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How CEO of Konn3ct Survived Auto Accident to Launch Konn3ct Meetings App

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Two major life-defining moments have trailed the success of Konn3ct meeting app. One was a near-death automobile accident that saw his car somersault thrice and would have claimed the life of the CEO of NewWaves Ecosystem, Femi Williams.

Another was his refusal to accede to the tempting offer made by an Indian to buy the asset that emerged after the accident. Had he died in that ghastly automobile accident, two events would have happened. The company behind the soar-away meeting app NewWaves Ecosystem, would have died with him.

Then, Konn3ct – a virtual meeting and conferencing platform that could enable seamless connection of over 200 people at a go – would not have seen the light of day.

However, because the two incidents did not happen, Williams is alive and elated to tell the story during the media unveiling of the Konn3ct meeting app on April 7, 2021. During the launch, which occurred virtually on the Konn3ct meeting platform, hundreds of friends including colleagues, the IT community, Fintech ecosystem, religion bodies, student association and the media connected to the Konn3ct platform. Other people who connected to the platform from far and near were paying and non-paying subscribers.

Instead of mourning the demise of the former Group Managing Director of Chams PLC, the virtual audience came to celebrate the birth of Konn3ct and “an amazing meeting experience platform.”

“I left Chams as the GMD in November 2019”, he told the audience. “And the first project we handled was for a precious metals trading company. It involved an end-to-end automation of the entire process and workflow. This required that we had to work with 12 consultants in Osun, Ogun and Lagos States.

“To achieve this we started with two weeks of camp-meeting either in Lagos or Abeokuta and two weeks off. This was too expensive as the project was a Public-Private Partnership one, as such it suffered the usual delays in the implementation”.

He narrated that the work group switched to online meeting apps in order to cut cost and maintain a paperless office. Yet, the team was not satisfied with the output from Zoom, Google Meet and other similar platforms.

“We were not satisfied with the performance of the meeting platforms especially with the bandwidth usage and data consumption”, he told the gathering which included the Director General of National Information and Technology Development Agency, Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, who was represented by Dr Abdullahi Usman, Deputy MD & Director IT Infrastructure and other dignitaries.

 “The last event that convinced us as a team that we had to go paperless and create our own communication platform for in-house use was a fatal accident I had in May 2020. I was returning from one of our camp-meetings with a major bug in the application despite the short delivery target. My car somersaulted three times. With the grace of the Almighty God, I came out without a scratch on my skin. So, online meetings and remote offices became the norm for us”, he recalled. 

Williams told the audience that what led to the development of Konn3ct was a total lack of satisfaction in the delivery and performances of the existing meeting platforms.  As he narrated the story, “Konn3ct came to bridge the gap created by the existing applications in the market”.

At one of the camp-meetings, Williams invited an Indian friend over. “After he observed the platform, he offered to buy the application for a staggering amount of money. I declined. At that moment, the team was convinced that we actually have a valuable asset”.

To make it better, the team invited other consultants to help with the research in the areas of marketing and development. Then, a strategy was created. 

“We must thank Prof Adesina Sodiya, president, Nigerian Computer Society and Prof Charles Uwadia, president and chairman-in-council of Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria and the entire IT industry for their support and constructive feedback since we launched version 1. Under the leadership of these two professors, the industry has encouraged and supported us in tremendous ways”, he shared his appreciation.

He was full of gratitude at the launch of Konn3ct. He thanked his foundation staff who have been supportive through their selfless effort and contributions along the product development journey. He thanked the paying and non-paying subscribers for their faith “in our ability”.

Since, the man behind this earth-shattering meeting application survived the accident, two major events would happen. He would connect with new ideas. Konn3ct is here to stay. Let us Konn3ct.

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Start-ups/Fintech

NCC Opens Applications for 2023 Talent Hunt Research Through Hackathon

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has kicked off activities for the third edition of its Talent Hunt Research through Hackathon as part of giving expression to its Strategic Vision Plan 2023-2025, which is to encourage the development of new technologies and indigenous content through cutting-edge research. The goal of this initiative is to stimulate sustainable economic growth and development in Nigeria.

