Blog - Afrikan Heroes

Mahamadou Issoufou brings African vision to the World at the Dialogue of Civilizations

October 15, 2019

The Dialogue of Civilisations which took place during the 17th Rhodes Forum on the 11th and 12th of October 2019 was organised by the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, to discuss several national and regional issues and offer Africa’s vision on major international issues. Special guest at this year’s event was the President of Niger Republique and present Chairman of the African Union, President Mahamadou Issoufou.

President of Niger Republique and present Chairman of the African Union, President Mahamadou Issoufou

President Issofou used the opportunity to present his vision for Africa and Niger, advocating for multilateralism and drawing attention to the security situation in the Sahel region and Lake Chad Basin, the situation in Libya and support of the international community to combat terrorism in West Africa. He warned that the problems posed by climate change and illegal migration if left unattained to will create another circle of violence across the region.

This event comes at a time Niger is ascending the position of a non-permanent member of the Security Council from January 2020 thus it has a big role in projecting African interests and representations. Another issue he highlighted was the challenges of counterfeiting in drugs across the markets in Africa. He equally called for reforms in global political and economic governance and win-win cooperation between countries.

On the next day of the Dialogue, President Issoufou concluded by participating in a panel dedicated to partnership between Africa and the rest of the world. The Panel discussion was moderated by Hannane Ferdjani of Africanews. Participants included the Founder of Transparency International, Africa Progress Panel Co-Chair Mr Peter Eigen from Germany, Founder and President of the Brazzaville Foundation Mr Jean Yves Olivier from France, former Prime Minister of Guinea Mr Kabiné Komara, Director of Education Projects of ABO Capital Mr Jaimie Graça from Angola and South African Industrialist, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist Mr Ivor Ichikovitz.

In his speech, President Issoufou raised all the issues related to this theme and clarified his vision for the development of Africa. His Excellency Mahamadou Issoufou emphasised the challenges and prospects inherent in the development of the African continent, recalling the situation of Africa in various fields and underlining the efforts led by its leaders through, inter alia, Agenda 2063 and its various Plans and Projects, including ZLECAf.

President Issoufou again thanked the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute and in particular its Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Vladimir Yakunin and Executive Director Mr. Jean-Christophe Bas, ‘for having provided him, as a Special Guest, at this 17th Rhodes Forum, a privileged place of reflection and analysis to help in the decision-making of political and economic world leaders.’

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Mozambique’s LNG is the Economic Game Changer

As Mozambicans await the results of the general elections, the incoming government is sure to benefit from the country’s second Final Investment Decision (FID) in the gas sector. In just two years Mozambique has officially positioned itself as a key player in the global gas and LNG market for years to come. The latest FID on the US$20 billion Mozambique LNG project makes it the largest ever in sub-Saharan Africa oil and gas. According to President Nyusi as this project is one of the most important and transformational projects in the country’s history and is set to be a game-changer for the nation of 31 million people.

According to Wood Mac, from the early 2030s state revenue from Mozambique LNG alone will reach US$3 billion per annum, single-handedly doubling today’s revenue as calculated by the IMF and World Bank. And this is not the only mega-LNG project on the drawing board. ExxonMobil’s Rovuma LNG project, which envisages a 15 million tpa two-train facility taking gas from its offshore area 4 block, is also lined up to take FID. Meanwhile, Italy’s ENI is already moving ahead with its 3.4 million tpa floating LNG facility, which will draw on 5 TCF of gas in waters more than 2,000 metres deep with first gas due in mid-2022. “With strong LNG demand growth out of Asia, now is Mozambique’s time,” said Jon Lawrence, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s sub-Saharan Africa upstream team, as news broke of the Anadarko FID.

With FIDs signed, the projects are now moving from the planning into the implementation phase. Hundreds of contracts are expected to be tendered for the construction, infrastructure and services needed to build and develop the megaprojects.

More recently, Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV) Area 4 operator decided to move ahead with the midstream and upstream project activities of over US $500 million as initial investments. These investments include activities such as the construction of the pioneer camp, the development of resettlement activities, the construction of the airstrip and access roads, as well as the start of detailed LNG facility engineering project.

