Blog - Afrikan Heroes

South Africa’s ed-tech Startup Snapplify Raises $2m In Growth Funding Round

September 25, 2019

South African ed-tech startup Snapplify has raised US$2 million(over R29 million) funding to accelerate its international expansion initiatives and advance its data analytics capabilities to enhance classroom teaching effectiveness.

Here Is The Deal

The new round of financing came from venture capital firm Knife Capital, via its SARS section 12J Venture capital company KNF Ventures, and empowered African investment manager Hlayisani Capital’s Hlayisani Growth Fund.
The funding will enable the startup to gain more customers and increase its market footprint through business development, growing the team and refining customer-led product features.
Snapplify was originally backed by AngelHub Ventures in its seed and Series A rounds, alongside international investors. AngelHub now forms part of Hlayisani Capital’s Growth Fund.

“We are excited to have Knife Capital and Hlayisani on board to enable this vision, particularly because in addition to financial backing, we also need expert guidance from an aligned shareholder base to expand more aggressively into new markets in our next growth phase,” said Snapplify’s chief executive officer (CEO) Wesley Lynch.

Why Investors Invested In The Startup

“Snapplify is a globally competitive business that has excelled with a powerful and relevant solution for both emerging and developed markets. It is fantastic to build on the platform that was established with the initial investment from AngelHub by bringing investors such as Knife and Hlayisani on board to ensure that Snapplify continues its journey as one of the companies to inspire Africa,” said Brett Commaille, partner at Hlayisani.

Knife Capital co-managing partner Andrea Bӧhmert said her company had been following Snapplify’s growth journey since inception, and that it was a privilege to partner with the company and its stakeholders.

“Africa faces a wide range of social and economic challenges, from access to affordable tertiary education to a skills shortage across a number of key industries. Though it would be over-optimistic to say that e-learning alone can overcome these challenges, the impact is clearly measurable,” she said.

“At Knife Capital we believe in investing in companies that solve real problems and in doing so generate meaningful returns to stakeholders and shareholders alike. Snapplify is such a company and we look forward to being part of the next growth phase.”

Read also: South African Startup Digemy raises R1m In New Funding Round Now Valued at R40m

What Snapplify Does

Based in Cape Town but already active internationally, Snapplify provides a marketplace for digital education content, related educational services and devices, offering e-learning solutions to over 1,400 schools, colleges and universities, and more than 200,000 students.

Already Africa’s largest e-book aggregator and distributor, the company is now looking for further speed its growth with US$2 million in expansion

Snapplify is looking to change the way students access content in both developed and developing countries.

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

Aiteo’s Boss Benedict Peters Appointed as Advisory Board of The U.S.-Africa Business Center

As Part of its ongoing efforts to cement relationships between American business community and their African counterparts, The United States Chamber of Commerce linked up with some notable African businessmen by inducting them into its Africa Business Centre. Among those appointed are the Chairman CEO of Nigeria’s biggest indigenous petroleum company Aiteo Group, Mr. Benedict Peters.

Scott Eisner, Chairman of the United States Business Centre

With this appointment, AITEO will serve on the Board of Advisors for the U.S.-Africa Business Center. The mission of the U.S.-Africa Business Center is to build lasting prosperity for Africans and Americans through job creation and entrepreneurial spirit, something that Mr.

Peters has been active in on the continent for several years.

Speaking on the appointment, Scott Eisner, Chairman of the United States Business Centre, said that the United States Chamber of Commerce value and appreciate the insights from companies such as AITEO they not only benefit the Center, but also play a pivotal role in strengthening the ties between the United States and countries throughout Africa. Following this development, Mr.

Peters can be part of CEO’s from several Fortune five hundred corporations who have a strong presence in Africa, including Banco Prestigío, BP, Caterpillar, Chevron, IBM, MasterCard, Microsoft, and many others.

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.

Ghana’s Public debt reaches 59.4% of GDP at the end of July 2019

Ghana’s public debt reached 59.4% of GDP at the end of July this year, against 53.1% in July 2018, the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revealed.