Therefore, the Commission has invited Tech Hubs, and Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs) in Nigeria to enrol their start-ups and their solutions in the Talent Hunt Research through a Hackathon organised by NCC. The Hackathon focuses on Blockchain-enabled Data Protection Solutions for Enhancing Regulatory Compliance; Assistive Technology Solutions for the Elderly and People with Disabilities; and Technology Solutions for Renewable Energy in Rural Areas.

The NCC Talent Hunt Research Through Hackathon leverages Emerging Digital Technologies to facilitate the development of home-grown innovative solutions and local content development in the telecommunications sector while fostering economic growth and social advancement in Nigeria.

The competition enables the translation of novel ideas into the development of hardware/software solutions that address industry and societal challenges. The best three solutions, one from each of the three areas listed above will receive grants of N10 million each for the development of the solutions.

The Commission has set out eligibility criteria for those seeking to participate in the competition, which include that the Enterprise must provide a certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Enterprise must not have previously received support from the Commission, the project should have clear relevance to one of the three thematic areas above, it must provide a clear problem statement, proposed solution, and roadmap to deployment.

Other requirements include a proof of concept (which may also include technical feasibility of the idea with diagram, algorithm, existing models, or case studies; the solution must be novel with the applicant making a declarative statement on ownership of the intellectual property, the solution including prototype development shall be concluded within 6 months of receipt of the Grant and must propose a detailed commercialization plan of the prototype.

The Entry Submission format indicated that the proposal must include ideation,

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and solution, Current Sweat Equity Investment, Product-Market Fit status, Verifiable Go-to-Market status, Growth Feasibility Assurances, Maturity Model and Timeliness and existing time: Disaster Recovery, where applicable

All applications should be made online and must follow the stipulated entry format and there is no financial cost to participating in the competition while full control and ownership of the intellectual property of the developed solutions remain with the Commission.

The entries must be made by a Tech Hub/Innovation-Driven Enterprise that must show evidence of the relationship with the Start-up/solution being entered, a 4-page Executive summary of the project concept, a 3-5 minute video of the pilot project, names, age, contact details, passport photos and profile of all team members and the website (if available) as well as an E-mail address of the applicant.

All interested and qualified enterprises should submit requested documents in a zip folder to https://ncc.gov.ng/talenthuntresearchhackathon2023 with the subject of the mail titled “Submission from <business name>” and the zipped file named after the business.  

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Visa Unveils Africa Fintech Accelerator Program to Kickstart $1bn Investment

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Visa has announced the launch of the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program to help enable Africa’s expanding start-up community through expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding. 

The launch of the Africa Fintech Accelerator program follows Visa’s recent pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital transformation and its long-term commitment to advancing Africa’s economies and driving inclusive growth.

The initiative was introduced by Visa Executive Chairman Alfred F. Kelly Jr. at Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator will enable up to 40 start-ups each year to accelerate and grow through a three-month intensive learning program focused on business growth and mentoring.

Following the program completion, Visa intends to further support fintech growth with capital investment in select participating businesses, while accelerating their commercial launch through access to Visa technology and capabilities.

Fintech startups throughout Africa can apply to be part of the program through two application phases each year, starting from July 2023. With more than 1,000 Africa Fintech start-ups taking part in the Visa Everywhere Initiative* (VEI) competition in 2022, finalists from Africa country editions this year will be invited to join the accelerator program.

“Africa has one of the most exciting and admired fintech ecosystems in the world, bringing outstanding entrepreneurial talent to a young digital-first population that is growing fast,” said Alfred F Kelly Jr., Executive Chairman, Visa, Inc. “Visa has been increasing our investments in Africa for decades and strengthening partnerships throughout the continent to support the next wave of innovation and growth.  Our new Fintech Accelerator will bring expertise, connections, and investment to Africa’s best fintech start-ups so they can grow at scale.”

The support for participating fintechs will help further strengthen the payment ecosystem by fast-tracking new innovations and technologies that provide solutions to challenges that are unique to the African continent, and which can further advance Africa’s digitization. In line with Visa’s corporate purpose to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid, this support of Africa’s fintechs will facilitate additional opportunities to expand financial inclusion.

