Mali which means wealth in Swahili is an investment project by  Safaricom’s for their subscribers who are keen on saving.

However, the savings plan is still under pilot and will be rolled out to their subscribers once it’s ready for use. Currently, it can be accessed via the USSD code *230# but once it will be rolled will be available on my Safaricom APP.

Registered MPesa users will be able to save as low as Ksh100 up to a maximum of Ksh70,000 and will attract an annual interest of  10 per cent.

Following the recent market upsurge with loan applications everywhere, Safaricom’s mali might be a chain broker in this case.

Contrary to the loan applications like Stawi, Fuliza, Okash, Tala, Branch and many others, the norm, as usual, has been allowing users to borrow money and their limits increase as they continue to borrow but in real sense falling in the cuffs of borrowing since the more you borrow it becomes more difficult to return with the increasing amounts.

Although mali is no different from banks the service is arguably convenient for users who have have no access to banks especially mobile banking services.

Mali requires you to be an MPesa customer for a period of three months or more, have more than three days after a sim card replacement, provide an email address and next of kin contact a thereafter you choose to invest via the USSD code or via a pay bill number that is yet to be revealed.

Mali will support instant withdrawals of both partial and full amount of money depending on the preference of the customers. The money will then be credited the MPesa account for withdrawal.

For customers who wish to take overdrafts, the payment will roll over days until the full investment pays off.

On the application withdrawals and deposits are absolutely free with a 15 per cent withholding tax charged on the investment income.

According to a statement by Safaricom, “Mali is one such innovation that is currently in early testing stages and is still subject to ongoing engagement with authorities for approval”

In addition to that, the firm also commented that it is premature for them to comment on the future plans of Mali.

However, since the launch of MPesa 12 years ago tremendous innovations have happened around the firm.

Mshwari which seemingly offers the same services as Mali from Mshwari lock savings and the Mshwari 52 week challenge. Both the services have one similar comparison with Mali although. Once you continually save on the platforms you earn interest.

Besides that, Mshwari offers a loan in place of the overdraft while the 52-week challenge doesn’t offer any other services apart from saving which puts Mali at a higher opportunity to thrive.

However, this is are assumptions and the application once launched might take the shape of the trends and not what we predict.

Code Mashinani, is an education startup teaching digital fluency (computational thinking) through coding, robotics and game development to kids between 7 and 18 years in Kenya.

Code Mashinani is coined from Code and Mashinani is slang for grassroots. The platform is targeting kids in primary and high schools through school-based programs (Code Club & Café), holiday based programs (tech camps) in religious institution and institutions of higher learning and competitive programming events where kids compete on their problem solving & computational thinking skills.

According to Jesse Muchai, founder Code Mashinani, “We teach computational thinking through coding, game development and robotics.
Code Mashinani started as (Arts in The Community) with a lofty dream to build systems and infrastructure that create world-class talent at scale.”

Muchai says the idea, hatched early 2012, with a goal to teach 3 key competencies; computational thinking, creativity and inter-personal skills to school-going children before the age of 18 years.

This was to increase their ability to integrate into the current workforce as more than clueless jobseekers. Muchai says, initially, attention went to teaching creativity by setting up art centers in collaboration with religious institutions but this did not pick up and towards the end, parents requested teaching coding to their kids.

“At inception, very little attention was paid to teaching computational thinking as the government had just promised free laptops to primary school and we felt this itch would be scratched in the mid-term and only came around to it in 2016 when the request to teach coding became frequent enough for us to pay attention,” he told TechMoran.

“We want to transform people from consumers of technology into creators and innovators. One of our long-term goals is to help kids learn to think creatively, work collaboratively and reason systematically – from the youngest age,” Muchai added.

Other platforms working with kids include Early Camp, KidsCodeCamp and Andela’s TeenCodeAfrica.

Google, Alphabet co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the CEO and President, respectively, of Alphabet, have left their roles, effective immediately.