The GHC205.6 billion ($38 billion) debt in July 2019 is 26.6% higher than the GHC159.7 billion ($30 billion) of July 2018. According to the Central Bank of Ghana, this debt is composed of external borrowing (31% of GDP) and domestic debt (28.4% of GDP).

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

Ecobank Appoints Aissatou Djiba Diallo as New Senior Fintech Advisor

September 24, 2019

As part of efforts to grow its flagship annual fintech initiative, pan-African banking conglomerate, Ecobank Group, has appointed one of the continent’s renowned professionals in the field of information communications technology (ICT) Mrs. Aissatou Djiba Diallo who was before now a senior Fintech Advisor at senior management staff at Microsoft. Speaking on the development the Bank’s Group Executive, Operations and Technology, Mr. Eddy Ogbogu, said that Djiba’s appointment represents an important step in the overall Ecobank Group’s fintech and digital agenda , noting that the expertise, passion and innovation she brings to the role will allow us take the next crucial steps on our path to further cementing our position as Africa’s leading digital bank.

Mrs. Djiba is expected to lead the Bank Group’s fintech initiatives and advise senior management on the banking group’s fintech strategy. Bank sources say that her appointment is an important step in the ongoing implementation of the group’s broader digital strategy and demonstrates Ecobank’s commitment to playing a major and high-profile role in helping Africa’s innovative fintech sector to achieve significant global market share.

Also, her office will focus on growing the bank’s flagship annual fintech initiative – the Ecobank Fintech Challenge and Ecobank Fintech Fellowship – through which the Ecobank group has promoted Africa’s most promising fintech start-ups. The programme which provides selected fintechs with the opportunity to fast-track their growth by gaining a commercial partnership and product integration with Ecobank’s pan-African platform and unified ecosystem. The third edition of the Challenge and Fellowship comes up in 2020.

Speaking on her new position, Djiba, who has served as a Judge of the two previous editions of The Challenge and Fellowship, said that she is delighted to become a part of the vision of the Ecobank Group in supporting the development of African fintechs and further drive the continent’s economic development. Fintech is an important part of the Bank’s goal to vastly increase its customer numbers across its pan-African footprint of 33 countries and open up market access and integration for Africa’s fintech ecosystem. She added that in the past three years, the bank has significantly strengthened its partnerships with start-ups and that she is excited that the Group CEO and senior management of the Bank have prioritised new waves of initiatives to expand the work with fintechs and deliver a whole new level of win-win collaborations that will positively impact African lives and grow African fintech businesses.

Djiba who holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France, and she is an aeronautics enthusiast, before this appointment, she was Head of Innovations at Microsoft4Afrika, where she built the strategy to identify, support and attract key African fintech start-ups and partners to the Microsoft Cloud platform and oversaw 50 countries. Before that she was Marketing Manager and Partner and Strategy Program Lead for West and Central Africa, Microsoft.

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.

Egypt’s Career180 raises $100,000 seed for its career services platform

Career180, a Cairo-based career services platform that offers different online and offline services, has raised $100,000 as seed funding from EdVentures, the Egyptian CVC founded by one of country’s leading publishers Nahdet Misr Publishing House, that invests in education startups, EdVentures announced today.
Founded in 2016 by Shrouk Alaa and Mohamed Akmal, Career180 labels itself as a one-stop-shop for university students and fresh graduates helps them kick off their careers. The startup offers different online and offline career services through its web-based platform and series of events including one of Egypt’s largest careers events Egypt Career Summit that it apparently co-organizes with Cairo-based Career Advancers.

The online platform offers users to book online mentorships sessions, watch videos that offer career advice and ask questions about topics related to career development.
Shrouk Alaa and Mohamed Akmal, the co-founders of Career180, commenting on the occasion, said, “We have already worked with EdVentures and are very excited about them investing [in us]. The investment will support our expansion plans and enable us to help more [university] students and graduates with their careers.”
Dalia Ibrahim, the founder of EdVentures and the CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House, said, “We constantly aim to empower youth and that’s why we are keen to keep collaborating with Career180 by investing in them. The investment will help them expand their valuable services to equip the youth with the necessary skills and capabilities to meet the market needs.”
Career180 aims to use the investment to further develop its online platform and expand its career workshops and events across different cities of Egypt.

