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Roche expands the Global Access Program beyond HIV to also include diagnostic tests for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, and Human Papillomavirus

July 27, 2019

Roche announced today the Global Access Program is expanding beyond HIV, to include Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), Hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV), and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for low and middle-income country programs where the disease burden is the highest.

The expansion of the Global Access Program highlights Roche’s commitment to improve access to cost-effective resources, implement scale-up programs, and contribute to the elimination of diseases in the regions with the greatest need.

“With effective treatment options for these infectious agents and improved patients access to diagnostics, early detection can help save lives and ease suffering,” said Michael Heuer, CEO Roche Diagnostics. “As the leader in infectious disease diagnosis testing, Roche is dedicated to supporting goals on eradicating diseases globally.”

“Access to cutting-edge, best in class diagnostic test results means more patients being appropriately diagnosed and well treated, resulting in lives saved,” stated Clinton Health Access Initiative’s (CHAI’s) Chief Science Officer David Ripin.

“We welcome Roche’s decision to expand access to tests for hepatitis, tuberculosis, and HPV (the leading cause of cervical cancer) to their Global Access Program, providing health systems with transparent and consistent pricing to these important tests in addition to the HIV viral load and early infant diagnostics already established in the program.

CHAI values Roche’s continued partnership in the effort to make diagnostics seamlessly available in well-optimized diagnostic lab systems throughout the world.”

“Accessible pricing can be the difference between a patient getting a quality diagnosis or not,” said Catharina Boehme, CEO of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) – a global non-profit devoted to the development and delivery of diagnostics for diseases that include TB and HCV. “FIND is proud to have worked with Roche to expand the Global Access Program for these deadly diseases, leveraging our support for its TB assay.”

Access to screening, early detection, and prevention of transmission reduces the spread of disease. Tuberculosis is a major health crisis and is the leading cause of infectious disease deaths worldwide. Access to hepatitis diagnostic tests for HBV and HCV will improve the outlook of eliminating these chronic infections.

And screening with HPV DNA testing can more accurately identify women at risk for cervical cancer than other screening methods. With vaccination and proper screening, cervical cancer is a preventable disease. Importantly, infection with HPV has been found to increase the risk of HIV transmission for both men and women. Similarly, women living with HIV are four to 10 times more likely to develop cervical cancer. Screening for co-infection (HIV+ HPV) can significantly improve disease management decisions and enable appropriate patient care.

In total, the Global Access Program now includes molecular diagnostics for HIV-1 viral load, HIV-1, and HIV-2 early infant diagnosis, the cobas® Plasma Separation Card – an innovative plasma collection device, MTB, and MTB – RIF/INH, Hepatitis B and C, and Human Papillomavirus. All these assays run on the cobas® 4800/6800/8800 platforms for various testing volume needs to be enabled by the cobas® Plasma Separation Card that transports samples from remote areas/sites to the central lab for further processing.

About World Health Organization disease elimination goals

Optimizing the use of diagnostics will be critical to achieving targets for elimination. The UNAIDS HIV 90:90:90 goal by 2020 states that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have durable viral suppression.

For hepatitis, the World Health Organization defined goals aiming at a 90% reduction in new chronic infections and a 65% reduction in mortality in 2030 as compared with the 2015 baseline.

Cervical cancer is preventable with vaccination, screening, and treatment when necessary. The draft 2030 goals for cervical cancer elimination include 90% vaccination rate for HPV in girls by 15 years of age, 70% of women screened with a high-precision test at 35 and 45 years of age along with appropriate follow-up, and 90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment and care.

The WHO have established goals to end Mycobacterium tuberculosis by 2035 which includes a 95% reduction in death, 90% reduction in incidence, and 0% catastrophic costs.

About Roche’s Global Access Program

In 2014, Roche announced, the Global Access Program for increased access to HIV diagnostics. Roche partnered with national governments, local healthcare facilities, communities and international agencies, including UNAIDS, CHAI, Unitaid, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Global Fund, and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to establish programs that would go beyond providing diagnostic tests.

