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North African Countries Compete for Russian, Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines     |     North Africa Faces Unparalleled Economic Crisis This Year     |     This Egypt ’s Dating Startup Has Just Been Acquired By America’s Leading Company     |     Two Egyptian Startups Raise $350,000 In New Funding     |     Canon Launches Discovery Week In Nairobi     |     This Moroccan Investor Is Looking To Invest Over $250k In Startups From Around World     |    
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Tag: North Africa

North African Countries Compete for Russian, Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

September 1, 2020

The North African countries of Morocco and Algeria seem to have taken their competition for regional supremacy to another level as both are in a race for Covid-19 vaccine trials. While the Chinese vaccine trials are underway in Morocco, Algeria is acquiring the controversial Russian vaccines.

Professor Richard Peto of Oxford University
Professor Richard Peto of Oxford University

Morocco and Algeria have chosen different paths in pursuing vaccines against COVID-19. Morocco has chosen to take part in clinical trials for China’s CNBG vaccine. Algeria has instead chosen to purchase the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine. Both vaccines are in the latter stages of clinical testing, even though Russia has already claimed success.

The global race to develop COVID-19 vaccines is escalating. It began to turn into a frenzied rush after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on August 11 the country’s Sputnik V vaccine to be the first proven inoculation. However, Russia’s vaccine is still undergoing important final trials.

Many analysts see nationalist and capitalist incentives driving the rush to produce the first vaccine. “I think there’s a big rush, a somewhat nationalistic rush and also somewhat capitalistic rush as well,” Professor Richard Peto of Oxford University told the Guardian. “It will actually make it more difficult to evaluate other vaccines,” he stated while adding, “we really do need quite strong evidence of efficacy.”

Protests emerged in Johannesburg after a local university partnered with Oxford to start Africa’s first clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine in July. “We are not guinea pigs,” protesters said. Now that vaccines have reached the third stage, where larger groups of people take the vaccine, opinions are changing about taking part in trials.

Read also:South Africa’s Biggest Bank Acquires Stake in Leading Fintech, TradeSafe

Morocco is one of the countries where a new vaccine is undergoing testing. Thousands of Moroccan volunteers are taking the vaccine developed by Chinese laboratory Sinopharm CNBG. By cooperating in the vaccine development process, Morocco will have earlier access to an eventual final vaccine and hopes to manufacture the drugs locally.

In the race for vaccines, Algeria has taken a different route than Morocco. According to the North Africa Journal, the Pasteur Institute of Algeria has welcomed a team of Russian researchers representing their country’s government to negotiate purchasing the vaccine.

Yet both the Chinese and Russian vaccines have yet to clear the final hurdle of clinical trials. In the last stage of vaccine development, large groups take the drug to test for side effects or health risks. Algeria’s choice to discuss purchasing large quantities of the Russian vaccine is a risk, as trial results could disprove its efficacy after the order is already placed. Morocco, in contrast, is helping with the scientific process to realize an effective vaccine, without running the risk of purchasing a faulty or dangerous drug.

Read also:South Africa’s Biggest Bank Acquires Stake in Leading Fintech, TradeSafe

Both Morocco and Algeria are taking a proactive approach in the race for vaccines, although their risks differ. Whatever the outcome of the Chinese and Russian drugs might be, both nations are actively working to ensure citizens get a working vaccine. The need for vaccines is apparent as Algeria continues to see hundreds of new cases, while Morocco is frequently recording more than 1,000 new infections daily.

Fears over the distribution of vaccines are legitimate. Rich Western countries have already implied that they will ensure vaccines first go to their populations. These developments make it ever more important for countries in the Maghreb region to find ways to procure early access as well. While much remains unclear, Morocco and Algeria at least appear proactive in ensuring adequate vaccines are made available when they pass the final clinical trials.

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

North Africa Faces Unparalleled Economic Crisis This Year

July 15, 2020
North Africa

Regional economic forecasts released yesterday warned that the North African region is facing severe economic challenges this year such that only socioeconomic stability, social inclusion and human capital development are prerequisites for resilience and emerging from the crisis as the region will face an economic contraction forecast between 0.8 and 2.3%. The tourism and industrial sectors in North Africa are likely to be hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2020 edition of the North Africa Economic Outlook report published on Tuesday by the African Development Bank.