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

Dangote Foundation Empowers 106,000 Women with N1.1 billion

The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has continued its empowerment projects across the continent of Africa with an additional empowerment of 106,000 women across four states in Northern Nigeria with the sum of N1.1 billion. This present gesture is in continuation of the Foundation’s micro-grant programme aimed at poverty amelioration through economic empowerment of women.

Alahaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman Dangote Group

Add to this, the Foundation has began the identification of eligible beneficiaries, towards the implementation of the programme across these states and will be actively targeting and empowering 23,000

women in Sokoto State, 34,000 women in Katsina State, 21,000 women in Kebbi State and 28,000 women in Zamfara State, all in northern Nigeria.
Since the programme was launched in 2011 starting with Kano State, the home state of Aligo Dangote, it has gulped about N10 Billion with a special emphasis on indigenous and vulnerable women. According to sources at the Foundation, efforts are being made to extend the programme to cover 774 Local Government areas in Nigeria. So far, 334,500 women and youths from Kano, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Lagos, Nasarawa and Niger States have benefitted from the programme.
The scheme also provides recipients with a one-time, un-conditional N10,000.00 cash grant to meet immediate household consumption and economic needs.

As way as doable, participants also receive training tailored to bolster their income-generating activities which are critical for the welfare of millions of Nigerians.
Selection is predicated on communities with primary thought for vulnerable girls, food distressed households with infant or children under-five year old, disabled, divorcee, widow with multiple dependents, extremely poor residents in these communities.

The programme is enforced in partnership with states governments to enrich their economic authorization and impoverishment reduction drive across the country.

From 2016, the Foundation automated the beneficiary enrollment and payment processes.

Also, additionally to the money grants, beneficiaries were also given mobile phones and SIM cards by the Foundation.
In the last 2 states, the theme was enforced, the Foundation partnered with a number one depository financial institution to open bank accounts and supply ATM card for every beneficiary.

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.

Tunisian Fashion Startup Dabchy Raises $300,000 seed For Its Peer-to-Peer Fashion Marketplace Expansion to Egypt

Tunisian startup Dabchy, a peer-to-peer (P2P) fashion marketplace has raised $300,000 in a seed round to further lead major expansion effort to Egypt and to build more on its team.

Here Is The Deal

The investment was led by 500 Startups and joined by Flat6Labs, Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), Khobar-based Vision Ventures and Daal, and a group of angel investors.
Amani Mansouri, the co-founder and CEO of Dabchy said that they plan to use a part of these funds to expand to Egypt by the end of this year.
The startup also plans to use the investment to accelerate its product development and expand its team.

“At Dabchy, we operate as a trusted third between buyers and sellers and have facilitated more than 100,000 transactions to-date. Our ambition is to become the number one fashion marketplace in the region and to empower a new generation of women to become microentrepreneurs by creating their own businesses online,” Amani Mansouri said in a statement.

Dabchy was part of Flat6Labs Tunis’ first cohortand is currently taking part in the second class of Womentum, an accelerator program for female founders by Dubai-based Womena.
According to the statement, it was also the first Tunisian and African startup to have joined European Fashion Tech Incubator last year.

Why The Investors Invested

Hasan Haider, a partner with 500 Startups, commenting on the occasion, said:

“We’re pleased to back the team behind Dabchy and make this our first investment into the Tunisian market. What the team have managed to achieve so far has been amazing, and we look forward to Dabchy continuing to lead the way for used fashion online in North Africa. There is a significant market need and demand for the product, and that has already been demonstrated by their traction so far.”

The investment is also the first for both Vision Ventures and Daal in a Tunisian startup.
Kais Al-Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Venture, said:

“We’ve been eyeing the North African market beyond Egypt [for some time]. It is starting to boom and the population is young and tech-savvy. Dabchy has been able to prove that their product and business model is needed in the market with a limited investment. We expect that, under the leadership of talented Amani Mansouri, it will further dominate the market very soon.”