Since its inception, the program has expanded substantially in the menu and geographic footprint to provide increased access to diagnostics at affordable pricing for qualifying organizations in eligible countries with the highest disease burden. Most recently the Global Access Program included the innovative cobas® Plasma Separation Card to provide the only CE-marked plasma sample collection devise which meets the World Health Organization sensitivity standard of < 1000 cp/mL.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 36 million people living with HIV around the world. Just 21.7 million people are receiving antiretroviral therapy and of those, only 47% are virally suppressed.

Tuberculosis is a major global health problem and is the leading cause of infectious disease deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 1.7 billion people are infected with MTB, with an estimated 10.0 million new TB infections, and over 1.6 million deaths in 2017.

Viral hepatitis remains a major public health burden killing more than 1.34 million people annually and mortality is on the rise. 71 million are estimated to be infected with chronic hepatitis C; whereas, 257 million are estimated to be infected with hepatitis B. The majority of disease burden is in low- and middle-income countries

According to the WHO, there are approximately 570,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 311,000 deaths globally each year, with close to 90% of these occurring in low- and middle-income countries. , Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of nearly all cases so screening for HPV DNA can identify women at risk; with proper vaccination, screening and treatment, nearly 100% of cervical cancers can be eliminated.

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/

Reuel Khoza appointed chair of PIC and aims for ‘former glory’

South Africa’s special investment arm, Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has appointed Reuel Khoza as its chair, boosting the independence of the custodian of SA government worker pensions by ridding the board of politicians.

Khoza is the first non-political chair of the PIC in nearly two decades and has vowed to restore Africa’s largest investment manager to its former glory.

“We will also restore the PIC to its former glory days when it was held in very high esteem, not only by its shareholder [the government] but by the various other publics it addresses itself to,” said Khoza, shortly after being elected chair at the first meeting of the new board, appointed by finance minister Tito Mboweni earlier in July.

Mboweni announced a 14-strong set of directors after the previous board resigned following a string of scandals. Speaking in Pretoria on Thursday, he said it was “bad practice” for the chair to be a lawmaker, and instead named serial board member Khoza to the position.

Khoza is a former chair of Eskom and Nedbank and holds the same role at Dzana Investments and AKA Capital. His deputy is Sindi Mabaso, a chartered accountant with experience on the boards of a number of other state-owned entities (SOEs).

In contrast to the established practice of the past two decades, and the PIC Amendment Bill which still awaits President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signature, Mboweni selected a board that did not include the deputy finance minister as chair, saying it’s a decisive moment for the PIC to go “fully corporate”.

Other new directors include Ivan Fredericks, GM of the Public Servants Association of SA, and Maria Ramos, a former director-general of the Treasury and CEO of Absa until earlier in 2019.

“The board will be totally autonomous. We want to believe that based on the kind of people that have been invited to the board, it will be a strong board,” says Khoza.

Khoza identified restoring stability at the PIC and recruiting a new CEO as the company’s immediate priorities. “So, the first thing we would like to do is to restore stability, and simultaneous with that we will be on a search for a CEO. But not only for that position, but for other senior positions that are currently populated by acting people.”

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/

Here Is Why Africell Is Planning To Invest $100 Million In Fintechs

Fintech is where the money is. Africa’s fintech companies have raised $320 million in funding since January 2015 and the ecosystem has surged 60% in the last two years. Africell understands these statistics and is willing to use its wide reach to give it a shot. With $100 million funding from the OPIC, the US government’s private investment fund, the African telecom company is more than ready to continue the disruption game.

Here Is The Deal

The Uganda-headquartered Africell’s new funding is more than $100 million and part of this would be used by the company to expand access to telecommunications in Africa.
The countries Africell is targeting are Uganda, DRC, Gambia and Sierra Leone.
Apart from this $100 million funding, Africell has set aside $300 million to spend on a new market like Angola within the first year of commencing business if they secured a license.
Africell would bid to become the fourth operator in Angola, which was expected to reissue a tender in the next two months after the original tender for the license was annulled in April.
A larger part of the $100 million would be spent on fintech.