Faced with an unparalleled crisis, the region’s countries implemented health and budget measures to curb the spread of the virus and protect their populations. The economic slowdown, due to disruptions across several sectors, has had large-scale socioeconomic consequences. The rapidity with which economic and other restrictions are being lifted in North Africa is raising uncertainty and suggests two distinct recovery scenarios. The first is based on a timeline for emerging from the crisis in July 2020. The second is based on the pandemic lasting through December 2020.

Under the first scenario, regional growth would fall by 5.2 percentage points, resulting in a decline in growth of ‑0.8%. In the second scenario, growth would fall by 6.7 percentage points, leading to a ‑2.3% decline. However, economic recovery is forecast for 2021, with regional growth of between 3% and 3.3%.  The North Africa Economic Outlook 2020 shows that the services, tourism and industrial sectors, which are the main contributors to the regional economy, have been severely affected by the numerous restrictions associated with the COVID-19 response.

Read also : https://afrikanheroes.com/2020/06/16/media-startups-in-north-africa-invited-to-apply-to-the-2020-edition-of-media-loves-tech-challenge/

The report suggests that the pandemic’s negative impact on global demand and the prices of basic goods is likely to increase fiscal deficits and current account imbalances in the region. In the worst-case scenario, the fiscal deficit in 2020 could average 10.9% of regional GDP. In 2019, the fiscal balance, estimated at ‑5.6% of regional GDP, exceeded the African average of ‑4.7%.

Regarding the current account balance, North African countries recorded an average deficit of 4.4% of GDP in 2019. Assuming a reduction in global demand of 7.9% and a crude oil price of $20 per barrel, the worst-case scenario suggests a deficit of 11.4% of GDP in 2020. This situation is attributable mainly to the deficits of oil-exporting countries, 20% and 19.8% of GDP in Algeria and Libya respectively. This is true also of Mauritania (17%) and Tunisia (12.2%), whose main trading partners, China and Europe, are expected to be in recession in 2020.

Read also : https://afrikanheroes.com/2020/06/12/central-bank-of-tunisia-launches-website-for-north-africas-first-regulatory-sandbox-for-fintech-startups/

The report also emphasises the non-inclusive nature of growth in North Africa. Social and regional disparities, already significant, have widened as a result of the pandemic. The report recommends tackling them by undertaking structural reforms to increase public-sector efficiency and private-sector competitiveness to create more jobs. The report calls on North African countries to continue to implement fiscal measures to protect affected households and businesses. The development of the agro-industrial sector is also recommended to promote local agricultural value chains. Further, countries should work toward greater trade openness and integration, in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Read also ; https://afrikanheroes.com/2020/05/04/why-afcfta-implementation-was-postponed-till-2021/

The Bank recommends investing in human capital and skills as an essential condition for accelerating economic development. In North Africa, adapting skills to match job opportunities emerging because of the fourth industrial revolution will require coordinated reforms of both education and training systems, notes the report. For workers still in employment, countries should introduce more efficient mechanisms to promote in-work training. Governments could consider providing grants to the private sector to create jobs for young people and women in strategic sectors. Finally, the development of the manufacturing sector is a key driver of economic growth, as it provides productive, well-paid jobs for a large number of workers.

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

This Egypt ’s Dating Startup Has Just Been Acquired By America’s Leading Company

August 9, 2019
Egypt dating

This is a major signal that Muslim-dominated African countries are already adapting to the game of disruption. Sensing profitability in predominantly Muslim countries across the MENA region and Asia, leading American provider of dating-related apps Match Group has managed to expand into the Middle Eastern market by acquiring Egyptian match-making app Harmonica.

Egypt dating

Here Is The Deal

  • This is to be Match Group’s first office in the Middle East, their investment in Harmonica forming part of their most recent ambitious international expansion program.

“As we think about international growth and expansion, there are huge populations of young singles — mostly across Asia and the Middle East — that will be looking for their life partners in the near future, and that are not properly served by Western products,” said Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group.

  • Harmonica is carefully designed to help Muslim users find suitable life partners, ‘using a scientific, safe, and culturally accepted approach,’ according to its website.
  • Following Match Group’s acquisition deal, Harmonica’s early investors Flat6Labs and 500 Startups have been able to successfully exit the startup.

“This deal marks the first major Flat6Labs exit with significant returns on investment in just over one year,” said Ramez El-Serafy, Flat6Labs CEO.

“From day one we’ve had a great deal of trust in Harmonica’s talented team, and their truly innovative marriage matchmaking application; and now, we’re thrilled that Match Group is sharing the same confidence in moving ahead with this remarkable deal.”

