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COP21: Africa’s Solar Industry Poised to Take Off

4 December 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

solar power in africa

With some of the most abundant renewable energy sources but the world’s highest prices for power,  Africa has an enormous stake at the COP21.

Africa’s Power Deficit

This week, one of history’s largest-ever gatherings of world leaders is taking place in Paris, as the international community comes together to tackle climate change. Until  December 11th, the 21st United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP21) will host more than 30,000 diplomats and delegates, seeking to reach a global pact which commits nearly every country in the world to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

Africa has an enormous stake in its success. 621 million people, two thirds of the population, currently live without electricity, using candles, kerosene, or wood to light their homes and cook. Power shortages and service interruptions are the norm. At present rates of progress, 300 million people will still lack electricity in 2040.

And although the continent produces little of the greenhouse gas emissions that world leaders at the COP21 are seeking to reduce, it is Africa’s poor and rural population who pay the highest prices in the world for power. Measured on a per-unit cost, households in Africa pay up to 80 times more for energy than those in London. Indeed, in Kenya charging a mobile phone costs nearly 400 times more than in the US. The economic effects are huge. According to the World Bank, more than 50% of African businesses cite inadequate power supply as a major business constraint.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon adds: “Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Much of its economy depends on a climate-sensitive natural resource base, including rain-fed subsistence agriculture. Disruptions in food or water supplies pose serious risks not only for the economy but also for political stability, particularly in fragile states.”

Solar-preneurs

M-Kopa Solar Kit

M-Kopa Solar Kit

But there is an environment primed for change. Africa has some of the most abundant renewable energy sources in the world, most notably solar, thanks to 320 days of sunshine per year. Over the past seven years, the price of solar panels has dropped by more than a quarter. Some East African countries have already declared solar products VAT exempt. And mobile penetration has brought people, even in remote communities, into a digital economy. In 2010, investment in renewable energy across Africa was just $3.6 billion, but estimates suggest that is set to hit $57.7 billion by 2020, as an affordable African solar industry is poised to take off.

First and foremost, we are seeing a rise of “solar-preneurs”. For example, Tanzanian startup Juabar designs, builds, and operates mobile solar charging kiosks which it leases to a network of entrepreneurs who can offer electricity to their communities. In Rwanda, the African Renewable Energy Distributor operates a similar franchise network around its own smart solar charging kiosks. There is also the hugely successful M-Kopa Solar – “kopa” is Swahili for “borrowed” – which has pioneered the idea of “Pay-as-you-go” renewable energy. Clients pay an upfront fee of $35 for a solar system (an eight watt solar panel, two LED lights, a USB phone charger, and a portable, solar-powered radio). Using a mobile payment system, clients then top-up $0.45 per day for a year after which the system is theirs. Since launching in 2012, the company has grown to provide power for more than 140,000 households in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and is adding over 4,000 homes each week. Two similar companies, Azuri and Angaza, are also seeing success.

Working to a slightly different model is Patrick Ngowi’s Tanzanian startup Helvetic Solar Contractors. Operating in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and expanding to other parts of Africa, the company supplies durable and affordable solar products (including water heaters, solar kits, solar batteries, and solar street lights). The company also works in less privileged areas through its non-profit division, Light for Life Foundation, providing free solar solutions to rural African women, with a goal to help 100,000 by 2025. Valued at $8 million, it has been awarded the title of Fastest Growing Company and Brand in Tanzania by KPGM. On a similar theme German company Mobisol offers home solar systems via a mobile phone payment plan providing enough electricity to power a variety of household and consumer appliances. It also has larger systems on offer for small businesses.

Solar-orientated accelerators and financers are also emerging. For example, the San Francisco and Tanzania based SunFunder has already financed $2 million of solar projects. And Senegalese-American singer Akon’s Akon Lighting Africa initiative to bring solar electricity to rural Africa has announced the launch of a new Solar Academy to consolidate African expertise. The Academy will train African engineers and entrepreneurs in the skills needed to develop solar power, and to install and maintain solar-powered electricity systems and micro grids, with the support of European experts.

The International Commitment to Solar in Africa

The international community, too, is getting involved. The UK has launched an Energy Africa access campaign, chaired by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. This brings together Richard Branson (who has worked to develop solar power in Caribbean countries), Bob Geldof, and politicians from 14 African countries to work on solar power projects in Africa.

Branson is also part of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition alongside Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. The coalition acts as an investment platform for early-stage clean energy projects which launched on the first day of COP21.

Again in the UK, the Africa Renewal Energy Alliance has seen Nigeria and Sierra Leone sign agreements to fast-track off-grid solar power. A further 12 countries, including Malawi, Senegal, and Tanzania, are expected to join.

2015 Paris Climate Conference COP21

This week’s COP21 is reaffirming the commitment to African renewables. On the first day of the conference, the host country’s President François Hollande announced plans for France to devote €6 billion to generate renewable energy (wind farms, solar power, and hydroelectric projects) in former West African colonies and across Africa between 2016 and 2020.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched an international solar alliance of 121 countries which will mobilize $1 trillion in investment by 2030 for a “massive deployment of affordable solar energy” in sun-rich but cash-poor countries around the world. Modi said: “Solar technology is evolving, costs are coming down and grid connectivity is improving,” he said. “The dream of universal access to clean energy is becoming more real. This will be the foundation of the new economy of the new century.” The Indian government is investing an initial $30 million and will host the alliance secretariat and fund its operations for five years.