In a statement, Larry Page and Sergey Brin said, “With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure.”

Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet and will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in Other Bets. The two co-founders will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders and plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly.

“There is no one that we have relied on more since Alphabet was founded, and no better person to lead Google and Alphabet into the future.,” the said of Sundar Pichai.

Sundar is the CEO of Google and Alphabet and serves on Alphabet’s Board of Directors.

He joined Google in 2004 and helped lead the development of Google Toolbar and then Google Chrome, which grew to become the world’s most popular internet browser. In 2014 he was appointed to lead product and engineering for all of Google’s products and platforms – including popular products such as Search, Maps, Play, Android, Chrome, Gmail and Google Apps (now G Suite). Sundar became Google’s CEO in August 2015. He joined the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in July 2017.

Under his leadership as CEO, Google has been focused on developing products and services, powered by the latest advances in AI, that offer help in moments big and small. It has invested in new opportunities such as Google Cloud and YouTube and has continued to be a leader in advanced technologies, including machine learning and quantum computing.

Today, December 2019, in addition to his role as CEO of Google, Sundar became the CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Sundar grew up in Chennai, India and studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology where he was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He holds a master’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.

In a statement, Pichai said: “I’m excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Larry and Sergey in our new roles. Thanks to them, we have a timeless mission, enduring values, and a culture of collaboration and exploration. It’s a strong foundation on which we will continue to build.”

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998. Since then, the company has grown to more than 100,000 employees worldwide, with a wide range of popular products and platforms like Search, Maps, Ads, Gmail, Android, Chrome, Google Cloud and YouTube. In October 2015, Alphabet became the parent holding company of Google.

The Sun Exchange equity crowdfunding campaign has officially come to a close with over ZAR 4.2 million raised from over 200 investors from across the globe.

“We are delighted to report that over ZAR 4.2 million was invested by 288 individuals from across the world,” announced the firm. “We’re thrilled that this community of new investors will be joining Sun Exchange on our mission to connect the world to the sun, bringing affordable and clean energy to emerging markets.”

The Sun Exchange says investments were made by individuals from the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Germany, many parts of Europe, Kenya, Australia and even Brazil with South Africans investing over ZAR 2.5 million, 59% of the total raised, and representing 70% of all investors.

“The largest investments were made by a Norwegian and two South Africans, with a total of ZAR 835,000 invested between them,” said the firm.

The Uprise.Africa campaign formed part of the firm’s seed funding round and to date, the firm has raised over US$ 1 million which includes a US$ 500,000 (about ZAR 7 million) seed investment by Alphabit, a multi-million-dollar hedge fund.

While we did not achieve the ZAR 7 million goal set for the Uprise.Africa campaign, the fact that the campaign quickly reached the ZAR 3 million success milestone, signalled significant appetite from individual investors to own equity in Sun Exchange.

Sun Exchange extended the campaign for another month, and raised nearly ZAR 1 million more in just 30 days.

Founded in 2015, The Sun Exchange, has more than 8,000 Sun Exchange members across the world. The firm has brought solar power to 13 South African schools, businesses and organisations, offsetting 1,500 tonnes of carbon per year, and growing.

The firm believes that this new phase gives its customers, solar cell purchasers, and supporters to bring solar power to millions of homes and offices globally. This was why the firm launched the crowdfunding campaign to raise R7 million (approx. US $460,000) for approximately 5.2% equity stake.

Khayelitsha is set to give birth to SA’s first blockchain property register through a pilot study in the area which consists of
almost 1 000 properties located in four sites in Makhaza.

This was at the back of the Affordable Housing Conference taking place in Cape Town this week. The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa
(CAHF), research consultancy 71point4 and Seso Global have joined
forces to develop South Africa’s first blockchain-based property
register.

And all the properties are government subsidised properties which have
not yet been registered on Deeds Registry.

