Blog - Afrikan Heroes

Startups In Nigeria Get New Opportunity To Partner With Large Corporates Under New ICT Regulations

August 15, 2019

This is a huge opportunity for startups in Nigeria to begin to pitch deals to large corporates and organisations. This is because under Nigeria’s new regulation, Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in Information and Communications Technology as amended, all indigenous or Nigerian Companies who have secured IT projects or contracts with any Nigerian Federal Public Institution or Government owned companies either fully or partly, of which the gross value of the project is Five Hundred Million Naira (N500,000, 000, 00)or above shall engage on the project, a Nigerian startup or incubation team for the purpose of R&D on the project, as well as engage Nigerian graduates with IT background as interns on the project.

The Amended Guidelines aim to improve the demand side for Indigenous content, while requiring enhanced quality and performance from indigenous players.
There are three core focus areas of the guidelines: driving indigenous innovation, developing the local ICT Industry and establishing Intellectual Property regulation and protection standards, each of which has a set of related strategic goals.

Key Points About This Regulation

The Guidelines apply to all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Federal Government Owned Companies(either fully or partially owned) Federal Institutions and Public Corporation, Private Sector Institutions, Business Enterprises and Individuals carrying out business within the Information and Communications Technology sector in Nigeria.
Under the new Guidelines, all manufacturers of original ICT equipment based in Nigeria will now maintain active licence with NITDA,and procure certification for each product they manufacture. This certification shall be renewable every two years.
The manufacturers shall maintain at least 40% local content by value and volume either directly or through outsourcing to local manufacturers engaged in any segment of the product value chain.
The manufacturers will also maintain in-country Research and Development projects or initiatives for all their products and service conceptualisation, innovation, adaptation, design and prototype development.
Provide to NITDA affidavit of source of component parts and notify NITDA of any changes in the source.
The manufacturers must maintain a minimum capitalization of one billion Naira.

For Multinational Companies That Produce ICT Hardware Components in Nigeria, They Must:

Provide a detailed local content development plan for the creation of jobs, recruitment of Nigerians, human capital development, use of indigenous ICT products and services for value creation.
Notify NITDA of the commencement or launch of any developmental or Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR)project or program at least 15 days before the commencement of such program.

For Data and Information Management Companies, They Shall:

Register their products, capabilities and organization on the NITDA portal.
Host all sovereign data locally within the country and shall not for any reason host any sovereign data outside the country without an express approval from NITDA.

All Networking Service Companies shall:

Be licensed by the NCC where applicable and register their products, capabilities and organizations on the NITDA IT Service provider’s portal.
The registration services shall be provided free of charge and will ensure NITDA awareness of available resources.
They shall also demonstrate verifiable evidence of Investment of at least 1% of annual turn-over in Research and Development in ICT in Nigeria which is tax deductible in accordance with the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) 2004.

Procurement Going Forward

Under the Guidelines, Ministries, Department and Agencies shall only source and procure 40% computer hardware and associated devices only from NITDA approved Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
They shall also purchase devices that have soft and hard keyboards capable of supporting Nigerian languages and the Naira sign (₦).
All indigenous or Nigerian Companies who have secured IT projects or contracts with any Federal Public Institution or Government owned companies either fully or partly, of which the gross value of the project is Five Hundred Million Naira (N500,000, 000, 00)or above shall engage on the project, a Nigerian start-up or incubation team for the purpose of R&D on the project, as well as engage Nigerian graduates with IT background as interns on the project.

Tech Startups In Nigeria Would Also Benefit Under The New Nigerian Cloud Computing Policy

This policy aims to enable Nigerian Government (or public sector) to access cloud computing and other technologies enabled by the cloud, such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or the Internet of Things among others. The policy targets 35% growth in cloud computing investments by 2024.

The Policy is to promote adoption of Cloud Computing by the Government and SMEs.

The Policy is applicable to all Federal Public Institutions, Public Institutions at the State and Local Government levels. The Policy shall also apply to all corporations fully or partially owned by the Federal Government in Nigeria.

This Cloud Computing Policy Will Now Be Used In Public Procurement

To that effect, NITDA will partner with the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and other critical stakeholders to establish a“Digital Marketplace”which shall encompass a series of framework agreements with pre-approved cloud services suppliers and maintain a database of services in an online portal that can be accessed by procuring entities.