The unbanked population is what Africell is targeting here.
Global fintech funding rose to $111.8 billion in 2018, up 120 percent from $50.8B in 2017 and that is a huge opportunity Africell is hoping to tap into.
To make this happen, Africell is looking at expanding its fintech services, such as mobile payments, micro-insurance, and micro-finance.
Mobile money payments, pioneered in Kenya, have expanded rapidly in other African nations where many people do not have bank accounts.
The 18-year-old company has 15 million subscribers across its four African operations.

The Game Is In Competing Profitably And Not Just Expanding

“We are looking only at markets where we can make a difference,” said Africell founder and chief executive Ziad Dalloul indicating this included Angola and Zimbabwe.

He said Angola was attractive because the country’s state-owned Angola Telecom had a large market share that could be vulnerable to a more aggressive private operator like Africell.

“Day one, we can just change the whole thing…drop market prices, expand into rural areas, provide faster, better service on internet. These are the things we know how to do. So that’s why we are keeping an eye on Angola,” he said.

And Africell Is Turning Its Eyes On Fintech For Reasons More Business Than Charitable

“No space has quite the potential impact of the fintech space when it comes to impact — and profits — in Africa, with startups operating such platforms able to significantly address the major issue of financial exclusion on the continent and thus promote development in all sorts of other areas,” says Disrupt Africa co-founder Tom Jackson.

Nigeria led the investments in 2018 with 58 startups raising $94,9 million, followed by South Africa with 40 businesses that raised $59,9 million, and Kenya was third.

Fintech investment was still the most popular, bringing in 39.7% of total funds “South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya remain the main three markets, with 141, 101 and 78 active ventures respectively, accounting for 65.2% of Africa’s fintech startups,” Jackson says.

US fintech investment for 2018 more than doubled to $52.5B, from $24B in 2017, across a record 1,061 deals.

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’s Biggest Company Is Investing Over $30 Million in U.S. Education Platform

This is a big shot from Naspers, Africa’s biggest company, which in terms of GDP, would be richer than the West African country of Liberia. Naspers is invading the US disruption market, leading a $30 million investment round in Brainly, a U.S. startup that allows learners to help each other with homework problems in different parts of the world.

Here Is What You Need To Know

The Cape Town-based Naspers has led the latest $30 million investment round in Brainly, a U.S. startup that allows learners to help each other with homework problems in different parts of the world.
The students earn points for the quality of their answers and can enter leadership-boards in different subjects such as history, mathematics, and others.
Naspers Ltd., Africa’s biggest company by market value and soon to be one of Europe’s largest listed technology companies, is investing more of its $10-billion cash-pile in educational platforms.

“At Naspers, we back companies seeking to address big societal needs like education, helping them to achieve global scale,” said Naspers Ventures Chief Executive Officer Larry Illg. “Brainly has the potential to serve the needs of hundreds of millions of students around the world, and has shown strong growth in the U.S. and high growth markets such as India, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil.”

The cash from the current funding round will be used to update the platform and expand its base in the U.S., where it has already managed to make money from the service.
Brainly is also expanding into India, where Naspers also led a $540 million funding round into another educational tech company Byju in December last year. The Brainly platform is growing at around 200% a year. Before the Byju investment, Naspers’s education investments have all been in the U.S. and includes other online learning platforms such as Udemy.
Naspers also led $540 million funding round in India’s Byju

Naspers first invested in Brainly in 2016. Runa Capital and Manta Ray have also invested in the latest funding round.

A $32 million initial investment in Tencent Holdings Ltd. back in 2001 transformed the South African newspaper and Pay TV business into one of the largest technology investors globally.

Its 31% stake in the Chinese game-maker is worth $140 billion, compared with its total market value of $110 billion in Johannesburg.

