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<p>Digital technology is redefining our world and reality in many ways. The younger generations should be at the fore front exploring new approaches and using technology to unleash the full power of innovation in the years ahead – to answer the question are young people ready for the future of work and what should be done to empower them, Kennedy Kanyi, Founder AzaHub Coding Centers joins CNBC Africa.</p>


Kennedy Kanyi of AzaHub on how youth should be empowered through digital education

By <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-bolat-392016">Elvira Bolat</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nasiru-taura-773412">Nasiru Taura</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a></em></span>

<p>Digital technology has created new opportunities for businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to compete on a more equal footing. However, these businesses have yet to enjoy the full benefits because of a difficult operating environment.</p>

<p>Our recently published <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/series/15149">book</a>, ‘Digital Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects’, details case studies of economic sectors where digital technologies are making a positive impact.</p>

<p>In Ghana, digital technologies have had an impact on the agriculture sector. Agri-tech firms like Farmable, Farmerline and Esoko have successfully pursued the creation of new business ventures and renewal of existing, matured corporate business models. These agri-tech firms support farmers with pricing data, crowdfunding and communication activities. They are also connecting farmers with buyers as well as helping them work out what differentiates them from competitors.</p>

<p>Digital technologies are playing a role in Nigeria’s agricultural sector too.
<a href="https://primewavesltd.com">Prime Wave </a>, an engineering company that supplies equipment to rice processing firms, and Al-Wabel Trading Company Ltd, a rice miller, have been working together to invent new technological solutions. These are aimed at improving the performance of rice processing. The innovative solutions the company came up with for rice processing can be applied more widely across the agricultural sector. However, these firms have had to overcome regulatory and institutional challenges in the sector. </p>

<h2>Crossing boundaries</h2>

<p>Digital technologies have also become a part of arts, media and entertainment, in particular in Kenya and Nigeria.</p>

<p>Case studies from <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-04924-9_4">Nigeria</a> show how small and medium-sized new media players benefit from embracing a culture of experimentation, partnership and continuous learning. These businesses have adopted a “mobile first” mindset. They do this by using mobile technology as a resourceful, quick and flexible solution to do business, connect and promote their content. </p>

<p>The advertising, game development and media companies that took part in the research had all invested substantially in establishing their own systems for sharing data. These firms also embrace the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45152042-the-passion-economy">Passion economy</a> which centres around social causes and <a href="https://europeansting.com/2019/08/29/how-to-turn-africas-manufacturing-sector-into-a-high-tech-powerhouse/">high access to mobile technology</a> “as driving forces of the business”.</p>

<p>Nigeria’s movie industry, too, has benefited from digitisation. The technology has improved production time and quality. It has also helped extend the reach of movies to wider audiences. Foreign investors are taking <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/15/canal-acquires-african-film-studio-rok-from-irokotv-to-grow-nollywood/">greater interest</a> in this <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/07/08/nigerias-nollywood-film-industry-reels-in-foreign-investors.html">fast growing business</a>.</p>

<p>A potential drawback of digital technology in the arts is that cultural artefacts created digitally can also appear in many places at once. So, instead of gaining visibility it is actually lost in the digital crowd. But <a href="http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/31756/">Kenyan artists</a> have managed to use social media networks to build their own “cultural capital” and gain access to physical galleries.</p>

<h2>Innovation hubs</h2>

<p>There’s also been an increase in the number of digital hubs across the sub continent. But do they really help business to start up and survive?</p>

<p>The number of innovation hubs in Africa has grown sharply. There’s BusyInternet and <a href="https://hubtel.com">SMSGH Solutions</a> in Ghana; <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-57878-5_3">Erik Hersman’s iHub and Safaricom’s M-PESA</a> in Kenya; and Nigeria’s Yaba, a suburb of Lagos labelled the country’s Silicon Valley.</p>

<p>A chapter in <a href="https://www.hiig.de/publication/innovation-hubs-in-africa-what-do-they-really-do-for-digital-entrepreneurs/">our book</a> discusses the social complexity of engaging these hubs. In Accra, the Ghanaian capital, hubs could not provide support that is relevant to local digital entrepreneurs’ circumstances. Entrepreneurs in Harare thought that hubs “wasted precious resources”. Most hubs on the subcontinent also appear to make little contribution to the creation of new businesses. </p>

<p>Perhaps <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/to_augment_techs_transformation_of_sub_saharan_africa_impact_investors_should_focus_on_the_startup_ecosystem#">“impact-oriented” investors</a> who are passionate about the region should assist digital hubs to make the necessary changes to how they operate.</p>

