For connecting, amplifying, and accelerating Africa’s tech community.
Erik Hersman's iHub has become an important resource for Kenya’s tech
community. The not-for-profit is a hybrid coworking space and university
commons, which has grown to more than 10,000 members in just three
years and has led to the launching of 150 companies—many of which are
dedicated to finding technological solutions to Africa-specific
problems.
2. Sanergy
For bringing sustainable sanitation to Sub-Saharan Africa.
More than 12,000 people living in Kenya's slums are now receiving daily
portable toilets containing toilet paper, sawdust, soap, and water
thanks to Sanergy's sustainability model—local residents purchase and
manage the sanitation facilities, allowing them to become
micro-entrepreneurs. Every day, the waste is collected and transported
to a management center where it’s treated according to the governmental
standards and turned into fertilizer for use by East African farmers who
can’t afford the otherwise high prices.
For fostering a new generation of farmers in Africa.
The model is simple, but the impact is huge. One Acre Fund estimates it
will represent Africa’s largest network of small farms in just a few
years. The company provides farmers seed and fertilizer on credit,
delivers the materials nearby for pickup, trains the farmers to use
them, and helps them sell the harvests. Since launching in Kenya in
2006, One Acre Fund has expanded to surrounding Rwanda, Burundi, and
Tanzania, reaching more than 180,000 farmers and aiming to hit 200,000
by the end of 2014.
For betting on U.S.-style commerce in Africa. This
venture firm has launched more than 100 companies in Africa since its
founding in 2007. Among its efforts: online food delivery with
FoodPanda, real estate with Lamundi, hotel booking with Javogo, and
Amazon-like shopping with Jumia—which is the most popular online
shopping site on the continent. While the company runs much of the
business from its Berlin headquarters and many are very similar, its
work to bring new opportunities to Africa is vital to the continent's
growth.
For making the online shopping experience more secure.
On Konga’s recently launched Marketplace, electronics to clothing to
home appliances and beyond are available for secure online purchase—with
more than 200,000 products on offer. And the sellers include merchants
from small Nigerian villages as well as large, international companies.
Through focusing on buyer and seller protection, Konga is betting that
as Nigerians continue to embrace broadband, they will also turn to
e-commerce platforms like its Marketplace.
6. Sterio.me
For taking the infrastructure out of education. The
young startup is rolling out a trial of its mobile e-learning service to
75 schools in Nigeria. The service uses SMS messages that give students
access to material and lessons they listen to outside the classroom.
The lessons are pre-recorded by the educators and sent as a free voice
call when triggered by a specific SMS code. Educators can be immediately
notified of which students finished the lessons and how they performed,
saving them grading time and helping them prepare for the next class
session.
For making it safer to cook in rural Africa.
Millions of people in rural Uganda are still using inefficient and
dangerous means of cooking, like three-stone fires and kerosene.
UpEnergy has set out to both protect the environment and people by
supporting distribution channels that benefit both large businesses
(through carbon credits) and local retailers (through direct sales
support and guidance) to make available safer, greener, and more
efficient cookstoves, water purification technologies, and solar lights.
For championing the new wave in education: adaptive learning.
With online education becoming more prevalent, the next step for many
platforms is to shirk the typical lecture format in favor of an adaptive
learning one. The goal has become finding a model that allows students
to receive the right content at the right time, ultimately leading to
higher understanding and better grades. With Africa seen as the next
frontier for online learning’s expansion—growth of the mobile learning
market in Africa over the next five years is 39% and expected to make
e-learning a $530 million market by 2017—Daptio’s presence is making it a
reality.
For preparing the next generation. Another
education-oriented company on the list, PrepClass is an online portal
for students preparing for standardized tests in Nigeria such as the
JAMB, WAEC, GCE, or NECO. Students pay to take practice tests that
prepare them for an online or paper tests and receive personalized
feedback to improve for test day. To be as available as possible,
PrepClass has partnered with more than 1,000 cybercafes across Nigeria
to give students places with the necessary resources to use the
platform.
For connecting a scattered society. With more than
11 official languages in South Africa, Aweza is looking to bridge the
gap between the segmented communities in the country and lessen the
language barrier. Its app allows users to translate words and phrases
for others all in a slick little package. By crowdsourcing translations
to weed out inaccuracies, the company aims to leverage the growing
mobile arena and encourage cultures to interact across their defined
lines.
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