According to Daniel Bloch, the CEO of Seso Global, a blockchain
property registry company, this will be the first working example of a
blockchain-based property registry in South Africa. Aside from
creating an immutable record of who owns which house, the Seso
platform facilitates and records transactions such as sales and
transfers out of deceased estates and integrates with third parties
who facilitate transactions, including mortgage lenders. “For the time
being, property owners will record these transactions at the
Transaction Support Centre, a walk-in housing advice office created by
CAHF and 71point4 located in the area. But over time, we will record
transactions through the Seso app” says Bloch.

Research reveals that the benefit of the blockchain solution is that
it allows the data to be stored in a decentralised, secure database
that can be updated without any loss of historic data. This means
there is a secure, back-to-back record of all transactions that is
completely tamper-poof. Eventually the vision would be to integrate
this record into the Deeds Registry when other impediments to transfer
have been removed.

Moreover, SA has a serious titling problem.

According to Kecia Rust, the CEO of CAHF, the government has built
over three million RDP houses since democracy. But CAHF’s analysis of
deeds office data indicates that only 1.9 million of these properties
have been registered. The National Department of Human Settlements,
Water and Sanitation (NDHSWS) estimates that the title deed backlog
for RDP properties built prior to 2014 currently stands at 511 752.
These properties were given to beneficiaries, but no title deeds were
registered and handed over. At the same time, there is a backlog of
351 470 title deeds on newer properties.

In addition, registering these properties so long after they were
built and handed over to subsidy beneficiaries is an administratively
complex task. In some cases, original subsidy beneficiaries are no
longer living in the properties. Some beneficiaries might have passed
away, some might have tenants in their properties while others have
sold their houses informally.

“To create a register of property owners we first had to go door to
door to find out who lives in each property and to establish how they
came to be there” says Melzer, founder and lead consultant at
71point4. “We hired a team of 17 enumerators and trained them to
collect information and capture supporting documents. Thankfully we
can leverage smart phone to collect the data, but it still requires a
significant effort. It took us two months to cover these areas.”

Expert opinion is that the effort is well worth it. Properties in the
area sell for over R200 000 informally – and would sell for more if
they were listed on a trusted registry and were ‘bankable’. This would
enable buyers to obtain mortgage finance and create affordability.
Without access to mortgages, buyers have to pay cash for a house, or
use an expensive unsecured loan. There are also significant benefits
to the City of Cape Town of being able to access an accurate and
up-to-date record of property ownership. Without it, the City cannot
collect revenue from households in the area who are not indigent nor
can City departments facilitate building plan approvals.

In many cases in the pilot areas, the original beneficiary is still
living in the property. “We hope that these properties can be
registered in the deeds registry within a few months, and we are
working closely with the City of Cape Town to facilitate that” says
Melzer. “Where the beneficiary no longer lives in the property, we are
in the process of tracing the beneficiary to confirm information we
have gathered on who owns the property. We will also be working
closely with the City on a resolution process where ownership is
disputed.”

It will take some time before all the required information has been
collected and validated. It will also take time for validated
properties to be registered on the deeds registry.  In the meantime,
we will enable property owners and occupants to keep those records up
to date, according to Melzer.

“We will also be using Seso’s platform to manage other client service
requests that come to the Transaction Support Centre from all over
Cape Town” says Rust. “These include helping clients to regularise
informal sales and wind up deceased estates. Going forward, as the
country moves towards an electronic deeds registry, we hope the
lessons we have learned will provide valuable evidence to inform the
development of accessible, secure, affordable and efficient mechanisms
to facilitate property market transactions. This is important across
the market, but particularly in entry level segments of the market
where existing mechanisms are simply too costly”.

CAHF, Seso Global and 71point4 have a working agreement to extend this
pilot into other areas and use cases. There are hundreds of thousands
of RDP properties around the country where no primary transfer has
taken place. In addition, in many areas where title deeds were issued,
property owners have transacted informally, which means there is no
longer an accurate record of ownership at the deeds registry.
Blockchain-based solutions can help there too. Blockchain can also
enable households who live in informal settlements and rural areas to
record and maintain land records and secure their rights. “We are very
pleased with the pilot results. We think the solution we have
developed is scalable, and replicable” says Bloch. That does not mean
it is easy but, says Melzer “blockchain technology together the
potential value we can unlock makes it worthwhile”.