It makes this the ideal time to participate at the 6th Mozambique Gas Summit & Exhibition, in partnership with ENH, taking place on 13-14 November in Maputo. The event is the official platform to hear from key decision-makers in this fast-emerging LNG hotspot, including key Government figures, policy-makers and all the major project stakeholders who will be in attendance. This edition is taking place at a time of exciting change including; the construction of FLNG, the progress in drilling activities in Cabo Delgado and Angoche, and the infrastructure development in Pemba Logistics Base. The event is organised in partnership with ENH, with support from MIREME, INP and industry stakeholders ExxonMobil, Total Mozambique LNG, TechnipFMC, FNB, Sasol, Baker Hughes, Standard Bank and G4S.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Somalia is Open for Business, says Petroleum Minister

Inspite of the perception many have about Somalia as a stability challenged nation, the country is opening its doors to investors to explore the country’s rich hydrocarbons and favorable geological structure which offers huge opportunities for investors in the oil and gas industry. The Somalian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Hon. Abdirashid Mohammed Ahmed is calling on investors wishing to explore the huge opportunities in the East African market to come to his country. Speaking at the just concluded Africa Oil & Power conference, he noted that “nowhere is the contribution that the energy industry can make to civil society and economic development greater than in Somalia,” he said, noting that the sector has the potential to greatly enhance stability and economic development.

Somalian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Hon. Abdirashid Mohammed Ahmed

On its path to transforming its petroleum industry and attract the attention of new investors, Somalia has made significant progress in recent years. This year, the country passed a new petroleum law which enabled it to make progress in exploration and development, and attract interest from oil and gas majors ExxonMobil and Shell.

“My ministry worked successfully with the six federal member states to develop an equitable and transparent framework for development, focused on the greater good of Somalia and its entire people, whilst ensuring that we are highly competitive internationally to attract investment by delivering returns that are consistent with the risks and rewards of developing our off-shore industry,” said the minister.

Eager to demonstrate to the world that Somalia is open for business, the minister said the country is currently on an international roadshow which will showcase the exploration opportunities available in its hydrocarbons sector. “This includes seismic data recently shot by Spectrum covering 20,185 km. The current licensing round is in respect of up to 15 blocks, covering a total area of approximately 7,500 square miles. The bid round will follow shortly after to ensure that the world knows: Somalia is open for business.”

Minister Ahmed also spoke on the attractiveness of the country’s production sharing agreement (PSA) model for offshore oil exploration and development – regarding it as being amongst the most attractive to investors in the frontier basins. The PSA provides a highly attractive regulatory fiscal framework that is both competitive and equitable for both the people of Somalia and international oil companies (IOC).

“By equitably linking of royalties and share of revenue closely to the price of oil, the Somalia PSA ensures that IOCs can recover their up-front development costs and earn a fair share profit even if oil prices fall, whilst maximizing the profit going to the Somalian people,” the minister explained.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Nigerian e-Health Startup Doctoora Secures $14,000 At NESG Pitch Event

Nigeria e-health startup Doctoora has secured N5 million ($13,796) in funding, by emerging winner of the 25th National Economic Summit Startups Pitch Competition powered by Sterling Bank. Runners-up Tiny Hearts Technology and Loystar got N3 million and N2 million, respectively, in grants as second and third place winners. Gricd Services Limited got N1 million in the audience choice category.

Here Is All You Need To Know

In 2017, the NESG introduced a Start-ups Pitching Event as part of the annual Nigerian Economic Summit (NES). It aims to help start-ups get the funds they need to grow their business and, in some cases, mentorship and professional advisory services, among others.
Consecutively in 2018 and 2019, Sterling Bank powered the NES Startups Pitching Events to provide innovators and entrepreneurs from all over Nigeria with opportunity to pitch their start-ups, collaborate and interact with individuals and organisations interested in promoting entrepreneurship.
Ten ventures made it to this year’s finals, and they are Agriple, Notitia, Phaheem Pharmaceuticals Limited, Tiny Hearts Technology, AfriNET Power Tech Solutions, Doctoora E-Health Ltd, GatePass, Loystar, Gricd Services Limited and Green Axis. They are all early-stage startups registered in Nigeria and are not more than five years old.