To be approved, cloud service providers will have to comply with the certification criteria put forward by NITDA and the BPP.

Under the new policy, The Office for National Security Adviser (ONSA) and NITDA shall monitor operational security issues related to the cloud; NITDA shall drive government-wide adoption of cloud, identify next-generation cloud technologies,share best practices,templates and reusable example.

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

A San Francisco Startup Guide For International Entrepreneurs

San Francisco is hallowed ground for tech entrepreneurs. Every year thousands of founders travel to the city, set on starting the next unicorn. However, while the birthplace of Twitter and Uber certainly can provide connections, investors, and talent to help entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level, it’s also an extremely difficult ecosystem to survive in.
To start, living costs are incredibly high. According to SF Gate, studio apartments in the city rent for an average $2,500 per month. On top of that, businesses face challenges such as retaining top talent, as well as competing with other startups for investors and office space.

In my experience, founders who aren’t from the United States can struggle if they don’t find the right organizations, events, and connectors fast. At the end of the day, San Francisco is an expensive place to tread water.
With that in mind, here is a brief guide to the San Francisco startup ecosystem for international entrepreneurs planning on making a visit to the city.
A view of San Francisco’s downtown

The city’s support networks

A good starting point for an international entrepreneur new to San Francisco is Galvanize. The co-working space and coding boot camp has a café that’s open to the public, and it’s earned a name for itself as a startup hub thanks to the well-curated events that it regularly hosts.
Other places to check out include the first floor of the LinkedIn skyscraper, CoVo, Rocketspace, and SaaStr’s co-selling space.
World leading accelerators including Y Combinator, The Founder Institute, Techstars,500 Startups, and Plug and Play are all either based in San Francisco or are very close by. Any startup fortunate to receive acceptance into one of the programs receives opportunities thanks to the curriculums and networks the accelerators offer.
There are also international government-backed programs such as Desafia, formerly known as Spain Tech Center, Nordic Innovation House, Swissnex, Apex-Brasil, The German Accelerator, and Business France that are designed to help companies with soft landings when moving to San Francisco. For founders from Latin America, PuenteLabs offers a network of mentors to help LatAm entrepreneurs break into the US market via San Francisco.
Aside from helping founders new to the region, many of these organizations also offer their own acceleration programs. For example, Business France recently closed applications for the next batch of its accelerator Impact USA, which accelerates the launch and growth of French companies in the United States and Canada. Nordic Innovation House, meanwhile, runs its TINC acceleration program for founders from Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland.
Entrepreneurs from the United States often benefit from existing connections from schools such as UC Berkeley or Stanford, as well as their professional networks. The local community is generally open to ‘paying it forward’ and helping others out, however warm introductions still do help.

Events

In San Francisco, a quick visit to sites such as Eventbrite and Meetup reveal hundreds of events each day. Foreign Startups Mixer and Pitch, for example, happens every second Monday and was specifically launched to help entrepreneurs lay roots with the support of veteran international founders.
Katja Kotala from Business Finland recommends founders do research and find the most strategic events and conferences for their specific industry. For example, if you work in health tech, check out Health 2.0. If you are an AI startup, Bootstraplabs could be well worth the visit, in particular given the growth of this space. This past week Softbank announced its $108B artificial intelligence fund, and earlier stated its intention to invest in AI in the city.
Jim Benton, CEO of Y Combinator-backed Apollo.io, part of the city’s recognized AI and data ecosystems
To find industry-specific events and speakers that can offer the right connections, I recommend signing up for the Startup Digest newsletter, earlier founded by Chris McCann, or Gary’s Guide, founded by Gary Sharma.
Throughout the year, there are large scale conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt in October that offer a great deal of value, in addition to Launch Scale, founded by serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis. When it comes to events, Maria Neau from Impact USA recommended signing up to VC newsletters to see where investors are spending time.

