part of its mission to drive blockchain adoption and increase financial accessibility in the region.

With the debut of the nation’s first plugin made to aid in the battle against climate change, South African startup Curbon will enable carbon-neutral online purchasing with the aim of reducing carbon emissions.

The Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA), the capacity-building arm of Smart Africa, continues to grow its presence in Africa, with Côte d’Ivoire being the newest nation to gain from the program for developing digital skills.

PowerDFI, a Blockchain financial startup based in Wyoming, has acquired Naijacrypto, a Nigerian-owned cryptocurrency platform that initially targeted African markets.

Auto24 is a direct-to-consumer used automobile firm that introduces new, creative technologies to ensure transactions are carried out in a transparent and secure manner. Auto24 is an African used vehicle startup, Africar Group, and Stellantis announce the opening of Auto24 activities in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Africa has the world’s third fastest-growing cryptocurrency market, with adoption increasing by more than 1,200% in the last two years. Countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa are largely to blame for skyrocketing adoption rates as citizens seek to protect themselves from currency depreciation and build wealth.

Mungenow Technologies, a startup based out of Buea (popularly referred to as Silicon Mountain), Cameroon has launched a guest house booking platform aimed at helping travelers to and across Cameroon’s major cities and eventually the rest of Africa to find verified and affordable places to stay during their trip no matter what their budget is.

On Wednesday, Binance, one of the top blockchain ecosystems in the world and a prominent provider of cryptocurrency infrastructure, announced the opening of a crypto teaching center in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

In Africa’s health system, the dominant narrative is a “weak healthcare system”, and it has always been questioned whether the continent can rise from this.

Today, the $5 million financing round for the city’s fintech stock exchange, the Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE), was closed. The business also disclosed that Mark Fitzjohn, Bruce Ndidi, and Stephan Van Der Walt (all from Empowerment Capital) have joined the board (Pallidus Alternative Investments).

The second iteration of the Future of Work Africa accelerator program has been launched by Moody’s Corporation and Village Capital, and 45 startups that are developing for-profit, market-based solutions for employment and education that can better prepare young people in sub-Saharan Africa have been chosen.

In order to expand operations and enter new markets, Kenya’s Elloe, a conversational e-commerce business, purchased rival Flo by Saada for an unknown fee. Owen Sakawa founded Elloe, a revolutionary conversational commerce platform driven by AI that enables SMEs to conduct online transactions on any messaging network.

The African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), a partnership between Standard Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, has been awarded funding by Visa as of today (UNECA).

Zeepay, a Ghanaian mobile financial services firm that specializes in offering integrated mobile payment services, has raised $10 million, with Symbiotics BV leading the way with USD 9 million and a Mauritius-based fund investing USD 1 million, for a total of USD 10 million.

The Digital African Women (TAW) program has officially launched with the aim of assisting and accelerating female-owned African tech firms as they transition from the concept stage to actual operations.

In June 2022, Mdundo.com, a music streaming business with a Kenyan base, reported 20.3 million monthly active users, exceeding the revised monthly target of 19 to 20 million subscribers and increasing by 74% from June 2021.

Homzmart, an online marketplace for furniture and home goods located in Egypt, has raised a $23 million pre-Series B investment, increasing its total capital to roughly $40 million

A US$2.5 million seed round has been raised by the Cape Town-based Skrmiish, a mobile “play-to-earn” software that allows players of all skill levels to earn money in every match they play across the AAA+ games they like.

The future of African banking is digital. A 2021 Fiserv report showed that “78% of people under the age of 40 would stay with their bank if it went all digital, compared to only 47% of people over 40”.

Outsource Monetic Group, an American and Senegalese fintech based in Atlanta, GA, announced this week the completion of a pre-seed funding round with 500 Global, a San Francisco-based startup accelerator.