<p>Local conditions and culture can shape the “ecosystems” in which businesses operate. Some of these conditions, such as corruption, are hostile to business efficiency. The <a href="https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/inside-africas-bid-digital-economy">challenges</a> are most pronounced in the communications, transport, and energy networks. Much of the region’s infrastructure is inefficient, and more than three-quarters of the <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/sub-saharan-africa-s-future-linked-to-technology/1556198">population remains offline</a>.</p>

<p>Take Nigeria’s movie industry. It needs more than <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/bank-sees-opportunity-in-lending-to-creative-sector/">investment</a>. It also needs government to make regulatory changes to protect the creative sector. Government should also prioritise the development of movie industry skills. The same can be said about <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/09/20/latest-nigeria-music-industry-pricewaterhouse-coopers/">the music industry</a>. </p>

<h2>Afrocentric digital solutions</h2>

<p>Overall, the book highlights that in a region with multiple social, environmental, economic and political challenges there is a need for more interrogation into how both incumbent and new players in sub-Saharan Africa are shaping the landscape with a view to meeting the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>.</p>

<p>Digital technologies, as some of our case studies show, can play an important role in transforming African economies. However, digital technology solutions must not just be mere adaptations of dominant Western services and products. They must be aimed at meeting the sub-continent’s needs. In this regard, there’s a lot to learn from Japan. </p>

<p>Demand for technology after the Second World War resulted in the development of a plethora of advanced solutions which secured Japan’s status as an innovator. 
There are promising new ventures such as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/14/africa/google-ai-center-accra-intl/index.html">Google’s Artificial Intelligence lab</a> in Ghana – the company’s first in Africa. This is a centre of research into digital solutions to Africa’s problems.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120005/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" /></p>

<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-bolat-392016">Elvira Bolat</a>, Principal Academic in Marketing, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nasiru-taura-773412">Nasiru Taura</a>, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/bournemouth-university-1215">Bournemouth University</a></em></span></p>

<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-technologies-are-transforming-african-businesses-but-obstacles-remain-120005">original article</a>.</p>

Digital technologies are transforming African businesses, but what are the obstacles that remain?

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<p>According to World Bank, for Rwanda to become an upper middle-income country by 2030 and high-income by 2050, Innovation, Integration, Agglomeration, and Competition will be the backbone. Financial Advisor, Eddie Balaba joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


World Bank on where Rwanda needs to develop

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<p>The inaugural &#8220;Very Young Entrepreneur Education and Acceleration summit&#8221; is currently underway at the Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg. This one-day conference is a new innovation to explore the transition from school directly to entrepreneurship. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Lubabalo Mashiqana spoke with Koffi Assouan, Program Manager at Mastercard Foundation to talk about the role of investors in growing entrepreneurship in Africa.</p>


Investing in Africa’s entrepreneurs

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<p>Major players in Africa&#8217;s innovation, Sanofi is set to launch three challenges for African start-ups to find innovative solutions to improve access to healthcare and transform the health ecosystem throughout the continent. For more CNBC Africa is joined by Sanofi&#8217;s Country Chair Kenya &#038; General Manager Peter Munyasi.</p>


Sanofi sets 3 challenges for African start-ups to innovate in health

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<p>Accenture says innovation creates a foundation for growth and business sustainability in the digital era.  Toluwaleke Adenmosun, Managing Director of Accenture Financial Services Nigeria joins CNBC Africa to discuss how the financial services industry should approach innovation.</p>


Accenture’s Toluwaleke Adenmosun talks  innovation in the financial services industry

