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From Tragedy to Tech Triumph: Mubarak Muyika

16 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Leaders

Mubarak Muyika

The remarkable story of Mubarak Muyika and his burgeoning tech empire.

The tech scene is exploding across Africa as ambitious young entrepreneurs are changing the face of the continent. Kenyans have been at the vanguard of the action in recent years. One individual currently making big waves is Mubarak Muyika, a dynamic 22 year old with a colorful past.

Muyika was born in Western Province, Kenya. His father was a prominent civil servant and his mother was a high school teacher. Unfortunately, his young life was marked by tragedy: his father passed away when he was two years old. Then, when he was ten, his mother died and the young orphan was taken in by his mother’s sister and her husband.

Great Beginnings

It has long been observed that tragedy seemingly makes, or breaks an individual. In Muyika’s case, it was most certainly the former. He was known as a sharp and gifted student and it was in the early days of high school that his tech-entrepreneurial promise first blossomed.

Aged 16, Muyika developed the “enhanced petrol tracker.” The tracking database was designed to mitigate government mismanagement of oil resources by more efficiently cataloguing oil tanker movements, oil flow and demand. The project was incredibly well received. He was recognized as the best student in the computer exhibit category at the annual Kenya Students Congress on Science and Technology.

His adoptive parents were the owners of a book publishing and distribution company, Acrodile Publishers. Mubarak realized that the web presence provided by their current website manager was substandard and expensive, bottlenecking the company’s productivity. He taught himself PhP, Java and HTML and built a highly functional website for the business.

Business Blossoms

On the back of his newly earned skills, Mubarak launched his first business, Hype Century Technologies and Investments LTD. The company offered website designation, management, domain reselling and hosting services. He enlisted the help of two friends and the business quickly began to take off.

In a 2012 interview, Mubarak spoke about Hype Century’s remarkable success in the startup period: “By May after our first financial year we had about 1,800 domains which represented clients in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and some in the RC (Republic of the Congo). That was something that I can say is the biggest achievement, in terms of where the company is today.”

It was during this early period that Kenyan multi-millionaire Chris Kirudi realized Mubarak’s great potential. Through his contacts he recommended Mubarak for a scholarship to one of the world’s most prestigious universities, Harvard. Incredibly, Mubarak turned down the scholarship in order to focus on his business ventures, demonstrating extreme belief in his own talents and entrepreneurial ability. He is a man who knows his own mind. He gave insight into his tenacious business philosophy, saying, “If you are in a society with intelligent people who have a plan and a strategy, you need a plan, a strategy, speed and aggression. That is the only way to succeed in Africa.”

Soon, Mubarak’s business attracted heavyweight attention. International tech investor Jignesh Patel teamed up with the rising star, buying a 25% stake in the company. This proved to be a shrewd move, as Patel’s connections and experience propelled the firm to even higher heights.

A Bright Future

Zagace platform

Zagace platform

However, Mubarak soon felt the itch to challenge himself further; he clarified his decision to move on from Hype Century saying, “I had the feeling that I was not maximizing my potential. I opted to sell my shares and develop a new venture.”

In 2013, he settled a deal netting himself a cool six figure settlement for his 60% stake. Astonishingly, Mubarak was still only 19 years old.

His newest venture, ZAGACE is both ambitious and innovative. His firm offers a unique service providing a completely integrated, online business management toolkit for small and medium sized companies. ZAGACE allows users to manage human resources, inventory, accounting and communications all through a series of well designed, instanced apps. The concept has been lauded as ingenious and effective.

Eager to feed his business with the best talent available, Mubarak has recently moved his operations to Silicon Valley, USA. The young Kenyan means serious business, and the world has noticed. In 2015, he was named one of Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs in Forbes 30 under 30, while Yahoo named him one of nine “Mark Zuckerbergs” of other countries. With his talent, resilience and determination, Mubarak Muyika is setting the tech scene ablaze. We will no doubt be hearing more about him, very soon.

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Beninese doctor honored for “green” anti-malaria drug

15 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Leaders

Valentin Agon

Valentin Agon wins $100,000 innovation prize for an effective and inexpensive treatment made from a plant extract.

A Beninese doctor has won a top innovation prize of $100,000 for an anti-malaria drug he developed from a natural plant extract.

Valentin Agon received the Innovation Prize of Africa in June for his creation of the drug, Api-Palu, which is already being marketed in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Central African Republic.

The drug is significantly less expensive to produce than other anti-malarial drugs and is more effective.

“Api-Palu is a remarkable product that (has) affordability, a good safety profile, and a fast rate of malaria parasite clearance from the blood following short-term treatment at relatively lower doses,’’ innovation prize officials said.

Nearly 1,000 contestants

Agon won first place in the competition among 10 finalists chosen from nearly 1,000 applicants.