Talent

San Francisco wouldn’t be what it is today were it not for the steady flow of tech talent from places nearby such as Stanford and UC Berkeley. The fact that Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Intel, Yahoo!, Netflix, Paypal, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google, Instagram, and Snapchat were all founded by graduates of Stanford drives this home.
However, while there are a number of local universities that foster innovation, the area remains a hard place to hire. According to a recent report from the Brunswick group, more than half of those surveyed in the Bay area say it’s harder to find and recruit talent now than it was a year ago. The same survey highlighted that 41% of 18- to 34-year-olds planned to leave the Bay Area in the next year.
Coding boot camps can be found throughout the area, with notable organizations including Galvanize, General Assembly, Product School,Hack Reactor and Codify Academy, to name a few.
While it might be expensive and competitive for international companies to hire from these universities, there are still ways they can benefit from them.
Berkeley’s Skydeck Accelerator and Stanford’s StartX program are both widely respected for bridging the gap between founders, enterprises and the next generation of tech talent. For those wanting to keep their eye on new innovation coming out of these institutions, it’s also worth checking out Stanford’s BASES Competition and Cardinal Ventures.
UC Berkeley SkyDeck Executive Director Caroline Winnett and its fund’s Founding Partner Chon Yang

Government support

Founders from outside of the United States will likely have more luck looking for government support from their own countries, rather than locally in San Francisco. Local authorities in the city have increasingly been leaning away from large tech organizations, with new laws and taxes.
This being said, one organization worth mentioning is GlobalSF, a private-public initiative supported by the City of San Francisco which assists international businesses coming into the city. The organization has specific teams for Latin America, China, and the rest of Asia.

Funding

Vitaly M. Golomb, Managing Partner at GS Capital, published an interesting yet bleak article last year titled Dear Foreign Founder, Don’t Come to Silicon Valley to Fundraise. In the article Golomb outlines the challenges international founders face when they go to Silicon Valley with unrealistic hopes of raising VC funding.
While nearby Sand Hill Road is still iconic, a recent report from PwC and CBS Insights highlights that in Q1 of 2019, VC funding in the New York area increased sharply to $4.5B, a 110% increase over Q4 of 2018. Funding in Silicon Valley fell 19% to $4B.
VC activity is still higher in the Bay Area than any other ecosystem in the world, and deals have been getting larger. However, local investors are increasingly doubling down and tripling down on safer bets.
This isn’t good news for international founders, who have a steeper climb to show traction and build trust within the U.S. market. If they do want to raise locally, early on in their U.S. journeys, they should look for VC funds which specifically work with international founders. For example, Unshackled Ventures is a fund specifically for immigrant founders. HIVE Ventures is a seed-stage investing firm that focuses on funding Armenian entrepreneurs. There are VCs that also focus on US as well as international investments, for example blockchain fund Proof of Capital and Nexus Venture Capital.
However, considering the increased risk aversion of local VCs, it is important international founders are realistic about the time it takes to raise money. Many suggest it may take six months to a year for founders to develop relationships and to build enough trust from local investors. It’s important that founders have enough resources during this period.
Often when I meet international entrepreneurs I recommend they apply to programs such as Y Combinator and 500 Startups because they do provide a level of social proof.
SF-based startup Bonsai, one of the 65 graduates in its Y Combinator batch

Conclusion

Despite challenges, San Francisco continues to be the most important city startup ecosystem in the world and the best place to scale high-growth technology companies. However, international startups aiming to mark their place amongst tech giants need to approach the city strategically.
This means being realistic about whether a company has gained enough traction to expand into the US market and determining if it has the resources for its first year in the city. Taking the leap requires time as well as energy to build connections. Otherwise, international companies often can’t expect to facilitate fast enough growth in the city.

This article was Co-Authored by Craig Corbett

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Nigerian Logistics Startup Kobo360 Is Changing The Game With Its Latest $30m Funding

This is one of the top startup funding in Africa for 2019 so far. And again, it has gone to the Nigerian startup ecosystem, particularly to its logistics industry which has seen so much of funding in 2019 already. Startup Kobo360, co-founded by a Nigerian entrepreneur with no background in tech has raised a US$30 million debt and equity Series A funding led by the American multinational investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs. The startup is set to scale its operations in more African countries.