<p><div id="attachment_322578" style="width: 625px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-322578" class="wp-image-322578" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/digital-finance_PxHere2.png" alt="" width="615" height="615" /><p id="caption-attachment-322578" class="wp-caption-text">Picture: PxHere</p></div></p>
<p><em>We put academics and innovators together in the same room for a week. Guess what happened next.</em></p>
<p>By Nnamdi Oranye</p>
<p>Two weeks ago I had the immense privilege of speaking and being involved with a Colloquium at the University of Johannesburg called “Digital Finance in Africa’s Future”. The Colloquium was birthed from an idea I had some time last year that came in the form of a question: what would happen if we put Africa’s best innovators together in a room with academia and asked them some hard questions? Interestingly enough, I met two other Professors with the same idea – Prof. John Sharp and Prof. Peter Vale.</p>
<p>The result of this idea was absolutely mind-blowing.</p>
<p>In fact, the week far exceeded any of the expectations of those of us who were involved in setting it up. The opening night included a keynote address by Trevor Manuel, former South African Minister of Finance, and then a panel discussion on “The Impact of Digital Finance on Africa’s Future”. I was one of the panellists along with Stephen Mwaura Nduati, International Technology Consultant and former head of the National Payments Systems at the Central Bank of Kenya. We even had someone who came all the way from Chile just to be part of this Colloquium!</p>
<p>I want to focus on the big takeaway from this conference that I think is going to be incredibly important as we build innovation in Africa going forward. It’s simply this: All innovators should have an anthropologist by their side.</p>
<p>Sound odd? Actually, it’s less odd than you imagine. Anthropologists study human cultures and societies and their development. Immediately you can see how this would benefit any innovator. The concept of bringing academics like anthropologists together with innovators who are on the ground, solving African problems in African ways, is absolutely critical. At this colloquium, I saw how well it worked.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of why this is so needed. An innovator who attended told me off-hand about some interesting stats when it comes to the average life cycle of an innovator in Africa. He was part of an accelerator programme, and of the eleven people who were part of that programme, only two are still “alive” today in the innovation and tech space. That’s an incredibly low conversion rate! And if one of those two is still going on in two or three years time, I’d be impressed. These stats are so dire that we <em>have</em> to have a different approach to innovation in Africa. There’s no choice. We don’t have something like a Silicon Valley where there is just money lying around that we can throw here and there and hope something will be successful. We can’t take those sorts of risks.</p>
<p>One of the ways of sorting this out, as far as I’m concerned, is to make innovators aware of the potential challenges they’re going to face in the industry they’re coming into. The best way to help these innovators is to pair them with those who can guide them through social science, social history, and the history involved in the problem the innovators are trying to solve. Who better than an anthropologist?</p>
<p>Here are some examples to showcase the beauty of this pairing.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Mobile Money’s Ethiopia problem</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Professor Mesfin Woldmariam from Ethiopia at the Colloquium talked us through some of his research that asks why it seems mobile money &#8211; which has been so largely successful in many African countries &#8211; has not taken off nearly as well in Ethiopia. The reason, according to the research, has to do with literacy.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of a point he made. Cash is easy to work with. You know how to distinguish its value just by looking at it. For example, if it’s green and has Madiba’s face, you know it’s a ten rand. You don’t need to know how to read the number ‘10’. But if you decide to remove the cash and digitise it, you run into a problem where value is only determined by a number &#8211; not by colours or sizes or faces on notes. For people who can’t read or understand numbers, this is not helpful at all. They simply don’t know or understand the value of R501.67 in their mobile phone’s wallet.</p>
<p>Plus, this opens up other problems. For instance, a grandmother might give one of the young ones the cellphone and instruct them to go to the closest agent and have the money stored on their mobile money account converted to cash. Neither the child, nor the grandmother, might have that good of an idea how much money is actually in the account. So when they get to the agent he gives the child R400, but in reality the account had R500. He pockets the rest and lies to the child about the value on the account. It’s way too easy to manipulate.</p>
<p>These are the sorts of things we have to think about. How do you keep the same methodology people are used to &#8211; ascertaining the value of cash by looking at it and feeling it &#8211; and transfer that to the digital space, which is safer and more convenient in other respects?</p>
<ol start="2">
<li><strong> Insurance resurgence</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Here’s a second example. For a very long time it’s been difficult to find a clear and efficient way to provide insurance to Africans on our continent. Insurance is primarily a foreign concept to many &#8211; and for good reason. But one of the academics at the Colloqueim provided an interesting argument that is well worth pursuing. It starts with realising that we have to change how we define insurance in the first place.</p>
<p>In most African contexts people make a lot of investment into social networks. We do this because we know family will be there even when other things collapse. We can trust family and we’re always keen to help each other. Even close friends are incorporated into this circle. The logic goes that if anything happens to you then you know your kids are going to be taken care of, because you’ve invested into your family and your social networks in a big way.</p>
<p>This is an African thing. But it’s also far more than that. It’s actually, if you think about it, a form of insurance. It’s just not typically how we think of ‘insurance’ and how we classify it &#8211; when you put, say, R550 aside every month into some or other bank account.</p>
<p>So when we think of how we innovate in this area, how do we innovate around how Africans already actually ensure their futures? Another question worth pondering &#8211; and doing something about.</p>
<ol start="3">
<li><strong> Remittance </strong></li>
</ol>
<p>This was a fascinating example and it links to both of the above. When a bunch of anthropologists decided to actually track money sent from a young man in the diaspora back home they uncovered some very interesting facts.</p>
<p>In most cases, money appears to go to mothers or grandmothers. What is the reason for this? Well, after some research the answer was uncovered: because the mothers and grandmothers have their ears to the ground. They know who is in dire straits and needs the money. They make the decisions as to who gets what and for how long. The distribution, the anthropologists found, was not usually haphazard. Umama’s and Gogo’s know what they’re doing!</p>
<p>The conclusion was we cannot assume that just because people don’t have bank accounts that they are financially excluded. The way the money flows is just very different to the formal financial sector. There is a financial system that functions and is already in place. