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African Tech Team Wins PMI’s Challenge Beating Nearly 10,000 Others From Across The Globe

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Four students enrolled at the African Leadership University beat 10,000 other Rising Leaders to emerge winners at the first ever global Make Reality Challenge hosted by the non-profit professional association, Project Management Institute (PMI).

The contestants had to bring creative and strategic solutions to life using no-code/low-code tools while making a social impact. 

Citizen development is on pace to be the most disruptive agent of change in a generation. Gartner predicts that by 2023, citizen developers will be four times as prevalent as professional developers. By using no-code/low-code platforms in the Make Reality Challenge, Rising Leaders developed solutions to help address some of the world’s most pressing issues more quickly and efficiently.

The competition was open to college and university students between 18-24. Nearly 5,900 Make Reality Challenge teams across 65 countries were tasked with identifying a problem and developing a solution related to one of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in support of this year’s theme “Disruption for Social Impact.” The United Nations adopted the SDGs in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Competing as Tech Era, Ms Tuyishime Josiane, Ms Nar Lo Dia, Ms Mukantwari Francoise and Mr Chukwuma Paul, ideated and developed UbuzimaPrivacy, an innovative platform that will help hospitals record patient data online (including testing, results, prescriptions, and illness trajectory). 

Studies show that electronic medical records significantly reduce medication errors that can lead to death or pose a serious health risk to patients. In Rwanda, just one such platform called IvuliroTech, created by Karisimbi Technical Solutions, helps hospitals record patient data online and serves only 12 hospitals. 

As required by the competition rules, the solution addressed SDG3, Good Health & Well Being. 

Speaking of the win, Chukwuma Paul of Team Tech Era said, “”Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A three-strand rope is not quickly broken. A four-legged hyperstatic system table is stronger than an isostatic system.”

Tech Era won $10,000 and an opportunity to participate in an interactive Q&A session at the PMI’s Virtual Experience Series 2022: PMXPO, on March 24, 2022. PMXPO is a free, interactive event for the project management profession to learn from key players in the industry, network, earn PDUs and gain valuable knowledge.

“At PMI, we believe in the power of Rising Leaders,” said Ashwini Bakshi, Managing Director Europe & Sub-Saharan Africa, Project Management Institute. 

“By empowering and enabling them to drive social change through initiatives like the Make Reality Challenge, we’re providing the young innovative thinkers an opportunity to build useful solutions to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. It’s exciting to see four young students from Africa win and it speaks to the potential of other Rising Leaders in the region. UbuzimaPrivacy will not only benefit Rwanda but Africa as a whole.”

The second place was clinched by Team EmEducation from the Emlyon Business School in France, while the third place went to Sport Sharks from the University of Mumbai and the Institute of Chemical Technology in India. A number of regional prizes were also awarded to teams from around the world. 

The top three global winners took home a collective $22,000 in cash prizes. The total prize money was nearly USD40,000. 

Advancing teams used no-code/low-code tools and citizen developer technology to make their solution a reality. Throughout the three phases of the competition, teams were judged on various components including user functionality, presentation, impact and scalability, ideation, and Q&A. Judging was conducted by senior staff at PMI, PMI Board past-chair Tony Appleby, PMIEF Board past-chair Ram Dokka, members of the Academic Insight Team and PMI® NextGen Insight Team. Collectively, winning teams were rewarded with nearly $40,000 in cash prizes and PMI networking opportunities.

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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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