Here Is The Deal

The funding is divided into two parts: $20 million equity and $10 million debt finance.
The US$20 million Series A equity round was led by Goldman Sachs. Participating was also Asia Africa Investment and Consulting and existing investors including TLcom Capital, Y Combinator, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The US$10 million in local currency working capital financing was secured from Nigerian commercial banks.
Kobo360 plans to continue to scale, develop its technology offering and accelerate supply growth.
Inspired by the new funding, the startup plans to add 25,000 drivers to the platform in the coming months to power the recent Africa Free Trade Continental Agreement.
Also on the target for the startup is to enter 10 new countries by the end of 2020.

“Our Series A allows us to invest in growing our talented team that is working hard on the ground to systematically address the inefficiencies within the African logistics sector, and strengthen our already extensive network of clients and truck owners across the continent,” said Obi Ozor, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kobo360.

“We are also focusing on developing the partnership with drivers, ensuring that they are trained to use mobile-enabled technology, so they can convey goods seamlessly and earn more money. We are already seeing drivers running trips on the Kobo360 platform increase their monthly earnings by 40 per cent, as we work together to mobilise logistics across Africa.”

What Attracted Investors To The Startup

Goldman Sachs executive director Jules Frebault said Kobo360’s on-demand logistics offering had generated impressive traction.

“We are excited to support Obi, Ife and the team as they harness technology to tackle one of Africa’s most pressing development challenges — increasing market transparency, improving reliability and unlocking efficiencies for all participants in the logistics ecosystem,” he said.

“IFC’s continuous investment into Kobo360 stems from the company’s successful track record. Kobo360 is empowering and enhancing the capacity of the vast underserved network of “micro” fleets in Africa to serve the huge unmet long-haul freight needs of large enterprises and SMEs, delivering value to both sides,” said Wale Ayeni, who heads venture investing in Africa for the IFC.

A Look At Kobo360

Launched in 2017, Kobo360 is a digital logistics platform that aggregates end-to-end haulage operations to help cargo owners, truck owners and drivers, and cargo recipients achieve an efficient supply chain framework.
The startup raised two funding rounds totalling US$7.2 million last year and has already expanded to Ghana, Kenyaand Togo, and has now secured its biggest investment yet.
Kobo360 is also developing a suite of driver-focused products to support the over 10,000 drivers on its platform. It has launched KoPAY, offering access to up to US$5,000 monthly working capital; KoboSAFE, access to an insurance product; and KoboCARE, access to discounted petrol, comprehensive HMO packages and an incentive-based education programme for drivers’ families.

Why This Is Significant For Budding African Startups

Kobo360’s story is quite remarkable to the extent that it has proven that any serious startup with the focus and the right backing would almost always survive. The startup has to be one of the few digital trucking services in Africa to find an early niche in an industry that still caught in chaos and disorder.

‘‘Growing up as a young boy in a farming village in Enugu, I started a logistics business at the local truck park. The challenges I faced then, as a teenage business owner, were still the same challenges SMEs & large enterprises were facing in 2016. I knew something had to be done. You find middlemen who charge exorbitant unaccountable fees to transport cargo but cannot provide accurate tracking information when asked. Goods arrive at their destinations in terrible shape or sometimes go missing. Not to mention the stress truck drivers go through waiting to load the cargo at the ports or the danger faced while transporting said goods,’’ said Obi Uzor, Kobo360 co-founder.

Kobo360 Is Gradually Finding Hope For A Disorganised Sector Through Digitised Trucking

Transport and Logistics across Africa has been in a poor state for some time. Kobo360 was launched to address this, notes Uzor. Was it ever going to be an easy task? You know the answer. No. Do we think we are the best people to effect continent-wide change? Yes. And here’s why.

‘‘Since 2017, Ife Oyedele II and I wanted to help solve the logistics problems SMEs and large companies faced in Nigeria. With lead times of up to two weeks to deliver cargo, we knew we had to do something about the inefficiencies in the supply chain and increase productivity. With that in mind, Kobo360 was born. Our tech-enabled full truckload offering enables the development of an efficient supply chain for end-to-end long-haul freight operations, connecting and supporting cargo owners, truck owners & drivers, and cargo recipients.

Since launching, we’ve moved over 500Mkg of goods, aggregated a fleet of over 10,000 drivers and trucks, and serviced over thousands of SMEs and 80 large enterprises such as Dangote Group, DHL, Unilever, Olam, African Industries, Flour Mills of Nigeria, and Lafarge. We’re disrupting third-party logistics by handling the movement of goods, tracking, warehousing, sales and accounting. From start to finish, we are supporting our customers and making logistics work for them. We are two years in; we want more of the same, at scale, across the continent. We are excited to think where we will be in ten years’ time,’’ Uzor said

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Africa Check in conjunction with Facebook, expands its local language coverage as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme

Africa Check in conjunction with Facebook, expands its local language coverage as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme.