“The best way to create value is to solve problems. If you are not solving problems, you cannot make profit or grow in a sustainable manner. As a bank, we enable economic growth by working with businesses that are solving problems in critical sectors of the economy,” Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank said.

“We realise that young people who are starting up businesses need a lot of support and they also need a roadmap. A lot of them have not run businesses before and, therefore, they are learning as they go.

The Startups Pitching Event is an opportunity to show them what is required to run a successful business. Beyond that, it is also about hope. It is about sending a message to thousands of other young people who are starting off that there are corporate organisations that are out to support and collaborate with them,” he further said.

Related: Startups In Nigeria To Get Up To $27k In New Funding From NES25 Startup Event

A Look At The Top Three Startups In This Edition

Doctoora is a venture founded in 2016 by Dr. Debo Odulana. It aims to create healthier communities in Africa. The startup also provides healthcare professionals with medical facility rentals for their private practice. Doctoora in addition runs an online marketplace where consumers can search and book for healthcare professionals within the Doctoora network.

Tiny Hearts Technology is a startup that crafts innovative medical solutions for thriving communities. It invented “Crib A’glow” unit — a solar-powered foldable phototherapy crib for the treatment of newborn jaundice — for use in hospitals and health centres in both urban and rural communities.

Loystar is a retail and loyalty startup whose platform is designed to help micro, small and medium businesses sell and drive repeat sales in their business.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

Founder of Electric Vehicle Startup Faraday Files Bankruptcy

Jia Yueting, an entrepreneur who ran up billions of dollars in personal debts trying to build a business empire in China, has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. with plans to turn over his latest venture, an electric vehicle startup, Faraday to creditors.

In a proposed debt-restructuring plan filed in US federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, Jia will use his ownership stake in Los Angeles-based Faraday & Future Inc. to set up a creditor trust to repay his debts.

Jia faces $2.3 billion in claims, according to the plan. In a statement on Faraday’s website, the company said Jia’s debts were owed to creditors in China.

The plan is also designed to help Faraday put together “equity financing efforts and prepare for an IPO,” according to the statement. Depending on the value of that proposed initial public offering, creditors may recover from 49% to 100% of what they are owed, according to reorganization plan documents filed in court.

Faraday is trying to develop an electric vehicle for sale in the U.S. and China. The company recently hired Carsten Breitfeld, BMW AG veteran, to take over the chief executive officer role from Jia.

Faraday won a much-needed cash infusion when it formed a joint venture earlier this year with The9 Ltd., the Chinese online-gaming company. And a unit of China Evergrande Group, the property developer owned by Hui Ka Yan, China’s third-richest man, agreed to invest $2 billion, but cut back on the investment after giving Faraday $800 million for a 32% stake, according to court documents.

Jia has a history of making dramatic statements about his various ventures, including a claim that one of his biggest China-based businesses would “far surpass” China’s three biggest internet companies: Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent. That claim was related to $2.2 billion Jia raised for LeEco, a sprawling conglomerate with interests ranging from electric cars and TVs to entertainment.

In his first international television appearance in 2016, he called Apple Inc.“outdated” and said he expected his electric vehicle company to “lead the industry leapfrogging to a new age.”

In his bankruptcy filing, Jia warned that his IPO plans for Faraday may not raise as much as projected. That was due in part to “negative press related to his debts and an investigation by the China Securities Regulatory Commission into the delisting from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange” of a company where Jia served as chief executive officer.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

These 3 Questions Will Determine Whether A Startup Can Disrupt Or Not

Over the past few years, digital native companies like Uber, Amazon, and Airbnb have redefined the rules of competition in their industries. Less often spoken about are the more conservative markets where digital disruptors have not yet managed to dislodge the incumbents or even win significant market shares.

So, with startups emerging at a rapid rate, how does one predict whether the incumbents will transform themselves and ensure that they remain relevant in the future, or whether they will lose out to new market entrants?

There are three simple questions one can use to determine whether existing companies or startups in any industry are on track to dominate or not.

These questions have guided our journey over the last three years as we built Naked Insurance from scratch. Our success in driving above-industry growth rates via word of mouth and with minimal advertising testifies to the power of these three important principles, which can be applied to any business:

1. What do customers say after experiencing this business?

What are the things people love most about this business? What are the headline benefits? The flipside of this question is: What do people dislike about dealing with the current industry providers?

What people hate about the traditional insurance experience is the time-consuming paperwork and phone calls, the quibbling when they claim, and the need to regularly renegotiate premiums to get a fair deal. Plus, insurance is a grudge purchase. People resent spending money on it and want to get covered for the best possible price.

So, at Naked we set out to remove the phone calls and paper from the process, enabling people to get quotes for, buy, manage, claim from and cancel their insurance policies through a completely automated, digital process. Automation also means we can reduce premiums significantly and give customers more convenience and control, taking the pain out of the experience.

2. Did customers find a deeper connection beyond the transaction?

Today’s customer doesn’t just want to buy the product or the service — they seek a deeper connection. This isn’t just about the clichés incorporate vision and value statements, but about whether customers feel that this brand is for people like them. Are they part of the tribe? Do they believe in what the business is all about?

For our industry, we saw an opportunity to challenge the complexity and lack of customer control that alienates people from traditional insurers. We decided to make transparency a core part of the business in an industry that can often be opaque.

For example, with most car insurers, you will be offered a discount to stay whenever you threaten to cancel your policy.

So why did they not just charge you the fair premium all along? This industry practice has never been fair to the customer. And it is unsustainable in today’s world when consumers can access a wealth of info from social media, price comparison engines and other online sources to help them make informed purchasing decisions.

Our self-service system guarantees that our premiums don’t include the fact that conventional insurers have built into their premiums. You buy your policy without ever interacting with a human and you don’t need to speak to an agent in a call centre to cancel if you are not happy with your premium increase.

We don’t have a second bite of the cherry if clients threaten to cancel; we have to always charge them the fair premium. We believe that this transparent approach will win out in the future because today’s customers demand transparency and fairness. This is about changing the kind of relationship that you have with your insurance provider and demonstrating a system where the client does not have to fight in order to get the best deal. It’s about taking away the grudge from insurance.

Is it working? Well, as easy as we’ve made the process of cancelling your Naked insurance cover, our cancellation rate is significantly lower than what it is for traditional insurance companies in South Africa.

3. What will make this company’s customers fans for life?

This question evaluates what a business is doing to be successful in five years time. What are the ambitious things this company is doing in the background that will make them untouchable in future?

For us, the answer lies in building advanced artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and datasets at our core. Our systems remove as much friction from the customer experience as possible while enabling us to detect fraud and price risk with unprecedented accuracy.

When customers sign up or claim, we ask fewer questions than conventional providers because we leverage a range of alternative data sources to make decisions on claims and premium pricing.

As an example, when you answer the question of “Where do you live?”, our system captures your answer (the actual address), plus a range of other data points contained in every micro-interaction, for example: Which areas did you browse before dropping the pin? How long did it take you to answer the question? Where were you when you answered the question?

Applying AI and machine learning to these thousands of data points allow us to filter which data points are useful in risk classification. And the more we feed machine learning with data from actual outcomes, the better it predicts.

This enables us to assess and price risk more precisely as well as identify fraudulent claims more accurately, enabling quotes and claims within seconds and offering significant premium savings. We see this as our competitive edge — it will take most insurers years to retool legacy systems and processes to allow for the same level of automation if it is even possible for them to do so.

Can the old-school companies win?

If the established players in the industry recognise the importance of change and they are willing to invest, they will win in a changing market. Apple is an example of a company that pulled off such a pivot — growing from an old-fashioned PC company into a leader in mobile devices and digital services.