So without the entrenched regime of oil and gas to negotiate, Africa now has the opportunity to jump from being the world’s energy-poorest continent to the leader of a new model of renewable energy.

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Profiles of 5 Promising Kenyan Startups

30 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

nairobi

Following up on our article about the blossoming startup scene in Nairobi, Kenya, we’ve compiled a list of 5 promising Kenyan startups with a quick description of what they do.

 

1. iCow

iCow is an Agricultural Information Service SMS mobile phone application designed to help enhance the productivity of small-scale dairy farmers in Kenya. Aiming to help rural communities and farmers by giving them knowledge to develop as both farmers and businessmen, each farmer enters personalized details about their cows – whether that may be five or 500 – before receiving text messages and voice prompts with tailored instructions about the breeding and production patterns of their livestock. It helps farmers manage their stock and tackle challenges by tracking the estrus stages of their cows, providing the cost per liter of milk produced by their animals, helping them find the nearest vet and AI providers, and by giving information on breeding, nutrition, milk production efficiency and gestation, fodder production, hygiene and animal diseases. Following the 365-day cow cycle, farmers are assisted year round in making informed decisions and reducing risk.

The app runs on even the most basic mobile phone, and each text message costs about 10 Kenyan shillings, or $0.10.

 

Zatiti

2. Zatiti 

Launched in 2013, Zatiti is a web platform which helps entrepreneurs create e-commerce websites (which are M-PESA compatible). 81% of sellers in Kenya are looking for a mobile e-commerce solution to reach the 98% of Kenyans who access the web through mobile devices, but coders and developers are hard to find. The Zatiti platform requires no technical expertise from customers, handling everything from set-up to the design of customized themes. And clients can easily update their platforms with the website builder’s simple content management system. Empowering entrepreneurs, users can also monitor revenue and sales orders, and receive messages through the service.

Zatiti charges a 2% transaction fee and a monthly subscription fee depending on type of plan, along with offering premium templates, increased storage space, and increased product variety.

soko

3. Soko

Soko is a mobile driven e-commerce platform that enables artisans to engage with the international marketplace, even if they lack access to the internet or a bank account. In a similar mold to Etsy, Soko works with artisans to create modern, ethical jewelry, handmade from sustainable materials, and then helps them to sell their products to a global audience of brands, retailers, and online customers around the world. Its niche: all that can be done via only SMS. An SMS entry form allows artisans to create online storefronts, profiles, and upload images. As they text the information is transcribed as metadata which is automatically uploaded to the Soko website. It uses a peer recruitment model whereby store owners recruit and mentor new sellers. Soko says: “With our tools, any talented artisan can participate in the global marketplace, becoming a driver of social and economic development in their community.”

Based in Nairobi, so far the company has 12 employees around the world, about 250 artisans currently featured on the site, and has raised close to $1 million in seed funding.

m-farm

4. M-Farm 

M-Farm is a SMS mobile phone application, compatible with even basic mobile phones, which aims to empower African farmers. M-Farm cuts out the middle man by connecting farmers directly with buyers. It provides them with real-time food pricing information, allowing them to sell their produce at much fairer prices. Making small farmers more visible, it offers a group selling tool where farmers can team up to bring their accumulated produce to drop off points and the SMS system then promotes what they have to sell. And it offers a group buying tool, allowing farmers to pool resources to get better prices for things like fertilizer. Kenyan CEO and founder Jamila Abass says she founded MFarm in 2010 after reading about how farmers have been “oppressed for decades and disconnected in terms of information”.

A SMS for a single crop is the cost of a text message. The company counts nearly 17,000 users in Kenya, and projects one million by the end of next year.

sokotext

5. SokoText

SokoText uses mobile phone text messages to aggregate demand for food in Kenyan slums and unlock wholesale prices for micro-entrepreneurs. The company says “Small-scale vegetable sellers and kiosk owners are the gatekeepers and key players of food accessibility in urban slums. Yet a lack of capital means that they cannot afford to buy in bulk and pay to travel long distances to markets every day to buy just enough stock that will help them get by. SokoText leverages the widespread and increasing use of mobile phones in slums to solve these problems. With SokoText, they can boost their business while becoming the key agents that empower people living in the slums to eat better and healthier.”

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Kenya’s Tech Renaissance: Nairobi Set to Become Africa’s Key Technology Hub

27 November 2015 Comments (2) Africa, Business, Featured

nairobi

Mobile and internet penetration, a mobile economy, developing tech ecosystems, and government support are set to make Nairobi Africa’s key technology hub.

Over the last half-decade, Kenya has rapidly developed into a country of digital innovation, and its capital Nairobi, dubbed Silicon Savannah, looks set to become Africa’s key technology hub. With a fast-growing urban economy and a young and digitally savvy population, it is already easier to pay for a taxi by mobile phone in Nairobi than it is in London or New York. Since 2002 Kenya’s technology services sector has grown to more than £300 million (2013) up from just £11 million. And VC funding for African startups, which hit more than $400 million in 2014, is projected to grow to at least $1 billion by 2018. Google, Intel, Nokia, Vodafone, and Microsoft have already opened sites in Nairobi. And IBM has chosen the city for its first African research lab (a $100 million Innovation Centre).

A mobile economy 

At root, this technology renaissance has been spurred by mobile phone penetration. Back in 1999, Kenya, as with most of the Africa region, had a rudimentary telecommunications infrastructure and counted only 300,000 landline telephones. Over the last decade, it has proved easier and cheaper for the country to bypass the analogue age entirely and instead move directly to installing mobile phone networks. Mobile phones are also easily accessible, cheap, and practical, especially when compared with a computer. And unsurprisingly in just a few years mobile phone penetration in Kenya has grown from less than 20% to 85% (it’s 89% in the US).

