Temtem - Afrikan Heroes

Startup Temtem Launches Temtem One, Allowing Algerians Abroad To Order In Foreign Currency And Send To Relatives Home

January 6, 2021

An application offering Algerians living abroad the possibility of paying in foreign currency for products purchased remotely from Algeria and delivering them to the homes of their relatives in the various provinces of the country has been launched by the ride-hailing startup “Temtem.”

According to Temtem, the multiservice application, called “Temtem One” allows the Algerian diaspora to “pay for its orders with a VISA, MasterCard or American express card and enter the address and telephone number of relatives in Algeria so that “Temtem One” is responsible for delivering them within 2 hours in express mode or between 1 to 5 days depending on the region of their residence.”

“I congratulate the startup Temtem for this excellent initiative. This is the first time that an Algerian company has offered such a service to our diaspora and which at the same time will generate foreign currency income for Algeria. This proves today that Algeria can count on the ingenuity of its start-ups to diversify its economy and also be a vector of financial inclusion,” Algeria’s Minister of the Knowledge Economy and Startups, Yacine Oualid said.

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For inhabitants of Algiers, Tunisia’s capital, orders are “delivered within 24 hours”.
In general, “Temtem One” already delivers in 21 of the 48 wilayas of the country.
In a statement, the minister responsible for the Knowledge Economy and Startups said that this application was launched in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic which has greatly limited travel in Algeria and elsewhere. The ministry noted that the diaspora could not find its relatives for almost a year because of the pandemic.
Thus, with Temtem One, “it has never been so easy for Algerians living abroad, naturally wishing to help their loved ones, to do so”, rejoices the ministry.

“Payments made in foreign currency are sent to Temtem’s accounts in dinars, contributing to the country’s foreign exchange reserve”, explains the ministry, stressing that Temtem has ensured, after numerous consultations and advice, in particular from a bank international, that the offer and the process comply with the Algerian regulations in force.

In this context, the ministry recalled that financial flows from the Algerian diaspora to their country of origin totaled barely $ 2 billion in 2018.

“We design products and services that meet local needs with one goal, that of improving people’s lives. They access the services that matter to them more easily and even innovative services that do not exist elsewhere like Temtem Diaspora,” Salim Bouazouni was quoted as saying.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

French Car-Hailing Startup Karos Enters Algeria’s Ride-Hailing Market

March 3, 2020

Algeria ‘s ride-hailing ecosystem is gearing up for a major ground-breaking challenge. Karos, the French ride-sharing startup is going international for the first time, and is choosing the Algerian market as its entry point in Africa. It is, however, doing so by way of partnership with a major existing player temtem. This a major move for the French startup Karos, which is based in France and has a strong community of 380,000 users, and has already completed nearly three million rides.

“Urban sprawl and the limited nature of public transport outside of city centers are global issues, which we are already addressing in France with proven results. The African continent represents a tremendous opportunity for our model, with a potential of more than 2.3 billion rides per year. This first deployment abroad, launched only 3 months after the signing of our agreement with temtem, and the 10,000 car-hailing companies already active in Algeria in just ten days, demonstrate our ability to deploy our technology and our model in an efficient and scalable manner in a new country. This validation now allows us to harbor great ambitions for international expansion in the short term,’’ said Olivier Binet, co-founder of Karos.

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As part of this first deployment abroad, Karos intends to operate on its commuting model, which has proven its worth in France.
This deployment is also an opportunity for Karos to test its technical solutions with a B2C economic model, by ensuring long-distance ride-sharing, from city to city, which is highly demanded by Algerians.

“After analyzing temtem usage data, our data scientists concluded that the market needed a lower-cost solution, particularly for commuting. With the Karos service in Algeria, we wish to respond to a social issue while taking into account the environmental aspect which is part of the smart city initiatives of the Algerian government and its minister for startups,’’ says Kamel Haddar, founder of Temtem.

Read also: How Senegal ’s New Startup Act Intends To Help Startups Succeed

Tunisia and Morocco will constitute the next launches of the Karos service by temtem after Algeria.
Temtem will particularly launch Karos in June in Tunisia to capture the flow of holiday trips made by two million Algerian tourists each summer.
460 million people around the world face long daily commutes to and from work, with a potential of ride-sharing trips estimated at 32 billion per year on the 610 main urban areas of the Earth.
Since its launch on February 15, 2020, the Karos ride-sharing app, adapted to the Algerian market and launched by temtem, already has more than 10,000 users. An extremely promising start, ten times faster than in Ile-de-France for Karos, which confirms the Algerians’ enthusiasm for ride-sharing.