But most big businesses are not willing to cannibalise their existing, profitable businesses or throw out their old, legacy systems and ways of thinking.

That offers the opportunity for a business built from scratch to win significant market share and to reset customer expectations in the industry. The only constant is change, but the organisations that anticipate what that change will be and seek to catalyse it will be the winners in every industry.

Ernest North, is the co-founder of Naked Insurance, an online insurance startup based in Johannesburg, South Africa

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

Here Is How Africa’s First Smartphone Factory Will Join Africa ’s Smartphone Market As It Looks To Expand To Kenya, Others

October 14, 2019

August 7, 2019 was the day Rwanda made history and became the first country in Africa to produce smartphones.

“Rwandans are already using smartphones but we want to enable many more. The introduction of Mara phones will put smartphones ownership within reach of more Rwandans,” President Paul Kagame was quoted as saying at The Mara Phone factory in Kigali where he commissioned Mara’s production capacity.

According to Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group and member of President Paul Kagame’s Presidential Advisory Council, Mara is expected to produce at least 1,200 smartphones daily for sale in Rwanda and abroad.

Thakkar has noted the firm is already in talks with regional countries including Kenya, DR Congo and Angola to export and sell the Rwanda-made smartphones. He also hinted that the company has plans to expand elsewhere on the continent and open a factory in South Africa.

Quick Facts About Maraphone

The Mara Z is a dual sim phone with a storage capacity of 32GB and memory of 3GB, while the Mara X is also a dual sim with 16GB space and 1GB memory. Both models are pre-installed with Google’s Android operating system.
Since Mara’s official launch, its smartphone sales has increased with at least 30 handsets sold per day between Tuesday and the time of going to press.
In the past three months, the shop has sold about 130 phones.
Established at a cost of over $50 million by the Bank of Kigali, the factory directly employs 200 workers — 90 per cent of whom are Rwandan and 60 per cent female — to work in technology development, production and the assembly lines. The local and foreign engineers, currently work one shift a day.

“Producing smartphones takes about 1,000 individual components in a complex manufacturing operation requiring significant technical skill and expertise,” Mr Thakkar told the East African

‘’I want to emphasise that this is a manufacturing facility and not an assembling plant,’’ he added.

Key Facts About Africa’s Smartphone Market

According to latest figures announced by International Data Corporation (IDC), the Africa mobile phone market declined 1.8% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in Q2 2019.
While Nigeria remained Africa’s largest smartphone market in Q2 2019, followed by South Africa and Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa saw smartphone shipments increase 3.6% and 0.2%, respectively, while Egypt saw 18.0% QoQ growth after the market shrunk considerably in Q1 2019 due to the introduction of import registration and other import regulations.
China’s Transsion (makers of Tecno, Infinix, and Itel brands), Samsung, and Huawei were the continent’s smartphone market’s leaders in shipment terms in Q2 2019, with respective market shares of 37.4%, 27.4%, and 8.7%.
However, Samsung had the highest share by dollar value at 40.3%, followed by Transsion (21.9%) and Huawei (12.2%).
Samsung’s dominant revenue position in the market is sustained through timely product launches across all African markets, particularly in relation to its A-Series devices, which are shipped in large volumes.
Shipments of 4G-enabled smartphones increased by 6.6% QoQ in Q2 2019 to account for 70.8% of the total smartphone market, spurred by the declining prices of LTE devices.
IDC forecasts that 4G-enabled phones will constitute 74.4% of the African smartphone market by the end of 2020, with 5G phones tipped to garner a 0.4% share.
Smartphone penetration in Rwanda currently stands at around 15% with the most basic Tecno and Samsung models sold at $40 and $70 respectively.
There are 490,000 Facebook users in December 2017, 3.8% penetration rate.

Why Mara Is The First African Smartphone Maker

According to a source, Maraphones made at the plant are partially manufactured and partially assembled in Rwanda.