At the same time, Kenya lacks a traditional banking infrastructure. Until recently, for example, the high proportion of Kenya’s urban population working to support family members in the countryside relied on hand delivery or sending cash through bus drivers. And the combination of these two elements has created the perfect setting for a mobile payments-based economy.

In 2007, state-owned telecoms company Safaricom launched M-PESA, the SMS-based money-transfer system (pesa is Swahili for “money”). Converting even the most basic phones into roaming banking devices, M-PESA spread at speed. And by 2012, more than 17 million Kenyans (70% of the adult population) were using mobile payments, the highest percentage of any country in the world. Now more than $320 million dollars are transferred via Kenyan mobile phones each month as huge swathes of previously unbanked customers join the digital economy. Safaricom also sells solar-powered charging equipment to expand the market.

mpesaGovernment support

With a 40% unemployment rate to solve, the Kenyan government is also supporting the country’s technology renaissance, determined to leverage the opportunity to create jobs and drive sustainable economic growth for the next generation.

In 2009, the East African Marine system, backed by the Kenyan government, laid a 5,000 km fiber-optic undersea cable linking the coastal town of Mombasa with the UAE. And since this time, internet penetration has grown to just under 67% of the population. This is a significant growth from 2010 when internet penetration was around just 14%.

It has created a fertile marketplace for e-commerce and tech businesses, in which the government continues to invest. In 2013 the government formed an Information Communication Technology (ICT) Authority. It laid out a policy roadmap, Vision 2030, focusing on digital infrastructure (e.g. a new fiber-optic network). And it is currently building a multi-billion dollar “techno city” called Konza with aims to create 200,000 jobs by 2030. Located 60 km south of Nairobi, a 2,000-hectare plot will offer office parks for science and technology firms, a university, retail outlets, and residential facilities. Tax breaks are also being offered to companies willing to move to the new city.

A tech ecosystem

A tech ecosystem is also starting to emerge. Where traditional ecosystems may be lacking, Silicon Savannah is filling the gap with innovation hubs and accelerators. The trend has been led in part by Ushahidi co-founder Erik Hersman who considers the future of tech in Kenya reliant on hubs to bring together technology entrepreneurs, young programmers, creative professionals, and investors, along with their ideas and innovation. “Hubs in major cities with a focus on young entrepreneurs… Part open community workspace (co-working), part investor and VC hub and part idea incubator. The nexus point for technologists, investors, [and] tech companies,” says Hersman. Ushahidi established the iHub innovation Centre in 2010, and since then it has been part of creating 152 startups and counts 15,000 members. iHub has also partnered with the ICT Authority on several initiatives, has hosted speakers including Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, and has driven an upsurge in different types of innovation hubs across the continent.

Accelerators are also part of the emerging ecosystem. A particularly successful example is Nailab, which launched in 2011 to work with early stage globally scalable startups. So far it has incubated 30 companies, and in 2013 it partnered with the government to launch a $1.6 million technology program providing entrepreneurs with access to capital, education, and contacts within the industry. Tech competitions are also emerging. For example, the IPO48 startup competition brings together over 100 Kenyan entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, and project managers at a time, to build a new mobile or web service over the course of two days.

In Kenya, the stars of mobile and internet penetration, a mobile economy, developing infrastructure, and government support have aligned, and there are great opportunities ahead. And as its global reputation for innovation continues to grow, the country has the chance to future-proof itself both as an economic driver and Africa’s key technology hub.

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Doing Business amidst Terrorism

25 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured, Middle East

lagos

Despite the odds, the Middle East and Africa show improved business environments.

On June 1, 2015 the World Bank Group published its 13th annual Doing Business 2016 report, a virtual check-up on the health of 189 different economies and each one’s environment for small and medium sized businesses. By monitoring domestic business regulations, the World Bank Group attempts to analyze the shifting horizons for international entrepreneurs, hoping to usher in a firm-friendly future in light of the ever-globalizing world economy.

The rise of cross-border terrorism has caused concern for many business leaders and potential investors in the region. Though the state of presumed instability may suggest a weakened business environment in the Middle East and Africa, contrary to media sensationalism these regions have made massive strides in improving the economic conditions for business owners alongside the threat of potential conflict. As always, there is much more than meets the eye.

A Binary Opposition between Appearance and Reality

In light of this, though most foreign policy surrounding terrorism concerns blunt force and combat, there is a need to not just strengthen the fighting power of our African and Middle Eastern allies, but also strengthen the structures that support them. The dangers portrayed by mainstream media are a bite-sized vision of the entire reality at play, as the emotional nuances of warfare footage packs a more memorable punch than the hard numbers Doing Business presents.

The toll of a nearby enemy is evident in the World Bank’s report. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is still held as the least transparent region internationally, and with the exception of Morocco there is little public engagement in forming regulatory policy. The region’s governance carries a relatively low regulatory quality but with great efficiency.

Improved Business Conditions as the Norm

Despite the multiplicity of issues these policy makers face, almost all nations within the Middle East and Africa have made huge strides to improve their business environment. This region currently represents half of the twelve nations that implemented four or more reforms, specifically Rwanda, Madagascar, Senegal, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. Across the board, low income economies have made much bigger improvements than high-income economies: Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for over 30% of all regulatory reforms made between 2014-2015.