People often have a lot of questions about how hydraulic hoses work. And that’s no surprise: these hoses are capable of dealing with massive capacities, and a lot of mystery surrounds how they are used, as well as how they historically developed. Their sheer size, weight, and carrying power often make them the subject of confusion. 

On the other hand, often, hydraulic hoses are just assumed to be “big tubes,” which is kind of a generalization that doesn’t take into account the relative complexity of the modern hydraulic hose. In fact, hydraulic hoses are a product of the principles of hydraulics and hydrostatics, which actually have a rich history going back to ancient times while remaining relevant and necessary to human culture today! 

With that, we’re going to cover the basics below.   

What is Hydrostatics?

Hydrostatics is a branch of fluid mechanics – the science of how liquid movement works. To understand how hydraulic hoses work, you need to understand a few basics about hydrostatics, which dates as far back – believe it or not – to a practical joke developed by the famed mathematician Pythagoras. 

A Pythagorean Cup is a goblet that was designed to look like a regular cup for drinking with a bent tube at the center of the base which was not filled with liquid, but air. If the cup stayed beneath the height of the tube, it operated as a normal drinking cup. But if it went above the line, gravity would cause the liquid to quickly flow into the tube, thus spilling everything out through a hole in the bottom.

While Pythagoras probably made a lot of enemies at drinking parties, this principle – that liquid and air can remain in stasis until there is too much water – is, in fact, still used in many modern toilets! 

Early experiments in liquid pressure and movement over centuries led to what we understand as hydrostatics today. So without everything from mathematicians playing tricks to Blaise Pascal centuries later studying how pressure caused water to flow from one side of a tube to the other, all the way to the work of atmospheric physicists today, the concepts of hydrostatics would be lost to us.  

Hydrostatics is the field of science that helps lead to our understanding of the principles of hydraulics: the science of moving and storing liquid. Hydrostatics today takes into account the movement of fluid versus atmospheric pressure and a wide variety of other variables. And these principles bring us to the hydraulic hose, which is used to transport liquids under varying conditions and pressures.  

What is a hydraulic hose?

Hydraulic hoses are designed for moving one thing and one thing only, and that is liquid. Of course, there are a lot of different kinds of liquids, and this is where expertise comes in when trying to design a hydraulic system.  

Hydraulic hoses have different gauges, and most of them are based around the thickness of interior and exterior hoses, as well as the bend radius of the hose. The sizes of the inside and outside diameter helps determine the actual size of the hydraulic hose. 

Because of the wide variety of hydraulic hoses, the first thing that has to be determined is what is the purpose of the hydraulic system to begin with. A high-pressure hydraulic system will require hoses that are built to withstand that pressure. The type of liquid is important, as it will determine things like material choice as well as density. 

Hydraulic hoses have a wide variety of uses, so choosing the right type is essential. Especially if one is dealing with a pressurized system, establishing the correct type of hydraulic hose is of the utmost importance.  

How do hydraulic hoses work?

Hydraulic hoses are usually designed with a few different factors in mind, based on the system being created itself. Hydraulic hoses are often composite, meaning that they can be made of multiple parts separated by joints or even connected to hydraulic tubes. 

The application of the hydraulic hose is what determines how it works. For example, in high-heat applications, hydraulic tubes may be used in conjunction with hydraulic hoses in areas where the temperature is highest, as tubes are more heat resistant while less flexible than hoses.  

Hydraulic hoses are constructed in layers. The first is an inner tube that carries the fluid, and this is usually the one that is the most flexible of the three. Outside the inner tube is a reinforcement layer, which generally has some sort of protective mesh or design to prevent breakage. Finally, there is a protective outer layer, which is usually designed to be weatherproof and heat-resistant. 

