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Winners of the African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge

12 December 2022 Comments (0) Featured, Leaders

The YouthADAPT competition, an annual competition and awards program for youth-led enterprises jointly organized by the Global Center on Adaptation, the African Development Bank, and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has announced the 2022 winners list.

The YouthADAPT Competition expands in its second year

The goal of the YouthADAPT competition is to boost sustainable job creation through entrepreneurship and innovation in climate change adaptation and resilience across Africa. The competition invites young African entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 from micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to submit ideas that can deliver innovative solutions to adapt to and build resilience against climate change. The twenty winning entries, half of which are women-led, won grant funding of up to $100,000 each, as well as a 12-month accelerator program to help them grow their businesses, deepen their impact, and create jobs on the continent.

Launched in 2021, this year’s competition received over 3,000 applicants. Despite its short history it is already delivering results. One of last year’s winners, Juveline Ngum Ngwa from Bamenda in Cameroon has been able to scale up her business, Bleglee Waste Management, as a result of the grant. This has meant a second waste sorting center and the development of software for drones which identify garbage blocking drainage systems.

Competition winners from all across Africa

Winners of the 2022 African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge come from across the continent:

Namibia

  • Kaveto Tjatjara, of Flushh, produces waterless toilets for schools in underserved communities. 

Malawi

  •  Joyce Sikwese, of Green Impact Technologies, accelerates the productive use of climate-smart agriculture technologies and organic fertilizers among smallholder farmers.
  • Ulaya Mwale Mpatsa, of Engineering Company Limited, offers a solution for the recovery and treatment of rainwater, desalination of seawater, and groundwater extraction. 

Kenya

  • Maryanne Gichanga, of AgriTech Analytics, uses satellite data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to halt and reverse soil degradation, crop pests, and diseases. 
  • Esther Kimani, of Farmer Lifeline Technologies, reduces greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fertilizers and farm chemicals and creates more environmentally friendly versions.
  • Robin Ndungu Kisumeo, from Organics Limited, empowers smallholder farmers to create sustainable and climate-resilient aquatic food systems by leveraging artificial intelligence.

Egypt

  • Reham Yehia, of Baramoda, reduces CO2 emissions by decreasing the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture, helping soil that has been affected by climate change to recover. 
  • Moataz Yousry Voltx, from Engineering & Industries, produces a smart irrigation system that saves up to 40% of the water used to irrigate agricultural crops. 

Cameroon

  • Pelkins Ajanoh, from Cassavita, provides improved cassava seedlings that are resistant to climate change effects. 
  • Anna Ngwenyi Mafor, of Multi-Tech Sustainable Solutions (MTTS), uses smart technology for the early detection of crop diseases caused by climate change.

Nigeria

  • Rita Idehai, at Ecobarter, improves adaptive capacity to flash flooding by keeping drainage and streets free of waste. 
  • Rebecca Andeshi, from Grocircular Agro Services, produces organic fertilizer generated from poultry waste, food waste, rice husks, and wood chips. 
  • Olowoseunre Oluwadamilola, of Pazelgreen Technologies, provides sustainable and cost-effective industrial cooling processes to address the problem of post-harvest loss of fruits and vegetables caused by climate change. 

Rwanda

  • Yvette Ishimwe, of IRIBA Water Group Ltd, offers an adaptation solution for floods by collecting rainwater from the roofs of houses, purifying it, and then distributing it to young women. 

Botswana

  • Mmakwena Moesi, from Viva Organica, improves soil moisture and health of plants affected by climate change.

Ghana

  • Rose Noah, of West African Feeds, leverages tropical insect farming techniques to convert food waste into climate-resistant food alternatives for Africa’s livestock feed industry. 

Senegal

  • Moussa Diouf, from Agroexpert farming, tackles the effects of drought on agriculture, especially at small scale through the use of drip-drop irrigation. 

Algeria

  • Nassim Ilmane Eurl Algerienne, of Des Industries Technologiques, created a mobile app that helps small and mid-sized farmers receive recommendations and disease alerts to optimize fertilizers and pesticide usage while improving their yield.

Côte d’Ivoire

  • Noël N’guessan, from Lono, improved fertilizers to address climate change effects on soils, especially those suffering from severe degradation. 

Uganda

  • Frank Mugisha, Akatale On Cloud, created an original technology using flies to decompose organic waste into livestock feed, addressing the fodder deficit that can be caused by climate change. 

The list has doubled since 2021, where only ten winners were selected, with awards totaling $1 million. For 2022, this was increased to twenty winners with the awards pool doubling to $2 million. Next year, it is hoped that the total of the awards will reach $4 million.

The awards ceremony was held at the African Pavilion of the COP27 Climate Change Conference. African Development Bank Group president Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said, “Africa’s needs cannot be ignored…Our young people must be part of the solution. They are creative, dynamic, and engaging. They are futuristic and must be part of the solution for climate adaptation in Africa.”

Photos : un.org – LinkedIn

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Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies in 2022

19 July 2022 Comments (0) Business, Featured

Between the digitization of informal trade and agriculture, new banking options for those without banks, and co-working opportunities, the African continent is ripe for investment. With the release of the Statista report by the Financial Times on Africa’s fastest growing companies, three stand out – Wasoko, Flocash, and AFEX.

The African continent is a unique and rapidly-evolving economic environment. In recent years new opportunities have arisen to fill the newest niches, from the digitization of informal trade and agriculture, to new banking options for those without access to traditional brick-and-mortar banks, to co-working opportunities; the African continent is undergoing a change. With the release of the Statista report by the Financial Times on Africa’s fastest growing companies, it is possible to get an insight into what businesses are flourishing in the current environment. The list of fastest-growing companies is dominated by technology providers in every industry including agriculture, financial services, logistics, and transport. The top three of these are Wasoko, Flocash, and AFEX.