The valuation gap motivated a decision for Naspers to list its internet businesses on the Euronext in September to close that discount.

From the pie chart above it is clear that majority of revenue for Naspers comes from Internet services, which contributed 69.34% to NPN’s revenue, second biggest revenue earner was E-commerce with 15.2% or $1.987 billion dollars followed by video entertainment, with 14.1% or $1.834 billion.

Naspers’ Money At A Glance

A look at the financial results for the 6 months ending in September 2018, as revealed by Naspers in its financial statement shows:

Operating Revenue: $3.34billion
Cost of providing services and sale of goods :$1.981billion
Selling, general and administration expenses: $1.284billion
Operating profit: $49million
Share of equity accounted investment (basically Naspers’ share of Tencent profits as rest of equity-accounted results are negligible compared to Tencent’s contribution): $2.098 billion
Taxes: $317 million
Profit for the period: $3.454 billion

Read Also: South Africa ’s ‘Uber of Cleaning Services’ Gets $2 Million Investment From Naspers

Per-share statistics:

Diluted headline earnings per share: $6.32
Dividend yield: 0.24%
Cash per share: $7.32
Net asset value per share: $62
Cash generated from operations per share: $0.54

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/

Germany Africa Business Forum announces funds for energy startups

July 26, 2019

The Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF) announced Thursday a multimillion-Euro funding commitment to investing in German energy startups that focus on Africa.

The GABF, based in Berlin and Johannesburg, South Africa, said the funds are the first of their kind for the advocacy group seeking to advance German partnerships with the continent.

“Our initial goal is to support the investment in German companies and to start with funding allocations by the end of this year,” said Sebastian Wagner, co-founder of the GABF.

The news was welcomed by Cameroonian business leader NJ Ayuk, the CEO of Centurion Law Group based in Equatorial Guinea.
“The future of Africa’s energy industry will depend on technology and innovation. When German startups and Africans work together, we can build something unique for both our peoples,” Ayuk said. “I applaud the GABF for this well-thought-out initiative. I believe it is in line with the goals of the G20 Compact with Africa, driven by Germany.”

That compact, launched in 2017, is open to all African countries and has 12 nations participating to date. They include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Guinea, along with Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia. The compact places renewable energy and rural employment as priorities for African investment.

The GABF also launched in 2017, with a parallel vision to facilitate German investment in Africa by connecting top African business and political leaders with their African counterparts.

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/

How Africans Reacted to AFCON talking on Facebook

July 19, 2019, marked the end of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), a spectacular tournament that had people glued to their screens for the month of its duration. Africa moved to the rhythm of AFCON 2019, with more than 10 million people choosing Facebook to share their passion and excitement.

People across barriers of nation, language, class, and culture took to Facebook to discuss the AFCON 2019. Based on data measured between June 21st when AFCON started and July 16th:

People on Facebook generated more than 30 million AFCON-related interactions (likes, comments, reactions, etc).
The day that got most people engaged on Facebook so far was the 14th of July, the day of the semi-finals.
Riyad Mahrez from Algeria was the most talked about player, followed by Mohamed Salah from Egypt.
The most discussed national teams were, in order: Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, South Africa, and Tunisia.
The countries that discussed AFCON the most were Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Algeria, and Senegal.
Egypt, the country who hosted the championship, was the 6th most engaged in the conversation.

Facebook measured Facebook conversation including posts, comments, shares, likes, and reactions related to the tournament. All data was aggregated and de-personalized. Conversations were identified based on keywords and combinations of keywords that were associated with discussions around AFCON 2019.

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/

GreenTec Capital Partners Signs MoU with Senegalese General Delegation for the Acceleration of Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People

The Senegalese General Delegation for the Acceleration of Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People (DER), under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal, signed a partnership agreement with GreenTec Capital Partners the premier German investor into African Start-ups. The purpose of the agreement is the foundation of the first regional Venture Building Center in Africa to tackle investment challenges by providing investment tickets between € 10,000 and € 500,000 for entrepreneurs at the cusp of their growth stages.