Hydraulic hoses exist in a variety of types, which are built with different fluids and purposes in mind, whether for residential or large-scale commercial use. 

Hydraulic Hose Repair

Now that we’ve covered the basics of hydrostatics, hydraulics, and hydraulic hose repair, it’s hopefully more clear why it is essential when dealing with your hydraulic system to deal with experts in the field. 

Hydraulic hoses are not just “big tubes”- they’re specially designed pieces of equipment to give their user total control over things like liquid input and output and are usually part of a greater and more complex hydraulics system.  

Hydraulic hoses are designed for longer-term use than a typical hose, have a specific heavy-duty purpose, and are not usually as simple to repair as applying a rubber patch. Because of this, it is essential to deal with professionals who know how your hydraulic hose works, what are the principles behind its operation, and how to get it to full operational ability. 

Sometimes it may need to be replaced. Other times a compound solution can be found that could extend the life of some of the hose. But in the end, the most important thing is that the hydraulic system stays working. For that alone, calling in a professional is worth the time and the expense to ensure that your hydraulic hoses stay in optimal working order. 

The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) and the Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), have partnered to launch the Sciencepreneur Investor Meetup Call set to hold concurrently at the NEF Global Gatherings 2020.

The Next Einstein Forum, an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) that connects science, society and policy in Africa and the rest of the world – with the goal to leverage science for human development globally, aims to help scientists transition their ideas from lab to market, thereby commercializing their breakthrough solutions. This transition often is not a clear cut for scientists because tech transfer is weak, or otherwise nonexistent at most universities, centres of Academia, research & learning institutes.

The meetup aims to support African science driven entrepreneurs (Sciencepreneurs) with pitch preparation and investment readiness sessions and thereafter, connect them to investors. These sessions will take place in the form of a bootcamp days before the NEF Global Gatherings in March 2020.

The submissions should fall under one or more of the AfDB High 5s which include Integrate Africa, Light up & Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

NEF’s work is shaped by the belief that the next Einstein will be African and through the Sciencepreneur Investor Meetup, we are hoping to find the next generation of young African scientists and technologists that can solve some of the continents’ biggest problems.

Winning solutions will take home $25,000 for each category, and a chance to pitch before investors during the NEF Innovation Salon in Nairobi in March 2020, at the NEF Global Gathering where they can raise additional funding.

Those looking to apply must hold a passport from an African country, be of African descent, have the ability to present their work in English and must be available to travel to Nairobi, Kenya from March 5 – March 13 2020.

Applicants can learn more about the criteria and how to apply on the website here tiny.cc/nefinvestormeetup and submissions are open until 20 December.

MainOne has launched its submarine cable in Cote d’Ivoire, notable being the first commercial cable system to deploy spectrum sharing capabilities in the region.

MainOne sees its entry into the market as an opportunity to deepen infrastructure sharing and lower the cost of delivering broadband services to the region.

MainOne aims to facilitate world-class infrastructure availability and accessibility to ensure its customers continue to enjoy maximum uptime performance and reduced latency as the company increases bandwidth capacity and maintain direct connections to various regional and global Internet Exchanges including the Nigerian Internet Exchange (IXPN), Ghanaian Internet Exchange (GIX), London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMSIX).

MainOne promises affordable and scalable broadband services, together with secured and reliable solutions, providing support services for service providers in Cote d’Ivoire. This will offer optimized Internet connectivity for business, as well as providing point-to-point International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) communication services for businesses and enterprises, riding on its submarine cable along West Africa to the rest of the world.

Likewise, MainOne is also announcing the availability of its Cote d’Ivoire Data Center facility built to Tier III standards, to address the needs of corporate clients, public institutions and service providers for shared services, supporting their cost reduction and operational efficiency drive. It will offer rack spaces for customers to collocate their IT infrastructure with ease, while gaining access to fully redundant power, cooling, carrier-grade security, and fire – prevention facilities on a shared basis. The facility will enable businesses in Cote d’Ivoire attain significant savings in the deployment of their compute infrastructure and carrier neutral interconnection with multiple operators, providing them value added services and ensuring that they can stay focus on their core business, whilst MainOne manages their resources.