Wasoko – 346% compound annual growth

The informal retail sector is huge in Africa, with hundreds of billions of dollars of product sold yearly from shops and kiosks. Yet these sellers have little access to capital, and face challenges getting goods either regularly, or on time from suppliers. This is where Wasoko comes in. It has become a full-scale distributor, owning and leasing facilities in the supply chain from warehousing to logistics. It began in Kenya, but quickly expanded into Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

Wasoko allows retailers to order products from suppliers via SMS or its mobile app for same-day delivery to their stores and shops via a network of logistics drivers. The company also offers a buy now, pay later option for retailers who need working capital to order more goods. The company is trusted by over 50,000 retailers and has over 1,000 employees, with their revenue having gone from 0.3 million in 2017 to 27 million in 2020.

Flocash – banks for the unbanked

In a continent where around 57% of the population do not have a traditional bank account, making electronic payments is difficult. With the growth of e-commerce, and greater prevalence of internet access, it was doubtless that someone would step in to fill the void. Flocash, a provider of payment services across Africa and the Middle East is the fastest-growing. It offers more than 200 payment options, 20,000 cash points, and 30 different currencies.

The company currently covers 60 different countries and has more than 400 million customers, with a compound growth of 275% and revenue going from $0.121 million in 2017 to $6.3 million in 2020.

AFEX – the reference point for commodities

Until 1990, commodity exchanges were generally restricted to industrialized nations but the rise in affordable technology has seen them spread globally. Commodity exchanges began to emerge in Africa in the 1990s but the only successful exchange was the South African Futures Exchange which was birthed from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited provides commodity brokerage services. The company has been developing a viable commodities exchange and supply chain infrastructure to support agricultural products since 2014, and it reached $31 million in revenue in 2020.

Many notable companies in the top 10

There are many interesting companies listed among the fastest-growing in Africa. Starsight Energy is ranked number 6, and delivers comprehensive, end-to-end solar solutions. AfricaWorks is a partner with Seedstars and offers workplace solutions, including co-working spaces with a compound growth of 238%. Lori systems has built an e-logistics platform that is revolutionizing the cargo-transport value chain in frontier markets from the ground up, currently number 7 on the list.

Considering that the current two biggest companies in Africa by revenue are oil and gas companies, and the third is a timber company, this could be seen as a sign of the continent becoming more developed, and moving away from traditional resource extraction markets.

Photos : breakingnews.com – ft.com

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The Africa Tech Summit returns to Nairobi for its 4th Edition

15 March 2022 Comments (0) Business

 In February 2022, the Africa Tech Summit returned to Nairobi with over 500 delegates, 150 guest speakers, and more than 350 companies, with the aim of bringing African Tech leaders and international players together across three key summits.

February 2022 marks the 4th Africa Tech Summit

On February 22nd and 23rd 2022, the Africa Tech Summit returned to Nairobi for the 4th edition of the exposition. This two-day event will bring together over 500 delegates, 150 guest speakers, and more than 350 companies to share their insights on technology on the continent. Attendees, both companies and investors, had networking and business opportunities in the FinTech, Startup, and Mobile sectors. The goal was to connect startups and visionaries with industry leaders from across the world and there were opportunities for startups to pitch live on stage, along with attending workshops, use a deal room, and join venture showcases. Previous Africa Tech Summits have been held in Kigali, London, Washington DC, and Shanghai, all with the aim of bringing African Tech leaders and international players together.

Getting the necessary funding at the Startup Summit

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 saw over $4.27 billion invested into African startups, a huge increase on 2020. In such a fast-moving ecosystem the Africa Tech Startup Summit is the perfect place for companies to pitch to investors. This summit, a recurring component of the Africa Tech Summit, will encourage collaboration and showcase investment opportunities with the aim of developing entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. Industry leaders, corporations and startups will all have the opportunity to connect at the summit.

Crypto was prominent at the summit

FinTech (Financial Technology) solutions have become massively important across the continent, illustrated by the $200 million acquisition of Paystack and Beyonic by Stripe and MFS Africa, respectively. FinTech companies work with digital identity, remittance, cyber security, and payment and banking systems to offer services previously only available from traditional brick-and-mortar banks. This year’s summit focused on Decentralized Finance, a term for various financial applications of cryptocurrency or blockchain that has the potential to disrupt traditional financial intermediaries in Africa. This was continuing the theme set in the previous years where a Money and Blockchain Summit was held.

This year’s summit was supported by Celo and VerifyMe, and featured African Fintech leaders as they deep-dive into the opportunities offered by FinTech, Crypto and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) in Africa through conferences, panels, and organized sessions.

Tapping into Mobile Technology in Africa

Nearly 800 million people in Africa lack a mobile internet connection, but the sector is expanding quickly. By 2025 over 425 million people will be using mobile services on the continent, and the data center market in Africa and the Middle East attracted over $6.55 billion of investment in 2021. Opportunities are plentiful, and the Africa Mobile Summit featured keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions from across the sector. MarTech (Marketing Tech), gaming, connectivity, cyber-security, cloud computing, and application development were focused on during the mobile summit, which was supported by Ethiopian startup, Gabeya, a pan-African source for freelance professional talent that recently launched its talent mobile application. The 2022 Mobile Summit is the evolution of 2020’s Future Summit, which focused on new technologies across the African digital landscape.

Photo : resilient.digital-africa.co

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