Facebook’s reality checking project depends on input from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey

Facebook), today with Africa Check reported that it has included new neighborhood language support for a few African dialects as a major aspect of its Third-Party Fact-Checking program – which surveys the exactness of news on Facebook and expects to decrease the spread of deception.

Propelled in 2018 crosswise over five nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon, Facebook has banded together with Africa Check, Africa’s first free certainty checking association, to grow its neighborhood language inclusion over:

Nigeria, in Yoruba and Igbo, adding to Hausa which was at that point bolstered

Swahili in Kenya

Wolof in Senegal

Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Southern Ndebele in South Africa

As indicated by Kojo Boakye, Facebook Head of Public Policy, Africa, stated: “We keep on trying huge interests in our endeavors to battle the spread of false news on our stage, while building strong, sheltered, educated and comprehensive networks. Our outsider reality checking system is only one of numerous ways we are doing this, and with the extension of neighborhood language inclusion, this will help in further improving the nature of data individuals see on Facebook. We know there is still more to do, and we’re focused on this.”

Remarking, Noko Makgato, official chief of Africa Check, said “We’re excited to grow the munitions stockpile of the dialects we spread in our work on Facebook’s outsider truth checking program. In nations as semantically different as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, certainty checking in neighborhood dialects is imperative. In addition to the fact that it lets us actuality check increasingly content on Facebook, it likewise implies we’ll be contacting more individuals crosswise over Africa with confirmed, believable data.”

Facebook’s reality checking project depends on criticism from the Facebook people group, as one of numerous sign Facebook uses to raise possibly false stories to certainty checkers for survey. Neighborhood articles will be reality checked close by the confirmation of photographs and recordings. In the event that one of Facebook’s reality checking accomplices distinguishes a story as false, Facebook will demonstrate it lower in News Feed, essentially lessening its dispersion.

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

African Union Deploys a Peer-Learning Mission on Management of Diaspora Elections in Cape Verde for the Electoral Commission of Burkina Faso

August 14, 2019

African Union Deploys a Peer-Learning Mission on Management of Diaspora Elections in Cape Verde for the Electoral Commission of Burkina Faso.

The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) of the African Union Commission (AUC) deployed a peer-learning mission on the management of diaspora elections from 12-13 August 2019 in Praia, Republic of Cape Verde, for the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Republic of Burkina Faso. Within the framework of cooperation between the AUC-DPA and Regional Economic Community networks of electoral commissions, the DPA has collaborated with the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) of which the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from Burkina Faso and Cape Verde are members. The seven-member peer-learning mission is part of the overall support programme to the CENI in Burkina Faso following the latter’s request for electoral assistance in preparation for the general elections scheduled to take place in 2020.

The CENI in Burkina Faso is planning to organise the first diaspora elections during the general in 2020 which will commence registration of voters in order to allow the opportunity of this special category of citizens to exercise their democratic right in electing their leaders. The study tour will enable the CENI to acquire useful experience and draw lessons from Cape Verde which has a long-track record of organising diaspora elections for nearly three decades.

The peer-learning is part of the overall strategy of the AUC-DPA in providing support to EMBs in the Member States in order to manage peaceful, democratic and credible elections as envisioned in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG).

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

WIN an Invitation to the 2019 Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and Travel to Ethiopia to Cover the Largest African Hospitality Event in Africa

WIN an Invitation to the 2019 Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and Travel to Ethiopia to Cover the Largest African Hospitality Event in Africa

APO Group will grant an African journalist an all-expenses-paid trip to the conference

APO Group , the leading media relations consultancy and press release distribution service in Africa and the Middle East, will award one African journalist transport, accommodation and daily allowance to attend the 2019 Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) , the premier hotel investment conference in Africa, which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 23rd-25th September.