Speaking on the impact of MainOne’s services in Cote d’Iviore, Kazeem Oladepo, Regional Executive, MainOne, stated, “We remain committed to providing infrastructure and connectivity services that support the digitization journey and economic development of the region. Our investment into Cote d’Ivoire will see MainOne contributing to the growth of the local economy, by serving enterprises and telecommunication providers with world-class connectivity solutions and data center expertise.”

MainOne’s submarine cable is the first private subsea cable to deliver open-access, broadband capacity to West Africa in 2010, heralding the explosion in Internet access witnessed in the region. The MainOne system traverses the coast of West Africa with fully operational landing stations from Seixal in Portugal through Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria, the addition of new branches in Dakar, Senegal and Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire and additional branching units in Morocco and Tenerife yet to be connected.

Microsoft has partnered with Seedstars on the three-day Seedstars Summit Africa set for December 3rd to 5th.

Microsoft will host an exclusive workshop session during the Seedstars Bootcamp with 50+ entrepreneurs, including the 23 Seedstars World local winners.

The third and main day (December 5) will welcome all the participants willing to learn the latest tech trends, network and meet inspiring founders and entrepreneurs.

“Microsoft​ was once a start-up itself, and so we’re passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in their growth journeys, providing access to technology tools, networks, skills and mentorship,” says​ Chris Lwanga ​from Microsoft​.​ “Through​ our various initiatives, including Microsoft 4Afrika and Headstart, we’ve been fortunate to work directly with hundreds of African start-ups. Our focus is on partnering with influential partners, like Seedstars, to build an enabling and self-sustaining environment. Start-ups are at the forefront of innovation that unlocks economic value and societal impact.”​

The ten most promising ventures will then be selected to participate in the Seedstars Summit 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland and compete for the title of the Seedstars Global Winner. The participating teams will get a chance to pitch their idea on the main stage along with 60+ startups from all over the world and win up to USD 500 000 in equity investments.

To get updates on more event speakers and agenda, please subscribe to the event monthly digest (choose Africa a region of your interest).

Africa Rising. This was the golden thread woven throughout the third annual AfricArena Summit which recently took place in Cape Town. Here, issues affecting the African tech ecosystem were unpacked by speakers comprised of some of the most interesting thought leaders, founders, investors and corporate changemakers of our time.

Opening the event, Silicon Cape Director, Zimkhita Buwa, said: “Africa is synonymous with opportunity. Yes, we have incredible challenges, but we are not waiting on the side-lines for the world to provide us with solutions, we are creating our own solutions using our own technology.”

AfricArena Founder, Christophe Viarnaud, continued: “Africa is rising. The amount of investment has doubled every year for the last three years, particularly in the tech sector. We cracked the $1 billion mark for the first time last year and we think that this amount will be even bigger this year, with over $1.2 billion being invested. Sadly however, this is still less than 1% of global funding that goes towards tech startups. We can’t grow this continent which will have a population of over four billion by the end of the century – the majority of the planet – if we don’t dramatically increase that number. Our mission, as AfricArena, is to create opportunities for investment and make a difference by helping entrepreneurs – the number one asset on the continent – which, in turn, will deliver value to investors and create much-needed jobs.”

French Ambassador to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier, shared that at the South Africa Investment Conference held earlier this month, several French companies announced that they would invest more than R20 billion in South Africa in the next three years. “We will ensure that part of this investment will be filtered through small and medium enterprises. France and South Africa share the same belief in the potential of Africa’s tech ecosystem, but we know that the main challenge remains to mobilise enough resources from private investors to make it grow. As President Macron declared, France is committed to support African startups and SMEs by helping some of them to overcome the access to funding gap.”