The needs of Start-ups, MSMEs, and SMEs in Africa today revolve around a balanced combination of financing and operational support.

The entrepreneurial boom and the entrepreneurial spirit on the African continent are primarily supported by the growth of new ecosystem stakeholders such as incubators, hubs, and accelerators. This momentum is nevertheless hindered by the systemic operational deficiencies that still exist within the ecosystem today. Additionally, the Start-ups are most often not well prepared to use conventional financing vehicles such as venture capital.

The agreement was signed by the Minister Delegate for Entrepreneurship, Papa Amadou Sarr, and the CEO and co-founder of the German investment company, GreenTec Capital Partners, Erick Yong, joining the mutual ambitions of the two entities to the benefit of young Senegalese entrepreneurs by providing financing of the digital sector. Strengthening the operational capacities of Start-ups, and setting up a common infrastructure to enable startups to develop sustainably.

A new and better-structured ecosystem is needed to enable entrepreneurs to move efficiently from the proof-of-concept stage with low revenues (post-accelerator) to a stage of sustainable growth, thereby overcoming the “valley of death.”

The relevance of this partnership is rooted in the alignment and the sharing of resources between different actors, ranging from the public and private sectors and including development banks and civil society organizations. The joint initiative will further enable entrepreneurs with high potential to get better access to the support they need to grow.

Accessing support in the form of personalized operational assistance will create value for entrepreneurs who have matured past the phase in which incubators and accelerators have added value. This will help to further improve the quality of Start-ups and improve their chances of success.

The guiding principle of this initiative is that Africa must not be a passive observer of its own development, but an active player that invests resources and co-designs the agenda of development. Following this thought, it is in line with the political will of Senegalese President, H.E. Macky Sall, that the Republic of Senegal has decided to integrate the venture building model developed by GreenTec Capital with the coordination of DER.

The DER, created in 2017 and operational since March 2018, has been provided with a budget of $ 5 million per year until 2023 to achieve these goals.

DER, the Senegalese General Delegation for the Acceleration of Entrepreneurship for Women and Young People is an initiative of the President of the Republic of Senegal, H.E. Macky Sall. Its priority is to support and finance Senegalese entrepreneurs in the Senegalese National Development Plan’s priority sectors, which are agriculture, the digital economy, tourism, crafts, services, and several others.

The collaboration between the Republic of Senegal and GreenTec Capital Partners coincides with the ambitions of the French initiative digital Africa led by Karim Sy. Mr. Sy has guaranteed to lend the full support of the French initiative to this new ecosystem building center, which is based on the sharing of resources and the catalyzing of actors in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Through its innovation fund, the DER has already invested in 44 Senegalese startups in 2018, with ticket sizes ranging from € 10,000 to € 100,000. In 2019, the DER aims to support more than 150 digital Startups and SMEs, by investing more than 10 million euros, while supporting an additional twenty Start-ups with the GreenTec Capital venture-building model.

It is not a coincidence that the day of the signature of the agreement between the DER and GreenTec coincides with a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of “The DER Innovation HUB.” The objective is to position Senegal as a major player in the field of innovation on a regional level. The Hub will host major technology companies, innovators, incubators, and accelerators… and of course the GreenTec Capital Partners team.

The agreement also includes the establishment of the new GreenTec Capital regional office in Dakar. Designed to support and develop the operations of the largest investment structure in Germany for African start-ups in Francophone Africa. The local team will help raise the critical operational capabilities of companies to help make them more attractive to international investors.

In the last four years, GreenTec Capital’s investment model has already proven successful in 10 African countries – 4 of them in Francophone Africa, among them Rwanda, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, and several others. Now, this model will be implemented in Senegal contributing to a new investment ecosystem adapted to the structural specificities of entrepreneurship on the African continent.

Due to its high adaptation to the African context, the innovative investment model is scalable across the continent. It provides opportunities to design and develop new innovative solutions formed by international partnerships that can benefit the entire continent.