Imogen Wright of South Africa took 2nd place for Exatype, software that helps health care workers determine whether HIV patients are responding to drug treatments. Eddy Agbo of Nigeria received the Special Prize for Social Impact for Urine Test for Malaria, a medical device that can diagnose malaria in less than a half hour. Wright and Agbo each received $25,000.

Innovation Prize for Africa 2016

Innovation Prize for Africa 2016

The awards program, a project of the Africa Innovation Fund, rewards healthcare solutions that address Africa’s malaria and HIV/AIDS problems.

Jean Claude Bastos de Morais, founder of the innovation competition, said the project had amassed a database of more than 6,000 innovators and made cash investments of $1 million since it began five years ago.

He said the award to Agon for his anti-malaria drug was particularly gratifying.

“A product for malaria coming from Africa for Africans, this is my dream. My dream comes true. Finding a solution based on a natural product is what I have dreamed about,” de Morais said.

Green medicine researchers

Educated in Canada and Cuba, Agon has researched green medicines for 25 years and has spent 16 years developing the drug. He plans to use the prize money to increase production and hopes to distribute the drug in every country in Africa by 2017.

His discovery is cheaper because it is extracted from a plant that is abundantly available on the continent. It is also more effective than other anti-malarial drugs because it inhibits 3D7 strains of Plasmodium falciparum, which cause malaria, and can act against the disease within a few hours, the innovation judges said in awarding him the top prize. It is available in the form of tablets, capsules or syrup.

An estimated three billion people are at risk for malaria worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 88% of all cases of malaria and 90% of reported deaths.

Costly treatment

“Some African governments spend up to 40% of their public health budgets treating malaria,” the innovation contest said. “In this context, Api-Palu, can be considered a significant contribution in the fight against malaria.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa is highly vulnerable to malaria because the predominant species, Plasmodium falciparum, is most likely to cause death, and the climate allows transmission to occur year round.

In other areas of the world, such South Asia and Latin America, malaria is less likely to cause death but can still result in severe illness and incapacitation, according to the CDC.

The disease continues to be a serious problem, but eradication efforts are showing results.

Since 2000, malaria death rates globally have fallen by 60%, and new cases have dropped by more than a third, according to the World Health Organization. In Africa, death rates dropped by more than two-thirds.

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After two decades, Gabon returns to OPEC

14 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Tullow Oil in Gabon

The West African nation becomes the smallest producer of oil in the cartel, producing only 200,000 barrels a day.

More than 20 years after Gabon left OPEC in a dispute over its budget contribution, the West African nation has rejoined the oil cartel.

Gabon returns to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries amid a two-year oil glut that has reduced the cartel’s power to prop up global oil prices.

Gabon was the second former member to rejoin OPEC this year, following Indonesia, which quit in 2008 then returned in January.

Gabon is the smallest producer among OPEC’s 14 member countries. It produces 200,000 barrels of oil per day, but according to the International Energy Agency, the nation’s output is declining.

Gabon, which joined OPEC in 1975, left in 1995 after the cartel refused its request to reduce its financial contribution to the organization, making it more proportionate with its production. At the time, Gabon produced about 340,000 barrels of oil per day, about one percent of total OPEC production.

Struggling with oil slump

Like other OPEC members, Gabon is struggling with the slump in global oil prices, and rejoining the cartel enables the country to strengthen its ties with countries that share similar challenges.

In response to the slump, Gabon is also working to shift more of its economy to agriculture. The nation, with a population of less than 2 million, currently imports nearly all of its food.

Working with Olam International Ltd., the Gabonese are trying to persuade young people to take up farming.

Farming in Gabon

Farming in Gabon

“We need to foster development of an agro-industry here,” Gagan Gupta, country head at the Singapore-based company’s Gabon unit, told Bloomberg. “It’s about creating human capital.”

As part of the effort, about 2,500 Gabonese will observe cocoa farming in Ivory Coast, learn techniques at a palm-oil plantation in Asia, or train as bulldozer operators in Morocco, Gupta said.

Unemployment high, despite growth

Olam also will work with Gabon to develop nearly 250,000 acres of oil-palm plantations.

According to the World Bank, Gabon is an upper-middle-income country that experienced strong economic growth during the last 10 years, mostly from oil and manganese production.

In 2015, oil accounted for 70% of Gabon’s exports, and 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product. Economic growth weakened to 4% in 2015 because of the drop in oil prices, forcing the government to cut investments designed to promote economic diversity.

Even though Gabon’s economy has been growing, it has failed to create enough jobs, the World Bank said. Unemployment in 2010 was more than 20%.

Nations seek production freeze

OPEC, meanwhile, has seen its global clout diminished. The cartel has attempted to negotiate a deal with Russia to freeze production levels in order to prop up prices. However, OPEC disunity has stalled the effort so far.