Read also: Tunisian Startups Can Now Benefit From World Bank $75m Fund For Startups

What Dabchy Does

Founded by Amani Mansouri, Ghazi Ketata and Oussama Mahjoub, Dabchy that had initially started as a Facebook Group now has a community of over 400,000 users in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, who use its web and mobile-based platform to buy and sell new (unused lying in one’s wardrobe), self-made, pre-owned (used) clothes and accessories for women and kids. Dabchy’s Android app has been downloaded over 100,000 times.

In Tunisia where most of the Dabchy’s business comes from, it takes care of the entire buying and selling process including shipping and payments.
The startup claims to have doubled the catalog of items listed on its platform to 420,000 which (it says) makes it one of the largest online stores in Tunisia. The users, according to a statement by Dabchy, are adding more than 2,000 new items every day.

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

Renewable Energy Startups In Africa Have A New $8m Fund

A new investment fund which is dedicated to renewable energy in Africa has been launched. The new fund is called Empower Invest, which is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) under the Financial Supervisory Authority in Norway.

The fund is as a result of efforts of development partners who put it at the service of Africa. In concrete terms, the new fund will be used to finance small renewable energy projects, ranging from 1 to 10 MW.

Here Is All You Need To Know

Titled Empower Invest, the fund will contribute to the know-how and equity to implement solar PV, small hydro and hybrid plants.
It will support projects that are individually too small for traditional project financing. Once completed, Empower will raise green bonds to finance the portfolio of projects.
The fund which will be managed by Empower New Energy will invest in a pipeline of reserved projects prepared by the manager (Empower New Energy) in Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania, amongst others.
The initiators behind Empower Invest, which is registered with the Financial Supervisory Authority in Norway as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), targets to raise $50 million.
Already, over $8m has been raised from Norfund, a Norwegian government private equity firm, and Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI), an EU-owned investment fund that aims to support the private sector in providing electricity in underserved areas in the Serie A share issue.

“It is amazing that we now have succeeded to raise an equity fund that focuses on local solar PV, hybrid and hydro projects. This is the first fund of its kind, and most needed. ” said Terje Osmundsen, founder and CEO of Empower New Energy.

Several private investors also participated in Empower Invest’s fundraising efforts. This is the case of Malthe Winje Automation AS, the Elisabeth Grieg and Stig Grimsgaard Andersen family, Doctor Magne Orgland, Harald Magnus Andreassen and Svein Tveitdal.

“We are delighted to support, for a decade, the ambitions of the Empower Invest fund’s business model, which aims to produce more than 600 GWh of clean energy per year, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 320,000 tonnes per year and create thousands of new jobs and electrical connections,” explains Dominiek Deconinck, ElectriFI’s Director.

Series B issue of approximately $40 million is planned for 2020.

Why The Investors Are Investing

“Norfund sees a huge need for increased investment in local clean energy production in Africa and developing countries in general. The collaboration with Empower will be an important platform for raising private capital for this market” stated Norfund CEO Tellef Thorleifsson.

Stig Grimsgaard Andersen, a private investor in the fund was quoted as saying that:

“If impact-investing is to make a difference, it is important that the investments create value for both financial investors, local communities and the environment. We believe the Empower Fund is an important innovation in this area.”

Harald Magnus Andreassen, chief economist and one of the private investors, noted that local projects and smaller investment amounts receive little attention from international investors and lenders.

However, “the Empower Fund is an important initiative to cover this gap in the market,” said Andreaseen.

To learn more about the fund manager, click here

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

Growing Fintech Makes Startups Vulnerable to Cyberattacks in Africa

September 23, 2019

There are indications that Africa’s fast growing Fintech ecosystem which surged up to 60% in the last two years as the continent’s Fintech firms grew from about 300 to about 500 in the last two years but with this boom also comes the challenges chief among which is the increase in cyberattacks. Analysts say that with about $132.8 million raised in 2018 by Fintech firms, Africa presents an opportunity for growth in the sector especially given the high mobile phone penetration levels and the boom in mobile financial services and payment technologies.

Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky Africa

The growth in mobile technology is responsible for the high growth in Fintech in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya that accounts for 65.2% of Africa’s Fintech startups. Speaking on this development, Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky Africa said that such Fintechs have had a significant impact on the financial services landscape of these countries, where locally, these solutions are reaching more Kenyans than ever before. He added that the tech revolution that took place in Kenya has brought about practical Fintech experiences making it one of the most financially inclusive countries in Africa and where mobile money transactions contribute a significant percentage to the country’s GDP.

However, the downside to this development is the fact that with more local businesses and consumers taking advantage of the ability to use digital methods to move money around, criminally minded people are also having more targets to focus on thus the emerging Fintech space is also becoming an increasing target for cybercriminals.

Opil noted that young startups are always more exposed than traditional businesses, and their undeveloped infrastructure, especially at startup stage, make them an easier target than traditional banks. He pointed out that there are a growing number of businesses that are using or offering cryptocurrency and mobile money as payment methods and cybercriminals are embracing this trend, using sophisticated techniques to access such funds.

Startups should bear in mind that that operating over the internet makes Fintechs vulnerable to criminals even though mobile payment methods offer a convenience that is hard to debate. For example cases of SIM swap fraud is reported as being used to not only steal credentials and capture one-time passwords (OTPs) sent via an SMS, it can also be adopted to cause heavy financial damages customers by resetting the accounts and or allowing fraudsters to access currency accounts not only in banks, but also in Fintechs and credit unions. Challenges such as this abound because most Fintech companies do not have proper defences in place to protect their services and their users against a data breach and because the market is unregulated, it is hard to prevent. Another ugly development is that cybercriminals are presently demanding ransoms in cryptocurrency given the anonymity of the market and the fact that there is little chance of being tracked. One ready example is the kidnapping case in Abuja where the kidnappers requested that the victim’s family pay the ransom with cryptocurrency, even though the Nigerian Police eventually traced the payment to the owner of the account leading to the arrest of the criminals. To avert such, the need for more and adequate security education, awareness and ensuring that it is seen as a priority is critical as the Fintech market grows cannot be overemphasized.

That is why Kaspersky Africa is warning that there is no substitute for vigilance – if something looks suspicious in any way, do not make the payment or investment. Consumers who are using mobile cryptocurrency as an investment or payment method should also ensure that they verify the wallet’s address. “Don’t just follow links, double check everything before sending the transaction and make sure you use a high-quality security solution to safeguard the devices you use” Opil added.

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.

President Mahamadou Issoufou Keynotes This Year’s Rhodes Forum

President Mahamadou Issoufou has been announced as the keynote speaker in this year’s Rhodes Forum which will take place in New York. The Rhodes Forum is regarded as the flagship global affairs conference. This year’s Forum which is the 17^th will focus on global order and security. According to the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC), organizers of the Forum, President Issoufou will share an African perspective on issues related to global order, security and economic development with the Rhodes Forum’s audience of more than 300 senior policymakers, diplomats, academics and businesspeople from around the world. He will also participate in the Forum’s Focus on Africa panel to discuss how the continent can become a driver of global development.

Speaking on what informed the choice of President Issoufou, the CEO of Dialogue Civilizations Research Institute (DOC), Jean-Christophe Bas said that with President Issoufou, the DOC is proud to welcome to Rhodes a major leader of the African continent, and one who was instrumental in the launch of the African Free Trade Zone last July in Niamey. He added that the shape of the future global order, security and development are central themes of this year’s Rhodes Forum, which continues our established focus on Africa and African development.

It is in this context, says Jean-Christophe Bas, and also the fact that Niger is set to join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in January 2020, that President Issoufou’s intervention at the 17th Rhodes Forum will be timely and authoritative. “I am sure that the Forum’s high-level and influential audience will all benefit from his insights, and I expect this year’s Rhodes Forum to make a substantive contribution to current debates around Africa’s future as a pillar of the global order and driver of economic growth” he argued.

Other African leaders that have graced the Rhodes Forum in the past as keynote speakers are former President Goodluck Jonathan, Prime Minister of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana and former Malian President Dioncounda Traoré.

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.