Most of the components are imported from China and Turkey, the source recently told disclosed to The East African, while the Mara factory in Kigali only manufacturers the motherboards, which drive the phone operating system.

“They make the motherboards in Rwanda using about 1,000 raw materials while the rest of the handset is assembled using imported parts,” the source said.

The factory is divided into different sections for technology development, production and assembly lines.

The factory, so far, makes two phone models the Mara X and Mara Z retailing for $130 and $190 respectively. They are likened to the Nile X phones — an African brand phone made in Egypt with the help of China since 2017.

Relying On More Retail Centers To Penetrate Africa’s Smartphone Market

Although Mara phones have been on sale since early this year at the Kigali Business Centre, the factory’s management says it is set to open 10 more retail centres in Kigali and across the country. This is hopefully a strategy it hopes to rely to enter, first enter the Rwandan market. Rwanda is roughly a country of over 12 million people, with

The Mara Z model is currently the preferred model and can be purchased in instalments over two years, a move aimed at making them affordable and give them a competitive edge over foreign models.

The retailer says they are able to supply orders of more than 100 phones at a go.

“A smartphone is no longer a luxury but a necessary component of daily life. Mara Phones shares the vision for our development and the introduction of its phones will put smartphone ownership within reach of more Rwandans,” President Kagame said during the factory launch.

“I bought the Mara Z because of its large storage capacity and because it is made in Rwanda. I own a Tecno but the Mara looks better designed and offers a warranty of 13 months,” said Aisha Uwitonze, a businesswoman, in response to our queries on user experience of the phones.

“A phone with a 1GB memory will likely begin to hang after downloading a few applications or after using it for some time. For that price, I could still buy a Tecno,” said Fred Hategekimana who opted not to buy the Mara X.

Tecno and Infinix phones retail within the same price range as the Mara phones.

Stepping Up More On Mobile Subscriptions Under The Available Legal Regime In Rwanda

Mobile phone subscriptions in Rwanda hit about 10 million last year according to the Rwanda Utilities and Regulations Authority.

Internet subscriptions also increased from 4.4 million users to 5.4 million, an increase of about 25 per cent, and the regulator attributed the increase to the affordability of smartphones as well as flexible pricing of Internet bundles.

The Mara phones manufactured in Kigali qualify for a corporate income tax holiday of up to seven years, which the government offers under its investment promotion code to investments worth at least $50 million in the manufacturing sector.

Bottom Line

It is safe to say that once a phone making factory produces a phone’s motherboard, it produces almost the whole phone. This is what Africa’s first smartphone maker is looking to achieve, even though it still sources other components from other countries. Barely few weeks after its formal launch and with over 130 smartphones already sold, Mara is hoping to find market in Kenya, Angola and DR Congo soon. How soon the company joins the global over 1.56 billion smartphones market worldwide, would determine how fast it scales.

But if Mara is coming on board, it also has to challenge all the existing industry giants, innovate on time, and offer affordable smartphones in a continent where smartphone penetration is till low otherwise it may quickly become another story of a failed African brand even before it gets fully started.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

New $95 Million Naspers Foundry Fund Will Look Beyond South African Startups

Naspers, Africa’s largest company by money would be targeting a $95 million investments in African startups in the next three years. The recently appointed Naspers’s management team as Chief Executive, South Africa Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa to the global, who has been in the role for close to 100 days, said Naspers Foundry, its startup fund aimed at boosting the South African technology sector, was poised to announce more deals by December.

Here Is All You Need To Know

In the next three years, Naspers Foundry plans to invest R1.4billion (about $95 million) in entrepreneurs and business, she said.
Under the restructured Fund, Naspers Foundry would also look at investing in other startup opportunities in Africa, besides its main focus on South Africa.

What Sector Would Be Targeted

Looking ahead, Mahanyele-Dabengwa noted the Fund is looking for attractive opportunities focused on supporting founders of local tech businesses with high potential and ambitions to scale globally.

She said the fund was looking for opportunities focused on with growth potential and ambitions to scale globally, for example such as serving the unbanked.