“Africa’s fintech community is at the forefront of payments innovation and connecting more of the unbanked with access to the digital economy,” said Otto Williams, Head of Partnerships, Products and Solutions, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa. “Visa has been working with this innovative community to create new programs and solutions to help fintechs scale, while giving access to Visa’s technology and partner ecosystem.  Through the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, we are looking forward to working with more brilliant entrepreneurs and companies to shape the future of money.”

In addition to its $1 billion pledge to Africa, Visa has recently introduced several business initiatives and programs to further advance the payments ecosystem in Africa.  These include:

  • Establishing local operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan to help support and strengthen the local financial ecosystem. Visa has 10 offices across Africa from which it supports payments in all 54 countries.
  • Unveiling the first dedicated Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Studio, in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide a state-of-the-art environment to bring together clients and partners to co-create future-ready payment and commerce solutions.
  • Introducing and expanding new technologies that help African consumers and merchants make and receive digital payments, such as Tap to Phone to turn a simple mobile phone into point-of-sale terminal, as well as lowering remittance costs through innovative solutions like Visa Direct.
  • Establishing Visa as the fintech partner of choice, working with innovators and entrepreneurs, including through the Visa Everywhere Initiative program, with dedicated country programs in South Africa, Kenya and Egypt.
  • Launching new programs to support women’s empowerment together with financial partners, including She’s Next, which is bringing funding, mentoring and networking opportunities to female entrepreneurs leading growing SMBs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa.
  • Collaborating, with partners, to advance financial literacy in several languages, including localized versions of Practical Money Skills in Egypt and Morocco for the first time.

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ThriveAgric Empowers 500,000 Smallholder Farmers To Scale Food Production In Africa

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Leading agricultural technology company, ThriveAgric, has released its 2022 Impact Report reiterating the company’s mission to build the largest network of profitable farmers and accelerate an Africa that feeds itself.

In the year under review, the Nigeria-founded company scaled its operations into neighbouring Ghana, and Kenya in East Africa amongst other feats. Key highlights of ThriveAgric’s 2022 annual impact report include: Connecting with 514,000+ smallholder farmers in more than 2900 communities; Pilot operations in 5 regions of Ghana and 6 counties in Kenya.

Others are: Invested over $100 million in financing; Produced 1.5 million+ metric tonnes of grains; 153.3% year-on-year increase in the number of women impacted; and 80% increase in youth impact in communities.

To accomplish these groundbreaking milestones, the fast-growing agricultural company leveraged its proprietary technology and key partnerships with governments and global institutions including the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), Promasidor (Kenya) Limited, VISA, and OCP Africa. 

Samirah Bello, Partnership Lead at ThriveAgric said: “At ThriveAgric, we remain committed as an impact-driven and customer-focused company. Through our strategic partnerships, we have been able to accelerate impact and reach meaningful milestones while tackling barriers confronting smallholder farmers in their day-to-day business. This report is an expansion of our 2017–2021 impact report, and we are proud to say that we have built a tech-driven agricultural enterprise that will eventually help feed both Africa, and the rest of the world.”

Speaking on the social impact, Uka Eje, CEO and co-founder of ThriveAgric said: “In addition to the social benefits such as reducing poverty and improving gender equality, smallholder farmers that work with ThriveAgric produce double the national average yields due to access to better quality seeds, fertilisers and equipment.

“At ThriveAgric, we will continue to adopt a multifaceted approach that includes collaboration between various stakeholders, increased investment, technology adoption, and sustainable agricultural practices. Our 2022 impact report is a testament that we are on the right track.” 

Access to funding remains one of the biggest challenges confronting smallholder farmers in Africa. According to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), agri-SMEs in Africa are critically underfunded with an annual financing gap of approximately $100 billion.

ThriveAgric is bridging this gap by providing input financing, providing data-led advisory to improve output, enhancing supply chain efficiency, and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices with the aim of building a network of profitable smallholder farmers and contributing to a food secure Africa.

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