  • Harmonica, which is currently still an Arabic-only app, is to keep its headquarters in Cairo, with Sameh Saleh continuing as CEO. Its small team of 12 full-time employees will join the American company as part of the acquisition, where they intend to develop an English version of the app.

“We’ve already facilitated hundreds of marriages just in Egypt and believe that with Match Group’s vast experience, there are exciting opportunities ahead,” said Sameh Saleh.

About Harmonica

Based in Cairo, the startup was founded back in 2017 by four Egyptian entrepreneurs Sameh Saleh, Tamer Saleh, Aly Khaled, and Shaymaa Ali, who saw a gap in the market for apps that would serve their own community and therefore sought to create an app that could facilitate meaningful and traditionally acceptable relationships.

Not simply geared towards helping people find suitable partners, Harmonica is designed to facilitate successful marriages; the app also comprises a section that allows users to ask marriage-related questions to a team of in-house relationship coaches.

“The Harmonica team is not only smart and innovative, but has built a highly differentiated and technologically impressive product that, although early stage, truly understands the needs of this culture. We believe we’ve found great talent, with local expertise and insights that will help us further succeed in our international expansion strategy,” Ginsberg added.

Match Group’s brand portfolio includes apps such as Tinder, PlentyOfFish, Meetic, OkCupid, OurTime, Pairs, and Hinge, all of which are similarly designed to facilitate meaningful matchmaking for its users. The company is ranked among the world’s top digital companies, according to Forbes.

Global Venture Investment In Dating Startups

Casual dating in Egypt has only recently become a more widely spread practice with dating apps such as Tinder increasingly popular among middle- and upper-class Egyptians in pursuit of different types of acquaintances and relationships. Sexual relationships outside of marriage are traditionally taboo, dating therefore still primarily expected to be geared towards getting engaged. In contemporary Egyptian society, young people have considerably more decision-making power, although marriage generally still involves negotiation among family members.

Keywords:

  1. MENA: MENA is an English-language acronym referring to the Middle East and North Africa region. An alternative term for the same group of countries is WANA (West Asia and North Africa).

 

Charles Rapulu Udoh

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

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

Two Egyptian Startups Raise $350,000 In New Funding

July 23, 2019
Egypt

Expect much of startup funding to still come from Egypt before this year ends. This goes to say that the startup ecosystem in the country is very much alive and that a lot of young startup owners are now more determined than ever. New to the list are two startups, XPay, and Colnn which have just raised an aggregate of $350, 000.

XPay

Egypt’s fintech startup XPay secured $250,000 in pre-seed funding from two angel investors. XPay is part of the cohort currently participating in Startupbootcamp Fintech Cairo.

XPay was founded in 2018 by Dr. Mohamed AbdelMottaleb, to empower communities to go cashless. The startup enables universities, schools, gyms, social and sports clubs, residential compounds and different other communities to set up their offerings and collect payment online. XPay’s mobile app allows members in these communities to pay in less than a minute using debit/credit cards, mobile wallet, and a cash collection service.

“XPay was established to become the platform of choice for all members of the family — eliminating the stress of juggling numerous transactions, subscription and bill payments, payment methods and due dates. One platform to ease the unavoidable inconvenience of modern living,” Dr. Mohamed AbdelMottaleb, founder and CEO of XPay said in an interview.

The startup plans to use the use of this funding to grow the company and also expand its team.

A guide to Egypt’s tech startup ecosystem

Colnn

The Cairo-based ed-tech startup Colnn has also raised $100,000 from EdVentures, the VC arm of Egypt’s leading publisher Nahder Misr, the startup announced earlier this week. EdVentures also runs an accelerator program for education startups in Egypt.

Founded in 2015 by Tamer Samir, Colnn, per the statement, is a cloud-based school management system that comes with a mobile app, enabling schools to manage their operations, processes, activities, and communication between parents, teachers, and students. The mobile app by Colnn connects teachers and parents allowing parents to keep an eye on their children’s performance and daily activities.

According to Colnn’s website, the students also get an online account that enables them to access announcements, attendance, homework, online quizzes, and their time table.

It’s not clear if Colnn has a per-student subscription model for schools (which is what’s used by a large number of similar SaaS startups) or it charges the school a monthly subscription fee regardless of the number of students they have.

The startup, according to the statement, works with each school to customize its solutions and software according to their requirements (as long customization requirements meet their strategy).

”We’re not sure about the extent of customization but it would be safe to assume that it includes minor tweaks as anything major normally requires a lot of resources and the cost of those changes and upgrades normally outweigh the benefits unless its a very big client,” the startup noted.

See Also: Why Startup Ecosystem in Africa’s French-Speaking Countries Is The Least Funded In Africa

Tamer Samir, founder, and CEO of Colnn commenting on the investment said, “Becoming a part of EdVentures will definitely support our expansion plans. Nahdet Misr’s over 80 years of experience in the education sector and its local and international network will help us enter new markets.”

Dalia Ibrahim, the Founder of EdVentures and the CEO of Nahdet Misr Publishing House, added,

“We were keen to add Colnn to our portfolio of companies as it perfectly aligns with our objective of developing and offering new and innovative educational solutions that further strengthen the educational sector in our country.”

 

 

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/

Canon Launches Discovery Week In Nairobi

July 17, 2019
Canon Central

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) a leader in imaging solutions, launched the Canon Discovery Week in Nairobi this July with a photo safari and Wildlife photography Master Class led by the Canon ambassadors Jonathan and Angela Scott.

Discovery Week is a consumer engagement to build a closer relationship between customers and photography by facilitating access to Canon equipment and professionals. The initiatives also raise awareness of latest products and develop the education of all levels of photographers.

Canon Central
 

In order to meet the expectations of Kenyan photographers, whether professional or amateur, Canon hosted initiatives granting many opportunities for customers to interact with experts and retailers.

The set of events and interactions included educational Canon Academy workshops which invited testimonials and debate from attendees; in-store activations to give photographers an opportunity to learn more about their own equipment, and to test new products and solutions; and instore incentives to help photographers get easier access to new equipment.

Amine Djouahra, B2C Sales & Market Director, Canon Central, and North Africa said: “Our objective is plural: to meet and exchange with photographers, give them a satisfying customer experience by helping them become more familiar with our devices and allow us to better anticipate their ever-changing needs.

We aim to maintain this meeting with our customers every year in order to sustain this essential link that allows us to refresh our offerings regularly and launch innovative products that meet or even anticipate our customers’ needs.”

Throughout the month of July, Canon continues to offer its existing and new customers instore incentives, in order to thank them for their loyalty and appreciation.

 

 

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/

This Moroccan Investor Is Looking To Invest Over $250k In Startups From Around World

July 8, 2019
Moroccan startups

Newly launched zero-equity Moroccan Impulse Accelerator is looking to offer tech startups that pitch at its demo day a share of $250 000 in cash prizes.

Moroccan startups
 

 Impulse Accelerator At A Glance

  • The accelerator is located in El Kelaa of Sraghna, about 100km from Marrakesh, Western Morocco. 
  • The accelerator was launched last month by University Mohammed VI Polytechnique (UM6P) in partnership with the OCP Group and its subsidiary OCP Africa.
  • The accelerator’s 12-week program was designed by global accelerator organization MassChallenge.
  • The program is aimed at startups in the agritech, biotech, mining tech, materials science and nanoengineering verticals that have a proof of concept or a minimum viable product (MVP).

How To Obtain The Funding

Interested persons desirous of participating in the program can do so by applying to through the investor’s online portal.

  • Applications for the accelerator program opened last week and will close on 1 October.
  • Startups from around the world are eligible to enter

What The Startups Stand To Benefit

  • In a statement on the Moroccan Impulse Accelerators’ website last month, UM6P  successful startups stand to benefit from access to financing through a set of national and international investment funds and business angels.
  • Startups that take part in the program will also have access to UM6P’s infrastructure and laboratories, study trips to Boston in the US and Lausanne, Switzerland, as well as a 430m² co-working space.
  • In addition, the startups will also benefit from mentorship and coaching from OCP experts UM6P professors and doctoral students, as well as mentors of the MassChallenge network.
  • Additional benefits include access to business opportunities via OCP Group, OCP Africa and UM6P networks.

OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University will help successful companies obtain visas for the duration of the programme.

See Also: Founders Factory Africa and Netcare Are Looking For African Health-tech Startups To Invest In

Timeline Of Events

  • Between now and September, the accelerator will hold an Africa roadshow during which it will hold information sessions in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
  • Thereafter startups selected to join the accelerator will be announced in November, with the accelerator set to start on 15 January.
  • Impulse Accelerator will hold its US and Switzerland boot camps in March next year, with a demo day and awards ceremony set to take place in April.

 

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/
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