The Africa Hotel investment Forum (AHIF) attracts many prominent international hotel owners, investors, financiers, management companies and their advisers. The latest edition of AHIF is predicted to be the biggest event of its kind ever staged in Africa, generating millions of dollars for the local economy, and billions for the continent as a whole (http://bit.ly/2ymN3bd). Among the 600+ attendees will be senior figures from the Marriott, Hilton, AccorHotels and Radisson hotel groups, while speakers include key influencers from the global hospitality investment industry .

APPLY to win the invitation: http://bit.ly/AHIFAPO

The deadline for entry is midnight on 23 August 2019.

Winner will be announced on 28 August 2019.

Each year APO Group offers journalists the opportunity to attend major events as a part of its commitment to supporting journalism in Africa.

For instance, the three previous recipients of the AfricaCom invitation were science journalist Aimable Twahirwa from Rwanda , journalist John Churu from Botswana and journalist Lilian Murugi Mutegi from Kenya . In September 2016, reporter Aggrey Mutambo from Kenya has won APO’s invitation to attend the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF). In October 2018, Online News Editor Frank Eleanya from Nigeria has won APO’s invitation to attend the Web Summit, the Largest Tech Conference in the World. In 2019, Mrs Oluseyi Awojulugbe from Nigeria has won APO Group’s invitation to attend the African Development Bank’s Annual Meetings and Monica Nkodo from Cameroon has won APO Group’s invitation to attend the 2019 EurAfrican Forum.

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

The first India Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit To Take Place This Week In Mauritius

The presence of Indian investors in the African startup ecosystem is not often heard, but that trend is about to change. Mauritius is leading the change this week. The first India Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit is scheduled to take place this month in Mauritius from August 16 to 18. It will be hosted by India-Africa Economic Forum in partnership with the India Angels Network (IAN) and the Africa Business Angels Network (ABAN) and with the support of the Economic Development Board of Mauritius.

“We are expecting at least 2 Angel/VC Funds to be announced at the Summit that will specifically target the India Africa corridor. The event will also mark the official launch of the Angel Investors of Mauritius (AIM),” said Baljinder Sharma, convener of the India Africa Economic Forum in Mauritius.

Sharma is a serial entrepreneur and an active investor in the India Africa corridor. He is presently an investor in four companies and a board member and advisor to several global private equity and venture capital funds.

India startup ecosystem report Nasscom 10000 startups landscape report 2014 2015 Bangalore NPC Product conclave innovation is everywhere martin pasquier emerging markets3 — Indian Startup Ecosystem

India-Africa Investment Corridor: Opportunities For Angel Investors

Inc42 reached out to IAN’s cofounder Padmaja Ruparel and Sharma to understand more about the similarities and synergy between the two startup ecosystems and the plans for the India-Africa Investment Corridor. Here is an edited excerpt of the same.

According to Ruparel, Africa today is possibly where India was 10 years ago in terms of its ecosystem with two significant differences. First, it has internet penetration rates matching those of India. Second, its population size and demography is also the same as India.

“This would provide a “Catch Up Dividend” for India and Africa to appropriate to each others’ benefit,” she added.

Ruparel further believes that the most number of opportunities exist in Africa at the angel level — including the opportunity to fund, support, mentor and bring startups to the late seed or Series A level. In some cases, it can also help existing successful and innovative Indian companies to sow the seeds for future acquisition.

“This is best achieved by travelling to each other’s geography, walking the streets and dipping your feet to the extent possible, but most importantly by developing trustworthy relationships,” she added.

Synergy Between The India And Africa Startup Ecosystems

The core idea behind an India-Africa investment corridor would be to take engineers and startups to Africa to help the ecosystem in the countries that have shown the most promise. Countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Rwanda, Kenya, Mauritius etc have taken tremendous strides in areas such as infrastructure, engineering, mobile money (MPesa) and in wildlife tourism etc.

“They face the same or similar challenges as India and learning from each other can only improve outcomes. Entrepreneurial connections can be magical in their impact,” said Sharma.

Moreover, Africa is fast adopting the latest technology. Africa leapfrogged straight into GSM unlike many other countries and does not have the baggage of legacy in many other sectors. Clearly as indicated before Africa is far behind India in many indicators, but the angel investments are growing rapidly from a low base.

“India and Africa are well poised to partner each other in their startup activities providing bilateral knowledge, funding and market opportunity to its early-stage enterprises, thereby strengthening existing efforts in increasing trade and development between the two economies,” added Sharma.