According to her, the Fund would also be targeting local businesses with local focus.

Mahanyele-Dabengwa cited Naspers Foundry’s investment in SweepSouth, the online platform providing on-demand and regular home cleaning services, as a successful example of a partnership.

In June Naspers Foundry invested R30 million in the company. This week SweepSouth announced had raised more than R50 million in new investment in its latest funding round.

The licensing of spectrum for 5G network in South Africa would enable technology growth and boost local entrepreneurs. The South African government expects to conclude the release of the new broadband spectrum by the first quarter of 2021, the Presidency said in a statement on its website this week.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

Boomplay ’s Planned Expansion To Francophone Africa Shows Africa’s Music Streaming Business Is Fast Becoming Profitable

It has barely been four years since Boomplay, Chinese-backed music-streaming startup was started, but it does appear that it is targeting French-speaking nations now after it first launched in West Africa.

“We have started to look at the Francophone regions such as Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as the areas where there is a large diaspora community such as North America and Europe,” General Manager Dele Kadiri said in Lagos.

Although the company is buoyed by its $20 million funding from investors, it does also seem that finally Africans are really beginning to pay to listen to music. The startup is presently in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.

As part of its remarkable success, Boomplay now has more than 53 million users, up from 42 million in April, and is adding 2 million a month to make the startup Africa’s largest music-streaming platform, Kadiri said.

Read also: How Startups Are Changing The Face Of Africa’s Music Streaming Service

The startup is a joint venture between Chinese phone maker Transsion and Chinese consumer apps giant NetEase but is specifically focused on the African market. Although it has succeeded in raising $20 million in outside funding to invade more sub-Saharan countries and continue to build up its database of music tracks, the startup has refused to disclose its valuation.

In 2018, Boomplay sealed its first partnership deal with a global music company following a major licensing deal with Universal Music Group for Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. UMG’s catalog includes African artists, as well as global recording artists including Post Malone, Eminem, and Nicki Minaj.

“Chinese investors see Africa as the China of 10 years ago,” Phil Choi, Boomplay’s head of international acquisitions and partnerships was once quoted as saying, “so they feel they can apply the same models to it, and bring it up to being a very prosperous region.”

“Africa is full of opportunity, from its young demographics to its vibrant culture, and Boomplay sits in the middle of all of that greatness,” said Tony Li, managing director of Maison Capital, in a statement. “Boomplay has incorporated NetEase’s experience in the music streaming business with Transsion’s expertise in local operations, and in doing so Boomplay became the dominant player in the region in a very short period of time. As more of Africa comes online, we are confident that Boomplay will continue to be a major force in business and culture.”

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world

Violence Mars Mozambique Elections

October 13, 2019

The violence that led to the death of the head of a local elections observer team in Maputo, Mozambique has been described as unacceptable by the Commonwealth.

Musa Mwenye, former attorney General of Zambia ltd

The Team lead of the Commonwealth Observer group to the elections team observing elections, Musa Mwenye, who is a former attorney General of Zambia has called for a thorough investigation into the death of Anastácio Matavele in Xai-Xai, capital of Gaza province in Mozambique.

He condemned all incident of violence and encouraged all stakeholders to demonstrate unwavering commitment to peaceful and credible elections.

Mr Mwenya was speaking on arrival in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. He said: “We convey sincere condolences to Mr Matavele’s family and friends and urge a thorough investigation into this and any other incidents of violence.

“Our mandate is to observe and evaluate the pre-election environment, polling day as well as the post-election period. We will consider the various factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole, and report on whether it has been conducted to the national, regional, Commonwealth and international standards to which Mozambique has committed itself.”

The five-member Commonwealth Group (COG) arrived in Maputo on 10 October. It will receive briefings from election management officials, representatives of political parties, civil society groups, the police, members of the international community as well as citizens and internal observers, then deploy to selected provinces to observe the pre-election environment and the vote itself.

Shortly after the election, the Commonwealth Group will present its preliminary findings in Maputo. Its final report will be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General and made available to relevant stakeholders and the public.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.