In June, Venezuela oil minister Eulogio del Pino said talks might revive in September, when Iran reaches pre-sanction output levels. Iran, freed last year of international sanctions that limited production, has sought to boost output and has resisted limits.

Del Pino said he also would propose that OPEC adopt “production ranges” that would allow production to fluctuate, rather than talking about an unpopular production ceiling.

Venezuela has suffered badly from the oil price collapse production declines. Del Pino said recent rains that helped power production have prompted a recovery.

In 2014, OPEC abandoned its policy of limiting oil production to shore up prices.  Steep price declines followed. Oil, which sold for $110 a barrel in 2014, slumped to a low of $26 per barrel earlier this year. It recovered somewhat this spring with prices mostly in the range of $45-$50 in recent months.

OPEC nations, led by Saudi Arabia, have been willing to absorb the financial impact of plummeting oil prices in order to preserve market share and hurt competitors with higher productions costs, such as U.S. shale producers.

OPEC also accounts for a smaller share of global production that in the past, when the cartel dominated the marketplace. Total OPEC production is nearly 37 million barrels a day while non-OPEC production is nearly 57 million barrels daily, according to Global Risk Insights.

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Chinese demand for peanuts boosts Senegal’s economy

13 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Peanuts

The West African nation, the seventh largest exporter in the world, reached a record yield of one million metric tons in 2015.

Fueled by Chinese demand for peanuts, the price of the groundnut is on the rise in much of the world to the benefit of major exporters such as Senegal.

China, a major peanut producer itself, imports Senegalese peanuts to make oil, which is becoming increasing popular among Chinese consumers.

The West African nation, the world’s seventh largest exporter of peanut, has steadily increased its crop. Peanut production reached a record one million metric tons in 2015 and even greater yields are expected this year if rains are good.

Growth in peanut yields, along with targeted growth in rice production, could make the country self-sufficient by 2017, Senegalese President Macky Sall said. Rice production has doubled to 900,000 tons in the past four years and is on track to again double in the next two years, Sall said.

The country’s farmers have adopted genetically modified seed to improve yields, and improvements in transportation and energy supplies have helped drive growth.

Senegal plans bond issue

Doubling down on crop exports, Senegal plans to issue a bond of $500 million to $1 billion this year to fund infrastructure development to spur more growth in the agricultural sector, Sall said.

Senegal’s economic ambitions are benefitting from a surge in peanut prices, driven by an increase in Chinese demand and weather disruptions in key growing regions.

According to the Financial Times, health-conscious Chinese consumers are snacking more on peanuts and using peanut oil for cooking.

Women sorting peanuts in central Senegalese village

Women sorting peanuts in central Senegalese village

As a result, China is going from being a leading exporter of peanuts to a major importer. Chinese exports have declined by about half to about 500,000 tons during the past 10 years while imports have increased by 50%.

According to the National Peanut Board, China remains the largest producer of peanuts in the world, with yields of more than 16 million tons per year, followed by India and the United States. Global production totals about 29 million metric tons a year with about 1.25 million tons making up exports. India, the United States, and Argentina are the largest exporters of peanuts.

Prices raise 20-30 percent

Chinese demand has pushed the price of peanuts up by 20-30% this year. “They are just hoovering everything up,” one London trader said.

While the weather looks promising for peanut yields in Senegal, other major producers have see disruptions because of bad weather. India has suffered poor harvest for two years because of weak monsoons.

Argentina, a leading supplier of Europe, is expected to suffer crop losses of 20-40% because of rain damage. Poor weather also may limit this year’s crop in South Africa.

Ironically, the United States, which produces about 10% of global supplies, is experiencing a peanut glut and lower prices. As a result, farmers are turning their crops over to the federal government as a form of repayment of annual loans. The U.S. government, in turn, plans to send 500 metric tons of peanuts to Haiti as humanitarian aid.

China helps increase yields

In 2014, China and Senegal completed a cooperative agreement designed to boost the African nation’s production of peanuts as well as its exports to China. Under the deal, China helped establish an agricultural technology demonstration center in Senegal in order to increase the capacity of farmers to adopt more efficient and competitive methods such as those employed by Chinese farmers.

In addition to assistance from China, the Islamic Development Bank has committed $220 million to finance water and other infrastructure projects related to groundnut production in Senegal. The World Bank has approved $20 million in financing to help boost crop yields.

Senegal’s bond issue later this year will also spur growth.

“The money will be used totally for infrastructure, roads and power. A little bit may be for health facilities and education,” Sall, the nation’s president, said. The government is targeting a yield of 6% or less for the new bond.