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/

Ethiopia backs Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF)

Prominent figures from Ethiopia’s public and private sectors have spoken out publicly to welcome the return to Addis Ababa of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) which is the premier tourism and hotel investment conference in Africa, and to encourage others to attend.

AHIF attracts many prominent international hotel owners, investors, financiers, management companies and their advisers. It will return to the Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa in the last week of September 23-25, 2019. AHIF was previously held in Ethiopia’s capital city in 2014 and 2015.

According to an independent study by Grant Thornton and the international tourism advisory expert, Martin Jansen van Vuuren, of Futureneer Advisors, the event is forecast to be worth $millions to Ethiopia’s economy and to facilitate the investment of $billions in hospitality projects across Africa.

In 2018, AHIF facilitated around $2.8 billion of investment in the hospitality sector and between 2011 and 2018, $6.2 billion. Abebe Abebayehu, Commissioner, Ethiopian Investment Commission, said: “We are glad to support this prestigious event.

AHIF attracts the highest caliber group of business leaders in the hospitality industry in Africa. By taking part, we will be able to get a much deeper understanding of what investors need. That is particularly important to us in the context of the government’s focus on tourism as a strategic pillar of the economy. By encouraging more investment in hospitality projects, we will create productive employment for our young population and earn valuable hard currency.”

One of the most important roles played by AHIF is to facilitate networking between delegates. Many investors and developers are keen to find new sources of finance, expert advisers and importantly, local partners.

One Ethiopian businessman, Neway Berhanu, Managing Director, Calibra Hospitality Group, has benefitted substantially from this. He says: “Calibra Hospitality Group’s success in becoming the leading consulting company in Ethiopia has been greatly helped by being an active participant in the Africa Hotel Investment Forum, since 2011.

Thanks to Bench Events, we are now well connected, having established very good relationships with all the major international hotel brands. That has enabled us to conclude close to 25 International transactions, bringing business to Ethiopia. I would encourage the business community and all stakeholders in the hospitality sector to attend.”

The promotion of tourism is another critical issue for many African countries. For Ethiopia, it is underlined by a report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which states that Travel & Tourism represents 61% of Ethiopia’s exports and it expects the industry to expand by a whopping 48.6% in 2019.

A rapidly growing national airline, a new hub airport, relaxed visa regulations, and the country being the political center of Africa, by virtue of hosting the headquarters of the African Union, are drivers of these impressive numbers. Ms. Lensa Mekonnen, CEO, Tourism Ethiopia said: “AHIF will provide an excellent opportunity to welcome the cream of the hotel industry to Ethiopia.

Our aim is to show them our assets and thereby attract more international-standard hotel and resort brands to establish themselves close to our historical, natural and cultural sites, in addition to the capital city. By promoting regionally balanced development, we will attract more tourists to Ethiopia and encourage them to stay longer.”

Matthew Weihs, Managing Director, Bench Events, concluded: “Ethiopia is a center for political meetings in Africa and a fast-growing transport hub. That already makes it attractive to hotel investors. The government’s declared interest in prioritizing tourism will further increase the attractiveness, along with its renewed enthusiasm for collaboration with the business community.

When AHIF first came to Ethiopia, there were three internationally-branded Hotels, the Hilton, the Radisson, and the Sheraton. Now there is a Best Western, a Golden Tulip, a Hyatt Regency, Marriott apartments and a Ramada; plus, another 27 hotels in the pipeline!”

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/

Germany Africa Business Forum announces multi-million Euro funding commitment to investing in German-African energy startups

The Germany Africa Business Forum, whose goal is to strengthen investment ties between Germany and Africa, announced it has, in collaboration with private partners from the energy industry, launched a multi-million Euro funding commitment to investing in German energy startups that focus on Africa.

The funding commitment, which pledges funds to German startups with exposure to African energy projects, will be the first such intra-regional initiative.