In addition, Sub-Saharan Africa represents half of the top-ten improved economies as ranked by Doing Business, with Uganda, Kenya, Mauritania, Senegal and Bahrain implementing major economic reform. Within this region Rwanda also stands out, boasting a massive reduction in the number of days required to transfer property from 370 to a mere 32, and jumping from a score of 2 to 19 out of 20 on an index that rates the ease and efficiency of attaining credit.

The thirteen years of data collection has afforded the World Bank group several conclusions about the relationship between regulation, efficiency, and performance, and in this year’s Doing Business report they found that transparency during policy making was “highly and significantly” related to greater regulatory quality as well as efficiency. Currently in Mozambique, proposed regulations are published in a federal journal and distributed to stakeholders to encourage dialogue. In Ethiopia, Niger, and Afghanistan, public meetings are held so that the public and business leaders can be a part of the process of reform. In Kenya they even have a website for proposed regulations, where anyone at any time can weigh in on economic policy.

And Kenya’s not the only place that’s gone online- Rwanda made electronic tax filing and payment compulsory in 2014/15, and the time required for businesses to prepare and file taxes fell by 10 hours. Uganda introduced an online system for obtaining trading licenses, and other economies introduced systems where trade-related documents could be processed, including Benin, Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Suriname, Tanzania, and Togo. Currently, 25% of MENA nations have online systems for tax filing and payments, reducing the scope for bureaucratic discretion and corruption while increasing the system’s transparency, simplicity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

The Best and the Worst

Countries’ ability to govern and enhance opportunities for citizens despite attacks from groups like ISIS and Boko Haram is commendable and demonstrates that optimism is in fact realistic. Turkey, though overrun with refugees, was able to streamline the process of obtaining construction permits. Saudi Arabia, with ISIS only 30km from their borders made property transfers faster by updating to a computerized registry system.

Nigeria and Kenya, the top two sub-Saharan nations affected by terrorism in the last year were still able to make their business environments healthier, with Nigeria reducing fees for property transactions and increasing the protection of minority investors by requiring external review. Kenya significantly reduced the time it takes to start a business by eliminating procedural inefficiencies, improved electronic document management for land registry, and improved access to credit, electricity, and proposed policy dialogues.

During a time of growing cross-border terrorism, with sensationalized militias such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State, as well as lesser known groups such as the al-Nusra Front or the Fulani militia, the significance of the stability a strong economy offers has never been so important. The relative security a growing economy offers provides the resources and willpower to combat terrorists, supports the persecuted, ensures justice, and dissuades the sympathetic from joining the extremists. Like many other groups branded with violence that preceded them, this generation of extremists will fall from within once they realize that peace is a more profitable reality.

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Gilbert Diendéré: Coming Out from the Shadows

24 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Leaders

Diendéré

Chief of staff to Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso’s ex-president, Gilbert Diendéré is far more than a jack of all trades; intelligence, information, organisation and control, he is a master of all.

Burkinabé military officer and head of the powerful Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) for almost three decades, Gilbert Diendéré, who was known to lead from the shadows, took an unprecedented step into the lime light on September 17th, 2015.

In a move the General is now calling “the biggest mistake,” he took power of his West African home country, in a coup d’état that lasted a mere six days. After which, he and his army succumbed to mounting pressure to step down.

The coup, which pushed out the interim president, appears to have been an attempt to reinstate his comrade, Compaoré, the man for whom he was the quiet power behind through the former president’s entire time in office.

A Military Force

As the officer who announced the October 1987 coup, this was not Diendéré’s first experience of overthrowing a government. Taking power from the popular and revolutionary Thomas Sankara, with whom Diendéré had trained alongside as a young cadet in the army, he then placed it in the hands of Compaoré.

This was a pivotal time for the General, who was subsequently made head of the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP). With Compaoré’s blessing, he developed and expanded the RSP into a reportedly stronger and better trained army, which offered its soldiers better conditions and higher pay. It also answered directly and exclusively to the president himself.

Together the pair ruled Burkina Faso for an almost unfeasibly long time. Not until October of last year, when Compaoré’s push to be re-elected resulted in him being ousted by mass public demand, did their reign come to an end. Throughout his time in power, Diendéré has been accused of crimes against humanity. The charges against him include murder and firing at unarmed protestors, allegations for which the General will now stand trial.


Multifaceted Man

Standing at an impressive 6.5 ft, Diendéré may be physically imposing and considered to be one of the most powerful men in Burkina Faso, but until recent events the 56 years old had chosen to exert his power indirectly.

His international connections boosted Compaoré’s network and political status, whilst also cementing his own reputation internationally, particularly in America and France. In 2008 Diendéré was awarded the Légion d’Honneur, one of France’s most prestigious military medals.

The former head of RSP is highly regarded for being well informed, knowledgeable in many fields; particularly that of the West African political affairs, and a skilled negotiator and strategist. Known as a “master of intelligence,” the Burkinabé General has been involved in delicate negotiations with al-Qaeda linked group AQMI and in the release of several European hostages in 2009 and 2011.

A fearless thrill seeker, he enjoys regular parachute jumps and is popular and respected amongst his colleagues. However, it is recognised that the man described as shy and calm, with the formidable “iron fist” handshake, is a man one would prefer as a friend and not a foe.

In the Face of Justice

Just days after the coup began Diendéré conceded, “I am willing to turn myself over to face justice,” and called for his army to lay down their weapons. “I would like the people of Burkina Faso to find a solution to this crisis through dialogue.” He said, after turning himself in on October 1st.