Economic success story

Sall, a geological engineer who won the presidency in 2012, has overseen steady expansion of the Senegalese economy as the country has improved transport connections and power supplies. Since 2012, economic growth has averaged 4.7% in Senegal – one of the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa – and the economy is expected to grow by 6.6% this year.

Senegal is also counting on energy to boost its economy. Gas production from two offshore fields is scheduled to start in 2020. A year or two later, Senegal expects to start producing oil from a deep-water well.

Senegalese production also has plenty of room to grow. Yields are approximately 950 kilos per hectare in Senegal, less than a third of the 3,500 kilos per hectare that the Chinese produce and slightly more than half of the average global yield of 1,674 kilos.

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Keeping House: Cleaning Up Nigeria’s Oil Industry

12 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Nigerian Oil Industry

After the rollout of a $1 billion cleanup plan for Ogoniland, Nigeria–a region that has been severely damaged by the oil extraction industry–Nigeria’s state-owned petroleum corporation has voiced its support for environmental reform within the sector.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer and exporter of crude oil, and is estimated to have one of the world’s largest oil reserves. Unfortunately, Nigerians have yet to reap the benefits of such a potentially lucrative industry due to historically lax regulations. Nigeria has not been a competitive operator in the oil industry due to its historically bad practices, such as lack of oversight in production, virtually non-existent environmental regulations and not infrequent oil spills.

In early June 2016, Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo set a $1 billion project to clean up Ogoniland, a part of the Niger Delta that has been intensely contaminated by the oil extraction industry. Following the example of the federal government, The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has decided to voice its concern for Nigeria’s environment as well. Following the federal roll-out of the massive internationally-funded cleanup plan, the NNPC announced their intention to reform the oil sector, although did not provide any details on how this would be done. The NNPC did, however, encourage members of the corporation to support conservation centres and parks.

Why Now?

Following an expansive 2011 study by the UNEP on the impact of oil extraction in the Niger Delta, Nigeria has been in the spotlight as one of the industry’s worst environmental offenders. The report found severe and widespread contamination of groundwater and soil across Ogoniland. In a number of areas, public health was compromised through contaminated drinking water and the presence of unnatural levels of certain carcinogens associated with oil extraction. Ecosystems unique to the delta region, such as mangroves, have been decimated by the virtually unregulated operations of the petroleum industry. All of the report’s findings pointed to a lack of institutional control within the oil industry and within the regulatory systems of the government. The report recommended that an initial investment of $1 billion would be needed to begin the restoration process.

It has taken more than five years to establish the infrastructure and amass the funding necessary to begin what is considered the “world’s most wide-ranging and long-term oil cleanup exercise ever undertaken,” but the project is finally underway. Experts estimate that it may take up to 25 years to restore the Ogoniland ecosystem to its pre-contamination status, but that such a long-term commitment is the only way to reverse the damage caused to the region.

Healthy on the Inside, Healthy on the Outside

A cleanup is a good place to start, but in order for the $1 billion investment to really contribute to positive change, a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s oil industry is vital.  Recognizing its role in the project, the NNPC announced its “20 Fixes” plan, aimed at reforming the chronically mismanaged oil industry. Among these “20 Fixes” were goals such as reducing and auditing costs, restructuring corporate centres and staffing, renegotiating existing contracts, unbundling the Nigerian Gas Company and improving information technology, among others. Reducing environmental impact was, surprisingly, not among these 20 top-concerns. Following the announcement of Ogoniland project, however, the NNPC voiced its support for the project, encouraging its workers to support environmental conservation, and committed to improving its environmental protection policies. A concrete plan to turn verbal commitments into action has yet to materialize.

Kachikwu pointed to the Lekki Conservation Centre, established in 1990, as an example of its commitment to conservation efforts. The NNPC claims that, with the support of Chevron Nigeria and others, it has contributed to the creation of the 78-hectare conservation centre, although no evidence for that is available.

This is not to say that the NNPC is not making a positive change, because it is. Recently appointed Managing Director Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has been hard at work to bring transparency to one of the world’s murkiest oil production lines. The World Bank, which committed more than $1 billion to a variety of projects in Nigeria for 2016, applauded the efforts of Dr. Kachikwu for the initiatives outlined in the aforementioned “20 Fixes.” Dr. Kachikwu urged the World Bank to offer additional support for an institutional framework “and training for the ministry and NNPC, [because] the training would provide the necessary skill sets that are required to grow Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.” With such financial support, the NNPC may be able to make the reforms necessary to clean up its act.

Time for Change

After decades of mismanagement, Nigeria’s oil industry may finally be at a turning point. Under the new direction of Dr. Kachikwu, the NNPC may be able to institute real, positive change that will make the cleanup efforts long-lasting. It is only with the moral and financial investment of the oil industry that the environment can be protected. Ogoniland will not be restored overnight, and it is of the utmost importance that the oil industry do its part to ensure it does not simply move the problem elsewhere.