India-Africa Investment Corridor To Bust ‘Africa’ Myths

Pre-colonial Africa was known to be home to as many as 10,000 different states, each with their rulers and tribes. For long, the continent had been held by these disparate dynasties and the slavery practised by Western colonisers decimated the workforce in the 19th century. These factors create several hurdles in the development of this continent.

But it doesn’t mean things aren’t changing. As Ruparel said, there is a lot of misinformation about Africa.

“If you look at the continent closely there has been no single coup/conflict in the last three years — but the image of Africa as a risky place remains. People to people contact can only eliminate this,” she added.

African governments have realised that they do not have a choice other than promoting entrepreneurship and have supported a number of incubators and accelerators in partnership with the private sector and foreign governments. In an information-rich world, the possibilities to learn from each other are immense and the governments of African nations could take inspiration from what is happening in India and China.

“Most of the countries are open and welcoming as can be seen from the presence of diaspora — British and Dutch in South Africa and Indians in East Africa and Europeans in Nigeria and Ghana. Years of slavery and colonial rule meant exploitation of the native but it also allowed them to know each other in the process. There is a lot of intermixing and understanding of cultures these days,” added Sharma.

To conclude, India and Africa are both riding the wave of economic disruption and are counting heavily on their startup ecosystem. Startup disruption being one of the prominent factors in economic growth in a digital world, it’s essential that developing countries focus on creating a thriving environment for entrepreneurs to grow and expand. And the India-Africa Investment Corridor is the ideal opportunity to make this happen.

India’s lessons could very well be what Africa’s startups, founders, entrepreneurs and developers need from the India-Africa Investment Corridor. And with angel investors of both regions forging a bond to create the India-Africa investment corridor, the sleeping giant of a continent could finally be ready to wake up.

This post originally appeared on Inc42

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Consumers In Ghana Can Now Check Whether Tax Stamp On Goods Is Fake Or Not

This is a way of saying, you can’t run way from tax by underquoting the quantity of your goods to the tax man. Ghana’s tax man, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a mobile app called Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator to help Ghanaians check the authenticity of the products they buy and consume.

Here Is All You Need To Know

For those Ghanaians considering suing the tax man, there is a way out for the GRA. The launch of the mobile app adequately complies with the Excise Tax Stamp Act 2013 (Act 873) which was implemented in January 2018 and enforced on March 1 in Parliament.

“The essence of the tax policy is to enable GRA to monitor the exact quantities declared by manufacturers and importers for tax purposes. As such, the genuineness and authenticity of the tax stamp is of prime importance to GRA. The production of any fake stamp will, therefore, defeat the purpose of the policy,’’ said the Commissioner-General of GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti who spearheaded the launch of the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 re-echoed that

Free For All

Although free for all, the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app is available in the interim for android users and can only be accessed by Ghanaians using smartphones with a 5.0 version.

“To help GRA detect the genuineness of the stamp, the Authority came up with a device, the Bar Code Scanner at the beginning of the enforcement of the policy but these gadgets are only with staff of the Authority, thus being of limited use….therefore, the GRA has developed a mobile app, the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator to aid the process. Now, the app to detect whether the tax stamp on the product you are consuming is authentic or not is here,’’ said Mr. Nti.

Mr Nti, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be conscious of the consumables they buy urging them to report to GRA of any fake tax stamps affixed on products they scan with their phones.

He added that, when Ghanaians report imitated products with these fake tax stamps, they are in a way saving the lives of people from unscrupulous men.

Here’s how to install the app on your Android phone

1. Go to play store on your Android v5.0

2. Search for Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app

3. Click on the app to install.

4. Tap on the installed app and allow it to access your location, photos, videos.

Chief Revenue Officer schools Ghanaians on how to use Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator App

How to use the app on your phone

After installing the app and want to use it, first get any excisable product with the tax stamp affixed on it.

Open the app on your phone and start scanning the tax stamp.

The app will automatically display the details of the product scanned including the organization and metric names, the origin of the products as well as the Human Readable (HR) code.