The self-appointed Chairman of the National Council for Democracy sought shelter in the Vatican embassy as crowds on the Burkina Faso streets became violent. Negotiations took place to ensure his safety before he was handed back to the interim government. The Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) was later ordered to be disbanded and the assets of Gen. Gilbert Diendéré, frozen.

What is next for the shadowy figure is uncertain. He remains adamant that Compaoré had no dealings with the latest coup and has openly denounced his own actions. For now the country awaits the delayed elections which will take place on November 29th, perhaps a clever by-product of the General’s failed coup. The complicated history of Burkina Faso informs us that the future is most likely to follow suit, as for the rest, only time will tell.

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African Solutions to African Problems: Ushahidi is Taking the Internet to the Next Five Billion

23 November 2015 Comments (1) Africa, Featured, Leaders

Ushahidi's BRCK

Representing a new frontier of innovation in Africa, non-profit technology collective Ushahidi is developing African solutions to African problems

“If it works in Africa, it will work anywhere,” is the motto of Ushahidi, a Kenyan non-profit technology collective which designs and builds open source software and digital tools to help people in the developing world.

Indeed, while in the West technological possibilities are being stretched to their bounds, across Africa something as seemingly straightforward as an Internet connection is unreliable. Figures from the East African Community (EAC) suggest 90% of schools and 30% of hospitals are still off-grid. Only 24% of the developing world is connected to the internet. And, as Ushahidi comments, “power spikes and outages are everyday occurrences in Nairobi and across Sub-Saharan Africa, no matter your income level”. But in a region lacking adequate roads and clean water, developing reliable Internet connectivity is simply not a priority for governments.

There are a number of Western companies working to solve the problem – and at the same time bringing their products to the world’s next five billion Internet users. For example Google has ProjectLink Uganda and LoonBalloon, and Microsoft is experimenting with the TV White Spaces spectrum. But Ushahidi has developed an African solution that really might solve the African problem.

The Internet back-up generator BRCK

Designed to be an “internet back-up generator”, Ushahidi has developed BRCK, a piece of hardware that offers rugged and reliable connectivity. Working like a phone, it can be used in any area that gets mobile signal, as it works by intelligently and seamlessly switching as per the need between the strongest network types in the vicinity (broadband, Ethernet cable, Wifi, CDMA, and 3G or 4G mobile phone networks). It supports up to 20 wireless connections at a time. And it also has up to 16 gigabytes of storage space and a BRCK Cloud connection so it can serve as a back-up server and sync with connected devices and cloud applications.

Designed to face Africa-specific environments, the portable hardware handles the heat and dust of even the most demanding environments. And while it connects to the mains, is also comes with about 8 hours of power back up, can be charged via a car battery, or plugged to a solar charger, combating the region’s lack of reliable energy sources.

“As the next 4.5 billion people (65% of the world) start coming online, the need for rugged, reliable, and simple connectivity becomes critical in places with poor infrastructure and limited resources. While existing technologies work well in modern cities, the demands of emerging markets necessitates a rethinking of how technology is engineered, packaged, delivered, and supported. BRCK was conceived in exactly this type of environment. In particular, our struggles in Africa with reliable connectivity inspired us to rethink the entire concept of rugged internet access device – designing the world’s first go-anywhere, connect-to-anything, always available internet device,” says Ushahidi.

Ushahidi driving innovation in Africa

Indeed, Ushahidi, which is part of the thriving Kenyan tech start-up scene – nicknamed the Silicon Savannah -, developed BRCK as a solution to its own problems. “As a company full of engineers working in places with poor infrastructure, we simply couldn’t get connected as reliably as our peers in the developed world”.

Ushahidi designed and developed BRCK with $172,000 raised on Kickstarter. And in doing so, pushed another frontier of innovation in Africa. Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon in the region, but Ushahidi’s Kickstarter success has kick-started crowd-funded entrepreneurship and innovation.

UshahidiExpanding technology’s reach

Co-founder Ory Okolloh, previously Google’s policy manager for Africa and named by Forbes as “one of the most influential women in global technology”, is committed to bringing the benefits of technological innovation to Africa. The company’s first project, for example, was a location-based crowdsourcing crisis-tracker map developed in the wake of Kenya’s 2007 post-election violence. Empowering individuals to document and report incidents in real time, the software allows users to text, email, tweet, or photograph information which is then plotted on to a map. The idea is that media, governments, and relief organizations can see a live picture of what’s happening on the ground and can target responses in real-time. The map has since been used in India during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, during the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and in Japan during the tsunami in 2011. It has also been used to log medicine shortages across Africa and reports of violence in the Middle East.  The company takes its name from this piece of software; “Ushahidi” means “testimony” in Swahili.

And the company is currently expanding its reach with the launch of a digital classroom – the Kio Kit. Ushahidi explains: “You open a box and there are 40 tablets inside, there is a BRCK inside and on the BRCK there is a Linux [open-source] server — so we can locally cache educational content, and serve it up to the tablets.” Ever prepared for the African environment, the modem is in a watertight, hardened-plastic wheeled suitcase and acts as a wireless charging station.

African solutions to African problems has become a bit of a catchphrase, but the impact of socially motivated entrepreneurs could have huge implications for the technological development of the region.

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Third India-African Forum Summit

18 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Politics

india-africa-summit7592

The Third India-African Forum Summit took place in New Delhi on October 26-29, 2015. This Summit was arranged to develop trade between the emerging economies of Africa and India and explore improving relationships in other areas on a bilateral and continental level such as involvement in United Nations .The intent of this summit was shown by a higher representation from Africa (over 50 leaders) compared to the previous summits where only 10-15 African nations were present.

Developing relations in a new era

India is now Africa’s fourth largest trading partner behind China, the United States and the European Union nations. At this summit discussions were held at different levels addressing a number of issues with the intention of improving dealings between the attending nations. For instance, India proposed to increase concessionary credit to $10 billion over 5 years to enable further trading opportunities with African nations. Currently the trade figure between India and Africa stands at $70 billion – a substantial increase from $3bn in 2000 when India started showing significant growth. As more African nations are showing an improvement in economic growth, the discussions in this summit were an opportunity to work on higher goals.

Areas of further progress and new development

India’s trading with Africa is mainly in importing of oil and other raw energy products to support its own economy’s growth in areas such as manufacturing. This summit saw further discussion between India and its main trading countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Angola on further trade in light of falling oil prices. Africa allows foreign investment in its oil industry unlike Saudi Arabia and certain Asian countries. It is expected that oil trade between Africa and India would further expand and flourish, as India imports 90% of its oil from Africa and the commodity is increasingly available in conflict-free areas.

Further agreements were reached to offer 50,000 scholarships for students from Africa to study in India over 5 years. India has also agreed to provide training and construction of more educational institutions across Africa as well as expand the Pan Africa E-Network. The continuation of duty free provision to 34 countries will allow further advantages to increase trade between attending nations

modi at african summitPrime Minister Narendra Modi also announced the joint co-operation in challenging the effect of climate change. India and the more developed African nations are known to have high rates of pollution and so any steps to control this situation on a collective basis would be beneficial. Growth on a scale not previously known to developing countries was acknowledged as being encouraged without any serious effect on the environment.

One of the obstacles to further growth of India and African nations, as with other nations, is terrorism. The biggest problems are in Somalia with Al Shabab and in Nigeria with Boko Haram. Somalia is in a particularly fragile situation and can ill afford to drive away investment. Nigeria is India’s biggest trading partner in Africa and so would benefit from efforts to control terrorism. The summit was also told that there would be improved arrangements in the deployment of troops in areas where conflict still exists. This would require the involvement of the African Union and the United Nations.

A summit too high?

Internet searches on interviews with African leaders provided little information on what African nations sought from this summit. The few interviews reported related to information about late arrivals by some leaders and non-attendance by others. There was also a similar lack of information from African academics and think tanks. This raises doubts about the importance they place on the event. Given that South Africa will host a summit of African nations with China in December, it is not clear how much importance is placed on developing trade with India.

India has had a long relationship with Africa because of a colonial past where several African nations are part of the Commonwealth. The Indian diaspora in Africa numbers approximately 3 million people and this provides an added advantage in developing links with India. While China’s trade figures with Africa are substantially higher than India’s at $200 billion, it has been noted that China has a more neo-colonial approach to foreign trade. Ultimately Africa should use investment to increase its own competiveness and capacity and not be dominated. India relies on Africa whilst being a more solid trading partner and this was one clear outcome of the Third India African Forum Summit this year. Africa’s stance in the forthcoming summit with China will be an interesting indicator.

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Magatte Wade, the New African Global Voice

16 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Leaders

magatte wade

39-year-old Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade, who made her name in Silicon Valley, has brought the love for her continent and her business flair together to bring the world a taste of African soul and the world to Africa.

If you are not prepared to face a pride of lions or find yourself pitted against the former CEO of Nestlé in a debate on the importance of organics, then step down, you are not prepared to be Magatte Wade.

Walking away from a $32 million business to create her second company in 2009, Magatte Wade is no stranger to making hard decisions, shunning the easy route and following her instincts. Five successful years went into Adina World Beverages before her departure, a company whose concept blossomed from a much loved yet rapidly disappearing traditional Senegalese drink, bissap, made from hibiscus flowers. The brave entrepreneur left behind Adina World Beverages not because it hit difficulties or became financially unviable, but rather due to a realization that her beliefs were no longer in sync with those of the other key stakeholders.

Now the founder and CEO of Tiossan, which produces luxury, organic skincare products, she brings traditional Senegalese recipes to the global beauty and health market, selling online, in high-end boutiques across the US and in their Hudson, New York, based store. Tiossan gives 10% of all profits towards creating innovative schools in Senegal.

“Use the power of brands to change perceptions”

As an entrepreneur Wade saw the disappearing bissaps’ marketing value but more than this, her experience had taught her that branding is the opportunity to tell a story and she had one she wanted to share.

During her first TEDex talk in 2011, the young Senegalese spoke of brands creating a culture. At the time over 50% of the Top 100 World Brands were American and not a single one African. She observed that American culture is in all our everyday lives and she concluded, “America has succeeded beautifully in exporting its own culture,” it being one of the most sought after worldwide.

To Wade this means building a powerful consumer brand of Africa’s own, to put it on a platform to engage on a global level and subsequently having a say on world issues. There are solutions and Africa can be part of it. “I want my continent to be an economic and cultural power.” Rather than sitting waiting for the next trend to come from America, she said “we can change whole world’s problems by addressing those in the US” first. Selling America healthier drink alternatives like bissap, to reduce obesity levels, was a clever example.

Big ideas and big ambitions

magatte wadeAs a girl, she ran free until the age of eight in her Senegal family compound. Always the instigator of fun hunting and fishing trips, she led a pack of boys with her on her escapades, leadership skills she now draws upon greatly.