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Africa fails to benefit from global investment surge

11 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Chemical Industry

Direct investment to Africa declined by 7% to $54 billion, giving the continent only 3% of the total worldwide investment, according to a new United Nations report.

Direct foreign investment soared in 2015 to its highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis, but Africa did not share in the wealth.

Globally, direct investment flows increased by 40% to $1.8 trillion, according to World Investment Report 2016 (pdf) by the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development.

At the same time, direct investment to Africa declined by 7% to $54 billion, giving the continent only 3% of the total worldwide investment.

While investment in North African nations, notably Egypt, increased, sub-Saharan Africa saw declines as resource-based commodities faltered and economies weakened, led by a decline of more than 60% in South Africa.

Egypt, Sudan see growth

Investment flows to North Africa increased by 9% to $12.6 billion, an increase largely driven by a boost in Egypt of 49% to $6.9 billion. The increase in Egypt reflected expansion of foreign investment in banking and pharmaceuticals as well as large investments in telecommunications.

Investment in Sudan increased 39% to $1.7 billion, thanks largely to continuing Chinese investment in oil production.

In sub-Saharan Africa, Angola reported investment more than tripled to a record $8.7 billion in investment in 2015 after years of declines. The UN report said the increase reflected loans to local institutions by foreign parent organizations.

Elsewhere on the southern continent, weak commodity prices stifled investment.

Investment in West Africa decreased by nearly 20% to less than $10 billion, in large part because of a slump in investment in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. Investment fell to $3.1 billion last year largely because of lower commodity prices, a faltering currency, and delays in major developments such as multi-billion dollar offshore oil operations.

Investment in Central Africa declines

In Central Africa, investment inflows dropped by more than a third to $5.8 billion. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo reported declines as commodities operations suspended operations.

Factory Workers in Kayonza, Africa

Factory Workers in Kayonza, Africa

East African investment was steady at $7.8 billion.

The European Union and the United States invested more than $2 million in Ethiopia. Investment in Kenya reached a record $1.5 billion as a result of investor confidence in the business environment and growing domestic consumption.

Southern African investment also held steady at just under $18 billion, driven primarily by the large increase in investment in Angola.

South Africa posts steep drop

Other nations saw steep declines. Investment in South Africa fell by 69% to $1.8 billion, its lowest level in a decade. The UN report said weak economic performance, lower commodity and higher power costs were to blame.

After years of record growth, Mozambique saw a 24% decline to $3.7 billion. The report blamed uncertainty about the 2015 elections and lower gas prices as well as the cancellation of major mining operations.

Meanwhile, investment outflows from Africa also declined by 25% to $11 billion because of weaker export demand and falling commodity prices. The continent’s largest foreign investor, South Africa, cut its investments by 30% to $5.3 billion. Angola investors reduced their investment abroad to $1.9 billion, less than half the 2014 amount.

U.S., U.K. lead in African investments

The top investor economies to Africa in 2015 were the United States ($66 billion), the United Kingdom ($64 billion), and France ($52 billion). As China seeks to increase ties to the continent, direct investment from the Asian nation more than tripled from $9 billion to $32 billion. South Africa was the fifth largest investor to the continent at $26 billion.

The report said the global investment surge was unlikely to continue at 2015 levels. It attributed the 2015 increase to a spate of cross-border acquisitions and  mergers.

The United Nations said investment to Africa could grow this year to as much as $60 billion. New projects valued at nearly $30 billion were announced in the first quarter of the year, up 25% from the same period a year earlier.

The report predicted the largest increases in Egypt and North Africa. “But a more optimistic scenario also prevails more widely, for example in Ethiopia, Mozambique,  Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania,” the report said.

However, depressed prices for oil and mining commodities will continue to be a drag on investment in other parts of Africa.

“The world economy continues to face major headwinds, which are unlikely to ease in the near term,” the report said.

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GoMyWay – the Nigerian company reinventing hitch-hiking for the 21st century

8 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Traffic in Nigeria

Nigeria’s GoMyWay looks to reduce travel costs and pollution, with its ridesharing service.

Hitch-hiking may seem like a quite outdated and unsafe idea, but one Nigerian startup is revolutionizing the practice, by bridging the gap between a free ride with a stranger and a paid taxi cab. “Ridesharing” itself is not a new concept, as people have shared journey costs or hitchhiked for as long as cars have been widespread. However, GoMyWay aims to make a safe, organized network of road users who can all benefit from sharing journeys with strangers.

Reducing more than one cost

The costs of travelling by car are more diverse than simply the cost of the fuel. The driver has to consider fees for parking at their destination, car insurance, and toll roads. Therefore, any driver who could regularly charge a percentage of their costs to a passenger would clearly benefit. Likewise, while taxi cabs are expensive for any long journey, paying a driver only a percentage of their fuel cost would clearly save the non-driver money.