“Our initial goal is to support the investment in German companies and to start with funding allocations by the end of this year”, said Sebastian Wagner, co-founder of the GABF. “Through our partners, we will immediately get involved in investing in solutions-driven German startups with pragmatic business models to solve Africa’s energy challenges through the provision of German technology and innovation”, he added.

“The future of Africa’s energy industry will depend on technology and innovation. When German start-ups and Africans work together, we can build something unique for both our peoples.

I applaud the GABF for this well-thought-out initiative. I believe it is in line with the goals of the G20 Compact with Africa, driven by Germany”, stated NJ Ayuk, a pan-African energy dealmaker, CEO of Centurion Law Group and Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, a supporter of the initiative.

Anchored in the private sector, the GABF brings together Africa’s foremost executives with German companies, investors and innovators with the aim of driving change.

Founded in 2017 as a “private for privates”, the GABF encourages German investors to consider the African continent as a profitable and important investment destination. Through a series of initiatives, the GABF draws together African business and political leaders with Germany’s preeminent innovators to develop fresh investment concepts that shape German and African business ties, as well as economic thought.

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/

Kenyan Agritech Startup Taimba Raises $100k To Scale Operations

Kenyan agritech startup Taimba has joined the league of African startup fundraisers. US impact investor Gray Matters Capital is committing $100 000 in the Nairobi-based B2B agritech startup to help it scale its operations.

Here Is The Deal

The investment from Gray Matters Capital was made through its gender lens early-stage fund GMC coLabs.
The startup explained that the markets it wants to take on in Nairobi are Umoja, Kayole, Pipeline/Imara Daima, Kawagware/Waiyaki way, Kahawa west/Githurai, and Southlands/Langata.
Last year, Taimba was one of 15 startups selected to join the Make-IT accelerator.
The startup also emerged the winner of the inaugural Disrupt Africa Live Pitch Competition which was held in Nairobi last year.
Taimba also won $10 000 at the 2018 Food+City Challenge Prize at SXSW.
The deal also marks GMC coLabs fourth investment in Africam with investment ticket sizes of up to $250 000. The impact investor’s other investees include Rwanda’s African Renewal Energy Distributor (ARED), Ghana’s Redbird Health Tech and Nigeria’s Sonocare.
In addition, the investor has also supported two other start-ups from the continent — Kenya’s parent advisory turned e-commerce start-up MumsVillageand Sierra Leone based Mosabi as part of its global digital accelerator program — GMC Calibrator earlier this year.

A Look At Taimba

Taimba is a mobile-based platform that connects rural small scale farmers to urban retailers, restaurants, hospitals, and schools in Nairobi.
The startup was founded in 2017 by Dominique Kavuisya and Joan Kavuisya
Taimba aims to remove middlemen, shrink the agricultural value chain, cut wastage and make products more affordable.
Gray Matters Capital said the startup currently works with 2000 farmers as well as 15 farmer savings and credit co-operatives that sell products that include potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, and carrots.
Informal greengrocers make up the bulk of Taimba’s 310 customers at 85%, this while restaurants and cafes make up 10% of its customer list, with schools and hospitals located outside of Nairobi making up 5% of its clientele.

“The funding is a shot in the arm for us to strengthen our warehouse infrastructure by setting up cold storage facilities and also our delivery logistics so that we can cater to six new markets within Nairobi,” noted Taimba’s CEO Kavuisya.

Outside of Nairobi, Taimba is planning to launch a pilot in Mombasa and Kisumu City by next year. In addition, the startup is also looking to produce new products that include fruits, nuts, and eggs as part of its farm product catalogue.
The startup also has plans to replicate its model in Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Rwanda over the next five years.
GMC coLabs portfolio manager Jennifer Soltis said Taimba has built a solution that can be replicated in other markets in East Africa “with minimal tweaks”.
The startup’s first deal which was signed last month marks Taimba’s first investment. The company currently employs a team of seven permanent staff and five part-time workers.

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.