From her grandmother, who was her main caretakeruntil she went to join her parents in Germany, she was given a “tremendous feeling of confidence and boundless opportunity”. These attributes, she says, taught her more than anything she learnedat school.

Arriving in Germany, school came as a cold slap of new reality. The rigidness she felt from those initial days would follow her to France, where she studied from the age of 10 until 20 and attended PSB-Paris Business School, which lefther seeking to inject more warmth, humanity and soul into the business world. She made connections while on an exchange program to Indiana and moved there in 1997, before finding her way to Silicon Valley nearSan Francisco.

That special something

It appears her grandmother was onto something when she told her she had “something” special and “something”special to give the world. Ranked first in Forbes 2014 ”20 Young Builders of Africa of Tomorrow” as well as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum at Davos, the list of impressive accolades goes on.

A woman of Africa and a visionary for her continent’s future, she remains humble and good humored. About that run-in with the Nestlé heavyweight, it was his un-gentlemanliness that allowed her to gracefully side-step a technical question she didn’t have the means to answer. It was “scarier than the day I ran into a pride of lions on the Okavango. And just as beautiful.”

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Fracking in the Middle East and Africa

13 November 2015 Comments (1) Featured, Middle East, Politics

algeria protests fracking

The Middle East is a region often portrayed as under threat from fracking, but with surging domestic demand, shale oil and gas hold significant potential.

A refresher for those who need it, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of drilling around 3,000 meters down into the earth before pumping in large volumes of fracking fluid (water mixed with sand and chemicals) at high pressure, to fracture the earth’s shale and release trapped gas and oil. The process has been in use in the US since the 1940s, unlocking the country’s resources of an estimated 567 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of shale gas and 58 billion barrels of shale oil. And it has revolutionized the country’s energy: in 2014 the US produced more than 33 billion cf of shale gas and if it continues at this same rate it is set to achieve self-sufficiency by 2020. With significant resources, Russia, China, Canada, and Latin America have quickly followed suit. As have India and other Asia-Pacific countries, though to a lesser extent.

The positives: fracking has the potential to boost the world’s natural gas resources by 47%, raise national energy supplies, increase self-sufficiency, and create jobs and income. It also has a significantly lower environmental impact than say, coal mining. But it comes with concerns, not least in regard to water supply. The fracking fluid contains chemicals which reportedly can contaminate groundwater supplies. It also requires huge quantities of water, about 2 to 5 million gallons per process, depleting pure water resources. And all this water must be transported to each fracking site, coming with more environmental costs.

Large quantities of methane are also released during the process, a substance which has 25 times greater greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. And there are worries that fracking can cause small earthquakes. As a result, France, which is thought to have Western Europe’s biggest shale oil deposits, has introduced a five-year ban, and Germany has recently followed suit.

Significant potential for fracking in the Middle East and Africa

arabian oil and gasThe Middle East, which currently holds half the world’s conventional oil resources and 40% of its gas, is often portrayed as a region under threat from fracking as its traditional oil and gas customers become self-sufficient producers. But while it has perhaps been slower to exploit shale than most other regions, there is in fact significant potential in the Middle East and Africa. Thomas Ahlbrandt, who led a US Geological Survey in 2000, comments: “US source rocks are modest compared to the Silurian, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary source rocks in the region. The Silurian is found in Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Jordan, while the giant North Field, shared by Iran and Qatar, is the conventional leg of a huge unconventional gas accumulation”. And the region is no longer ignoring the potential.

For example, Oman is on track to become the first Middle Eastern country to produce shale gas and oil. With an estimated 48 Tcf of natural gas and 6.2 billion barrels of oil technically recoverable, it is developing an ambitious drilling program which it hopes will produce at least 1 billion cf of gas per day by 2017. Working with US Apache and Shell Egypt, exploration of four potential basins is also underway in Egypt, where there is an estimated 100 Tcf and 6 billion barrels technically recoverable. Similarly, Kuwait’s state-owned Kuwait Oil Company has identified a viable shale gas deposit and is moving to extract. Libya is seeking foreign companies to conduct joint studies on the development of an estimated 121 Tcf and 26 billion barrels. And, as of March 2015, Bahrain has an exploration program in place in the Bahrain Field, exclusively with OXY.

Shale resources could be important for the region

Scarce in water sources and dependent on groundwater, one may ask why the Middle East and Africa region is pursuing fracking. Perhaps the key reason is the surging domestic demand for energy. Consumption rates have risen, resources have become more unstable, and conventional oil prices are fluctuating.

The UAE already imports gas from Qatar through the Dolphin pipeline and is looking at the potential of importing gas from America to cope with rising demand. But it could instead exploit an estimated 205 Tcf and 22.6 billion barrels of shale resources. Traditionally resource-poor Jordan has already signed an agreement with the Saudi Shale Rock Corporation with hopes of production by 2017 to meet demand. And in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest consumer of crude oil for electricity, there are hopes that an estimated 600 Tcf of technically recoverable shale gas (more than double its conventional gas reserves) could stem a potential energy crisis. The national oil company ARAMCO has already carried out an appraisal drilling, and aims to produce 200 million cf of shale gas by 2018 to supply a new power station.

Unprecedented environmental protests across the region


But fracking is not being taken well everywhere across the region. In South Africa, environmental protests resulted in the government putting in place a shale exploration suspension in 2011. Heavily dependent on coal for 75% of its energy supply, the country could significantly benefit from tapping into its estimated 485 Tcf, predominantly found in the Karoo Basin. And Shell was one of three companies given an exploration permit back in 2010. But while the suspension has since been lifted and fracking regulations have been gazetted, it is still being strongly opposed by a coalition of environmentalists, farmers, and local residents. And recently, a two-year Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was launched.

There’s a similar story in Tunisia, where civil rights organizations have pushed the Tunisian Minister of Industry to put fracking on hold until wide scale social dialogue has taken place.

And in the most obvious example there is Algeria, where the drilling of shale reserves has led to the breakout of an unprecedented environmental protest movement. Looking to profit from potential reserves of 707 Tcf and 5.7 billion barrels across six basins, the government has signed agreements with a number of companies, put in place tax breaks on shale drilling, and has begun a 20 year development program with a $70 billion investment. But since January this year, there have been wide scale demonstrations, sit-ins, civil disobedience, and clashes with police in Warkalah and Ain Al Saleh in the heart of the Sahara. Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has vowed to continue the exploratory work, while promising to protect the public’s health and the environment.

Indeed, if the region is to be successful as a shale gas and oil producer, it must prioritize wide scale social dialogue and environmental concerns. Otherwise there is a risk that demonstrations, which are potentially dangerous in such an area, could turn into political pressure that prevents any shale exploration at all.

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Africa, the Middle East, and the Future of Football

9 November 2015 Comments (0) Africa, Featured, Middle East, Politics

fifa

In 2010 South Africa hosted the first World Cup to be held on the African continent. Following ex-President Sepp Blatter’s scandal of corruption and vote-rigging this summer, FIFA is once again turning to the Middle East and Africa for solutions and a new vision for the organization’s future.

Since the founding of FIFA in 1904 all but one President has been European, with the exception of Brazilian João Havelange. But the candidate list confirmed by FIFA last week boasts a truly 21st century roster; four out of the seven candidates hail from the Middle East and Africa, signaling not only the globalization of football but also the millions of fans represented in this region.

The Untapped Potential

Andrew Walsh of the sports research group SPORT+MARKT, notes an “increasing awareness of the scope for growth in Africa’s key football markets”. And it’s not just FIFA that is gaining interest in the region, but all of football leadership. “Africa is a hot-bed of untapped potential for clubs due to the sheer numbers of fans there. No other continent on earth harbors such a high ratio of football interest,” Walsh added.

And he’s not exaggerating. In a 2011 study, SPORT+MARKT revealed that 72 per cent of Africa’s 1.12 billion people, aged between 16-69, have an interest in football, roughly 800 million football fans. The study shows that 55 per cent of them are interested in the Premiership, while 39 per cent actively support an English top flight team.

In comparison, Europe’s entire population is 742.5 million people- the fact that there are millions more African football fans than the entire population of Europe illustrates why FIFA’s newly diverse potential presidential candidates mirror the future of football.

south africa worldcup

The Odds

Despite the numbers, many sport bookies seem to favor Frenchman Michel Platini as the likely winner of the upcoming elections. But as a long-time FIFA executive currently on suspension alongside Blatter, many Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) members doubt that he will be able to oversee the far-reaching reform needed following Blatter’s regime- especially since he’s trying to hold onto his UEFA presidency at the same time.

The FIFA presidency requires full attention to achieve necessary reform, so it’s likely that when it comes to the vote UEFA members will swing behind a candidate that will bring a fresh-start to the organization.

The Candidates

Likely candidate Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein ran against Blatter in this summer’s elections and nearly won, with UEFA’s backing as well as the support of Asian and African regional football associations. A former FIFA Vice President, veteran politician, and current President of the West Asian Football Federation, Prince Ali seems like a worthy contender to Platini. However in the last Vice Presidential election, Prince Ali lost to Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim, another candidate with a strong running for the presidency.

Sheikh Salman also has an impressive track record and a proven ability to consolidate votes. A Bahraini FIFA Vice President, Salman is on the task force to untangle football disputes between Israel and Palestine, and has targeted match-fixing, grassroots development, and women’s involvement during his time as President of the Asian Football Confederation, an organization mired by historic corruption and transparency issues.

“Turn FIFA around really quickly”

Salman currently denies allegations of human rights abuse concerning the violent suppression of pro-democracy campaigns in Bahrain in 2011, where over 150 athletes were imprisoned. Salman is a historic Blatter fan and a backer of the controversial Qatari and Russian World Cup bids, but he reckons he’ll “turn FIFA around really quickly”

Musa Bility, Liberian Football Association President and oil mogul, is also plagued by a controversial history concerning his 6-month football ban in 2013 and allegations that he won his presidency by buying votes for $500 a piece.

Among all the candidates, Tokyo Sexwale has the most divergent CV: a millionaire mining tycoon and anti-apartheid activist, Sexwale was imprisoned for 13 years in Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela. A former FIFA Vice President, Sexwale was also key member of South Africa’s winning World Cup bidding team, and a chief organizer of the competition. Though the bid has drawn allegations for bribery, Sexwale has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has publicly criticized the payments, calling it “worrisome” for the future of football in a BBC interview.

Despite FIFA’s need for a fresh-start, many candidates have a history of wrongdoing to address. Currently embroiled by scandal, FIFA needs a new figurehead fast to clean up the mess and criminal reputation Blatter left behind. Recovering from collapse will be tricky without strong leadership, but it’s undoing offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build an international governing body fit for it’s purpose. It would be a true crime to waste it.

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