This is the crux of GoMyWay’s business model. Drivers can offer to take as many passengers as they have spare seats for, and potential passengers agree to a fee that covers their proportion of the journey’s cost. Users put their planned journey into the system, GoMyWay works out the suggested fee, and drivers are put into contact with people wishing to share a ride. The result is a democratized taxi service that saves all those concerned money, and reduces the number of cars on the roads too.

Damilola Teidi, of GoMyWay, said there were “too many cars on the road and lots of them with one person driving and empty seats,” adding, “It is ecological and economical nonsense. Ride-sharing is the perfect solution for these problems.”

Building a safe network

For many people, the prospect of getting into a car with a stranger, or having a stranger get into their car, might be unnerving. However, GoMyWay has worked to create a sense of security about those registered to use the service, and allows a community of users to self-govern through reviews and feedback.

GoMyWay ad

GoMyWay ad

Users have 4 levels of verification to go through, including their Facebook profile, cell-phone number, email address and a valid form of ID. Both the driver and the passenger can write a review of their experience, and users can customize their profiles to reflect certain preferences, such as no smoking in their car.

GoMyWay’s verification system ensures that the more stages a person has completed, the more likely they are to be chosen for a journey share.

Moreover, Teidi points out that ridesharing in Nigeria already occurs, but with none of the security in place that GoMyWay provides. Teidi explained, “Ride sharing happens offline with no safety measures in place. You pass by certain roads in Lagos or at the tollgate, and you see people offering and joining rides. No verification done at all. Same thing when you flag a regular taxi on the road, no one verifies the driver.”

Driving Forwards

GoMyWay is a service on the move. Within a year of its launch, there were more than 4,000 registered members, offering 30,000 seats across 20 Nigerian states. The organization has financial backing from successful business figures, including Konga founder & CEO Sim Shagaya and former Amazon executive Bill Paladino.

GoMyWay has plans to launch its service in Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. Unlike taxi services such as Uber, GoMyWay is simply connecting people – with the same planned journey – in order to reduce financial and environmental costs.

Currently any journey arranged via GoMyWay results in the fee being paid (in cash) by the passenger to the driver. However, as the business expands, the company plans to charge a percentage fee to registered drivers for each transaction. This system will ensure that GoMyWay generates its own profits, while the service still reduces costs for its users.

GoMyWay is proving to be an affordable, convenient choice for many people, but the company has grander hopes. With a focus on city-to-city journeys, and expansion into other countries planned, Teidi states that GoMyWay can grow to such an extent that it changes the face of transport in Africa: “We are building the new African rail network…except we are doing it on roads.”

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Renewable Africa: The future is clean

7 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Renewable Energy

Why groups like Access Power are vital to unlocking Africa’s vast clean energy potential.

The developed world has spent over a century thoroughly addicted to fossil fuels and such entrenched habits are proving hard to kick. On the other hand, Africa is bubbling with the promise of a renewable energy explosion.

Access Power, an organization which owns and operates renewable energy projects in developing nations, is leading the charge. Earlier this month, Access announced the winners of its $7 million competition: Access Co-Development Facility 2016 (ACF). Designed to kick-start promising African renewable energy projects, the competition was hotly contested.

Fierce competition

Reda El Chaar, Executive Chairman of Access Power, highlighted the scope of the African renewable revolution: “This year’s ACF competition introduced us to almost 100 projects, demonstrating the scale of entrepreneurialism and ambition across the African continent to meet the electrification challenge.”

Three companies were recognized as winners after a grueling three stage process: AGES, a solar project from Sierra Leone, Mentach Energy, a wind power development from Nigeria, and Stucky Ltd, a combined Hydro & Solar project from Madagascar. Together these schemes are expected to deliver over 100 megawatts to countless homes in their respective countries.

The revolution is coming; this year the ACF competition received a 75% increase in applications from budding renewable start-ups. What’s more, applications poured in from across the continent with a 40% increase in the number of nations involved in the competition. Africa is beginning to realize that it has massive clean-energy potential.

Energy Africa

The scope of this potential cannot be understated. Looking to the future, Africa has everything required to become the clean energy dynamo for the planet, in a new world where renewable energy is predominantly used.

African Energy Windtower

African Energy Windtower

The continent possesses huge stretches of land where solar power could generate enormous returns, particularly in the Sahara where the sun shines relentlessly. Some studies have suggested that a solar facility covering 0.3% of the Sahara could generate enough electricity for the whole of continental Europe. Particularly in West Africa, where strong winds sweep costal and elevated regions, wind farms could be utilized to harvest significant amounts of clean energy. Hydroelectric power can also be used to far greater effect as the continent is rich in powerful rivers and vast lakes. According to the UN’s Environment Programme, East Africa’s Great Rift Valley region could produce over 4,000 MW of geothermal energy. What’s more, Africa has a huge coastline waiting to be exploited by tidal power projects.