Click here to watch a live demo of the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

Egypt’s Startup Chefaa Is Done With Its Seed Funding Round. Set To Expand

August 13, 2019

Egyptian e-health startup Chefaa has just joined startup fund-raising bandwagon. Chefaa has just closed a six-figure US dollar seed funding round from Flat6Labs and 500 Startups as it plans geographic expansion and the rollout of more products.

Here Is All You Need To Know

The undisclosed investment is a six-figure US dollar amount which came from Flat6Labs and 500 Startups.
The startup had earlier listed that it was aiming a $150K seed funding target, convertible to 9% equity.
The investment will be used to help the startup expand both geographically and in terms of its product offering.

“We are currently serving nine Egyptian cities, including Delta and Upper Egypt, and we plan to cover Egypt totally by the end of this year. We will start our expansion plans to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region by the end of this year as well,” said Dr. Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of Chefaa.

Read Also: Here Are Reasons Egypt’s Startup Ecosystem Is Booming

What Chefaa Does

Chefaa was founded in May 2017.
Chefaa says it is a vision-driven company that helps patients order/schedule and refill their recurring medicine in a GPS-enabled 3-step user journey.
The startup also helps patients locate medicine by real time search engine.
In addition to the 1st medicine dedicated CSR platform to match donations to help chronic patients of low income get their recurring medicine.
Chefaa’s services also extend to non-pharmaceuticals via our e-commerce marketplace.

With our AI structure we are the 1st medical data warehouse in MENA (HIPAA compliant) aiming to help decision makers with data-driven solutions, the startup noted.

Users can locate medicine using a real-time search engine, make orders, and schedule deliveries with a GPS functionality.
It also runs a medicine-dedicated CSR platform to match donations with low-income patients.
Chefaa received pre-seed funding from Flat6labs Cairo in 2018, as well as a social impact grant from the StartEgypt initiative, and has now closed its seed round.
Chefaa is free to use for patients, with the startup charging pharmacies a commission fee on transactions and a monthly subscription fee in case of scheduled monthly packages for chronic patients. It also charges monthly subscription fees to medical and pharmaceutical organisations in return for access to insights.

“In just 12 months we have fulfilled more than 93,000 orders through over 800 pharmacies, and generated total sales of more than US$1 million,” said Rady.

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.

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Afrikanheroes/

US-African trade still in the doldrums despite Agoa

Trade between the US and sub-Saharan Africa is in the doldrums despite a 2000 US law designed to boost access to the US market, a conference in Ivory Coast has been told. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which in 2015 was extended to 2025, provides tariff-free access on 6,500 products to 39 countries, ranging from oil and agricultural goods to textiles, farm and handicrafts.

Trade quadrupled in value from 2002 to 2008, a year when it reached $100bn , but fell back in 2017 to $39bn, according to figures compiled by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The surplus is widely in Africa’s favour, but most exports to the US are in oil or petroleum-based products, not the industrialised goods that provide a value-added boost to local economies.

“I do not think that Agoa has been the game-changer for many countries on the continent that we hoped it would be,” Constance Hamilton, assistant US trade representative for Africa, told the 18th Agoa Forum, ending in the Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan .”Agoa has not led to the trade diversification for which we originally hoped,” she said in remarks last week.”Petroleum products continued to account for the largest portion of Agoa imports, with a 67% share,” Hamilton said. “And the volume of Agoa trade remains modest. In the Agoa clothing sector, for example, we get about $1bn per year from Africa,” he said. This amounted to only 1% of all US clothing imports.

The US is Africa’s third-biggest trade partner after the EU and China. But Africa attracts only about 1% of all US foreign investment.Deputy US trade representative Curtis Mahoney said Washington had drawn up a variety of new initiatives to “lay the groundwork for an even closer trade and investment partnership”.

“We will combine the promise of the AfCFTA [African Continental Free Trade Area] with these new US initiatives and help maximise the potential of US-Africa trade,” he said. The AfCFTA is a scheme for demolishing trade barriers among the 55-member African Union (AU). The long-negotiated agreement was ceremonially launched at a summit in July but will need a year to become operational, the AU says.

According to the conclusions of a meeting of ministers ahead of the Abidjan conference, only 18 out of 39 countries have set down a national strategy for exploiting the benefits of Agoa. Many African companies either do not know of the advantages that are on offer, or they do not know how to use them, the ministers found.

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.