Every day, week, and month there’s a startup or business venture coming out of Africa. Within many enterprises, there are some worth highlighting and shedding light on. The following are 10 of them that were written and spoken about highly from the start of January until end of June 2019. Enjoy African progressive development, progressive innovations, and progressive solutions at their finest!
PUBLISEER is a digital publishing platform that allows African artist of various talents to publish, promote, protect and monetize their body of work to the masses in Africa and elsewhere free of charge. This publisher was co-founded and established by Chidi Nwaogu & Chika Nwaogu of Nigeria. Their innovative platform is making it free and easy for authors and artist in Africa to publish their content everywhere books and music are sold online.
FLUTTERWAVEÂ is a mobile application from Nigeria that allows Visa cardholders in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, etc.) to send and receive money home and abroad. It also allows non-cardholders to create a virtual card via the app. Their innovative app is making it easier for Africans to send and receive online payments inside and outside of Africa.
Mara Group is setting up its first smartphone factory in Rwanda. This is a Pan-African multi-sector service provider based in Uganda. Their facility will help to increase access to cellphones, increase individuals connected to internet, and increase employment opportunities for Africans.
Cocoa360 is a community-based initiative in Ghana that uses proceeds from cocoa farms to run health clinic and tuition free schools for girls. This social enterprise was founded by Shadrack Frimpong of Ghana. His organization is helping farmers, families, and females to live a prosperous, healthy and literate life in Africa respectively.Â
Bongajum Lesley had the vision to create a gym bike, Bonga Power Bike, that converts mechanical energy from pedaling it to electrical energy, which can then be used to light up rural areas in African countries. This innovation was founded in Cameroon. The Bonga Power Bike will help with transportation, health, and electricity in Africa.
Sawa Minerals uses smart contracts to enable a transparent process of buying and selling precious metals, gemstones, and crystals from African countries. This blockchain platform is in Kenya. Their decentralized app is helping to do mining business in an open and safe manner and is the first of its kind in Africa.
Uganics is a social enterprise that produces and sells mosquito repellent soaps. This healthcare product was founded in Uganda. Their kind of soap is helping to prevent malaria in their region, especially for mothers with kids below the age of 5 living in rural areas.
Chipper Cash is a borderless mobile money payment platform that enables people in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda to send and receive funds to each other without any fees. This payment service was founded in San Francisco, CA, USA by a Ghanaian and Ugandan collectively. Their payment gateway is helping people in various African countries to do financial transactions with each other for free.
Seekewa is an online platform that allows internet users and companies to financially support small farmers in African countries via voucher system. This mobile funding app was founded in Ivory Coast. Their voucher system is helping to carry out agricultural projects for all involved participants.
ORide is a motorcycle-hailing startup that only carries 1 passenger per trip, includes first-aid boxes on-the-go, and allows users of their app to send and receive funds seamlessly. This transportation app was founded in Nigeria. Their ride hailing app is helping locals get from 1 location to another conveniently.Â
Well, those were the African innovations for mid-2019! Second-half of year is coming in December… #AfricanInnovators!
References:
https://weetracker.com/2019/03/07/ghana-shadrack-frimpong-cocoa360/
http://www.techinafrica.com/sawa-minerals-launches-blockchain-enabled-minerals-trading-platform/
https://weetracker.com/2019/05/09/chipper-cahs-raises-2-4-million-seed-round/
https:/weetracker.com/2019/05/13/ugandan-entrepreneur-joan-nalubega/
http://disrupt-africa.com/2019/06/these-brothers-are-boosting-ivorian-agriculture-from-farm-to-fork/
https://weetracker.com/2019/06/10/nigerian-bike-hailing-war/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tony K Ansah, Jr., M.P.A. is a self-published author and a social entrepreneur based in Rhode Island, U.S.A. He has written and published several books and content via poems, quotes, fiction, non-fiction, blogs and articles. Tony is also the founder and owner of Ansah Africa, a consulting and marketing startup that connects donors in the U.S.A. with nonprofits in Africa to solve global problems, which was established in 2017.
This article was originally posted on tonyansah.com June 28, 2019. The original article can be viewed here.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the SDG Philanthropy Platform. The SDG Philanthropy Platform is a global initiative that connects philanthropy with knowledge and networks that can deepen collaboration, leverage resources and sustain impact, driving SDG delivery within national development planning. It is led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), and supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, Brach Family Charitable Foundation, and many others.