He went on to say that the French Development Agency has launched Choose Africa to bringsupport to 10,000 African companies between 2018 and 2022 by mobilising €1 billion, another €1 billion in equity and €1.5 billion in credit lines. Within this initiative, there is a focus on the digital economy and innovation, driven by a dedicated online platform called Digital Africa which will help African entrepreneurs to get in touch with their counterparts as well as financial and industry partners both in France and other African countries. It will also enable them to participate in specific calls for proposals and challenges. President Macron’s launch of a €65 million fund to support the acceleration of startups on the African continent last year is also a very strong signal of France’s commitment towards cooperation in service to innovation.”

During the panel discussion on Next Generation Angels, Tomi Davies a Nigerian British Investor, Entrepreneur and Advisor to companies on technology strategy, posed the controversial question: “Why can’t Africa build Africa? I’m under no illusion that we are going to do it all by ourselves, but I do believe that charity should begin at home.”

Fellow panellist, Nigerian Entrepreneur, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, added: “More than 50% of the world’s population over the next 35 years is going to be in Africa. Ultimately, this will either be a bomb or a boon for the global economy. Investors that are not betting on Africa, are betting against the global economy. In Africa there is talent that can learn anything, more relaxed governance restrictions and the ability of businesses to grow very fast in contrast to other markets. What we need to do is continually build the infrastructure that makes this possible and support the growth of businesses.”

Unpacking some of the gaps hampering Africa’s success was Venture Capitalist and Serial Entrepreneur, Vusi Thembekwayo, who explored four areas: the investment approach; the education gap; opportunistic BBBEEE Players and the infrastructure gap. “Africa doesn’t need pity, it needs opportunity, so how do we develop mechanisms that create and broaden access, but most importantly democratise opportunity?”

Picking up on this theme, Ketso Gordhan, CEO of the SA SME Fund, said: “Our hope and desire is to make sure that smart entrepreneurs are seizing upon how the world is changing and using new technologies to make the world a better place. Venture Capital (VC), for me, is about the future, it’s about innovation, it’s about economic advancement and solving what seem to be intractable problems speedily. However, in South Africa, some of the biggest problems affecting VC include a lack of access to capital, too few experienced VC fund managers, a weak pipeline of start-ups, high costs of failure – both financial and reputational – and a fractured VC ecosystem.” On this last issue, he urged attendees comprised of representatives from all spheres of the ecosystem to concentrate on partnerships rather than competition with each other. Gordhan also announced the launch of a new fund, Digital Africa Ventures, which is dedicated to financing early-stage African startups.

While speaking on the topic of Privacy & Ethics: Who’s responsibility is it anyway? Danai Musandu, Investment Associate at Goodwell Investments, warned: “As much as we can be excited about the booming digital age in Africa, we need to remember some key things about our continent – 54% of the population don’t have access to healthcare; one in six live off an electricity grid; and 70% of people are unbanked. So, when we talk about this continent, we need to be cognisant that we are talking about Africa’s mass population. We can’t talk about digital solutions without looking at the physical reality on the ground. We have to look at the people we are serving on this continent. We talk about all of this exciting digital innovation on the continent, but opportunity also brings with it more responsibility for all involved. We determine the narrative for our ecosystem, and as co-authors, we are equally responsible to ensure we build the right story; a story by Africans for Africa.”

Looking to the future, Thierry Barbaut, Digital and Communications Director at La Guide, said: “Africa will have a population of over 2.5 billion by 2050 and this requires solutions for providing food, water energy and healthcare for all. Technology and communication startups can provide this.” Giving the example of Rwanda, which was war-torn in the 1990s and is now thriving, he highlighted how tech startups are transforming health, energy, education agriculture and other sectors in the country, with many of these models being replicated in bigger countries.

Viarnaud brought the event to a close by stating: “There is no question that Africa is the future. As AfricArena, we will continue working to bring the continent’s tech ecosystem together to ensure that it is a successful one.”