The path ahead

Africa is truly an untapped gold mine when it comes to renewable energy, which is why organizations like Access Power are so important in driving forward the expansion of renewable energy usage. The region is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to energy availability. Over 70% of sub-Saharan Africa is without access to reliable power, with many rural areas almost entirely off the grid. The problem is compounded by population growth as Africa’s population is set to increase by 1.3 billion between now and 2050.

Renewable energy is the obvious answer. Renewables like wind and solar can provide rural populations with accessible, closed-loop power, while large scale projects have greater long term promise than fossil fuels for improving net availability. As Africa rushes to improve its energy infrastructure, it needs to embrace clean power, not dirty.

Currently, renewable energy accounts for only 7% of Africa’s current energy production. As the region becomes more energy hungry, a continuation of this trend would be a hammer blow to climate change goals, and a huge missed opportunity given the continent’s potential. However, Africa is also home to abundant traditional energy options such as coal and gas. For developing nations, the temptation to lean on such resources is strong, especially as they remain the easier option in the absence of foreign investment.

The Africa EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) has a crucial role to play at this juncture. Dr. Michael J. Saulo, of the Technical University of Mombasa explained, “Africa needs Europe and Europe needs Africa. Europe has the know-how and the private investment, Africa has a vast potential for renewables. All factors converge together.”

Increased Euro-African cooperation is removing many historical deterrents to investment, such as political uncertainty and cumbersome government regulation. Another obstacle, the perception of poor returns on investments, has also melted away now that the start-up costs for wind and solar projects have plummeted to very attractive levels.

For the future of renewables in Africa, the signs are promising. However it is not just Africa that stands to gain. The continent is about to become a pivotal battleground in the fight against climate change. More foreign investors like Access Power are sorely needed if Africa is to realize its clean energy potential.

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WeFarm combines cutting edge ideas with simple technology

6 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

wefarm

WeFarm aims to help farmers around the world support each other through simple SMS connections.

WeFarm was launched in 2014, as a means of giving farmers – in very different areas – access to advice and information from other people in the trade. The idea was to connect people who had no internet access, in order to give them the opportunity to learn from each other, and help share vital information. The company’s slogan is: “The internet for people without the internet”.

Connecting the unconnected

With 500 million small-scale farmers across the world, offering a wealth of experiences and methods to draw on, peer-to-peer networking for this essential group of workers could be huge. CEO and founder Kenny Ewan spent 7 years working with many remote agricultural workers in Peru before he devised the idea.

Ewan explained what inspired his idea: “I was always very impressed with the unique and low-cost solutions farmers would come up with as solutions to their problems, (but) farmers living less than 20 miles away wouldn’t have any way to hear about these local innovations because very few people in rural Latin America and Africa have internet access.”

From here the WeFarm idea was born. Ewan approached his co-worker, Claire Rhodes, and the two quickly drafted out their plans. After winning grants from the Nominet Trust and the Knight Foundation, WeFarm began to pilot its service in Kenya and Peru.

WeFarm CEO and founder Kenny Ewan

Strength in diversity

While it might initially seem unusual to try and connect such different markets as Kenya and Peru, Ewan explains that a wide range of experiences is a strength for the system. Citing a recent example of a Kenyan farmer who wanted information on keeping rabbits, Ewan says, “He was able to ask questions and get information from someone who’d been keeping rabbits for 20 or 30 years on their farm. He was a farmer in Kenya. His question got answered in Peru.”

Once a farmer has signed up to the service, they simply text a question to the local WeFarm number, and WeFarm’s online system scans the question for keywords, before forwarding it to farmer profiles that seem relevant. A body of translators ensures that questions can be asked and answered in English, French, Spanish, and Swahili.

WeFarm had 33,000 Kenyan farmers signed up inside 10 months of launching, and within its first month in Uganda there were 5,000 Ugandan members.

Ewan hopes that by sending questions to both local and remote members, all those using the service can benefit greatly. “Farmers,” he noted, “can obtain both instant, relevant local knowledge as well as new ideas and insights from further afield.”

Growth for all

With over 5.2 million messages having already been sent, and with an average of 65% of all users contributing their own knowledge to the service, WeFarm is growing quickly.

The service is on the verge of launching in Tanzania and The Ivory Coast, but it also has plans far beyond these impending introductions.

There are planned moves into the markets of Rwanda, Ethiopia, India, and Brazil, with Ewan and his team currently raising $2.9 million in funding to drive this expansion.

As the database of information increases, so does the opportunity for the company to expand its positive influence. The beneficial information, that farmers can find ranges from more in-depth reports on market prices and products, to shared tips about adapting practices to climate change.

As the company grows, so does the proportion of farmers in the developing world who can grow their own business. Moreover, as everything at the user level requires no more than a basic cell phone, the penetration of the project far outstrips internet access.

Ewan says that some people were skeptical about farmers helping each other for no fee, but on the contrary their users embrace the chance to share their views. Ewan said, “It’s not just about the exchange of information; it’s also about empowering people to have their voice heard.”

As WeFarm continues to grow, a lot more of the farming world’s voices should soon be heard.

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Is there hope for Eritrea?

5 July 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Politics

Eritrean refugees

Can Eritrea shake its reputation and get a handle on its migration problem?

Is Africa’s youngest country also its most repressive state? The labels it has carried for the past decade have become the lens through which the international community views it, but how fair is the reputation it has developed? Eritrea gained independence in 1993, nearly 30 years after Emperor Haile Selassie seized the land for Ethiopia in 1962. It has never held elections, has no free press and has a mandatory and indefinite national service. However, this oppressive picture seems to be at odds with the experiences of recent visitors, journalists and diplomats who have reported the country to be clean, relaxed and relatively advanced. People can be seen enjoying bars, restaurants and cinemas while going about their day under no obvious restrictions. The issues contributing to its high levels of emigration are unique. Can the problems be reversed and stability returned to this troubled nation?

Eritrea’s Troubled Past

The UN has repeatedly criticized the government for its lack of democracy and suspected human rights abuses. For over a decade, journalists have been barred from entering the country and in 2001, the government shut all down all free press houses. International sanctions placed over its alleged support of Al Shaabab Islamists in Somalia have further damaged Eritrea’s economy and deepened its isolation on the world stage.

Modern Eritrea has faced a number of crises in its young life. After just a few years of independence, a two-year war broke out in 1998-2000 that left tens of thousands dead. After 15 years of tentative peace, there has been a recent resurgence of violence. Details have been vague, with 200 Ethiopian troops reportedly killed, and both sides accusing the other of re-starting the hostilities.

Europe Watches On

Eritrea’s problems have been compounded by severe droughts and the nation’s heavy reliance on agriculture. A revival of the conflict with Ethiopia would be nothing short of catastrophic, inevitably forcing more people to flee the nation, adding to an already alarming exodus from the troubled country.

Migration from Eritrea hit new highs in 2015, with Eritreans being the largest contingent of Africans to arrive in Europe. This migration, although detrimental, is forcing the international community to take notice of the problems faced in Eritrea, driving change.

Mass Migration 

Eritrean refugee camp

Eritrean refugee camp

Due to this influx of migrants reaching Europe’s shores, the EU has recently announced a $227m “development fund” for Eritrea and has opened access to a number of emergency finance mechanisms. There is a growing perception that sanctions and further isolation are far less effective than engagement with these problematic countries; an increased amount of communication, research and aid has proven to be a more valuable strategy. It has been suggested that international isolation and hostilities with Ethiopia would only force it closer to its Somali and Sudanese neighbors, something unlikely to elicit the reforms that the UN has demanded.

The development fund, which is due to run from 2016-2020, as well as collaboration with the government to improve democratic and human rights, is expected to reduce the number of Eritreans leaving the country. The effectiveness of this campaign will depend on the government following through with reform. They claim the restrictive state has been a necessity due to a “no war, no peace” policy towards Ethiopia, and a need to be vigilant and prepared for further confrontation.

Looking Forwards

Alongside fresh UN aid, additional money is finding its way into the country through private investment in industry, particularly in the mining sector as Eritrea boasts strong mineral resources. The conflict in Yemen has also led to a fortuitous collaboration with the United Arab Emirates, with Eritrea providing “logistical facilities” from its southern port of Assab. Commentators feel that this foreign capital and cooperation is critical in paving the way to improved conditions and stability within the nation.

Despite its troubles, Eritrea has made some meaningful progress on its own. Since its independence from Ethiopia and subsequent war in 1998-2000, the country has posted promising health statistics. Under-five mortality has decreased by two thirds, due in part to successful vaccination programs that have saved thousands of lives. AIDS has long been a scourge upon Africa, with the continental infection rate standing at 5% today. Defiantly, Eritrea has bucked the trend by bringing its infection rates down to a comparatively low 0.8%.

Eritrea’s mass-migration problem is unlike those of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. It has relatively low rates of corruption, it is not currently at war, and is not a hotbed of religious extremism or persecution. The problems its citizens face are related to democracy and a lack of rights, decisions the government claims are to protect the country’s future. Can this government be persuaded to work with the international community and democratize the country? The issues it faces are unique, but with an international focus on decreasing migration, coupled with foreign investment, its future could be promising.

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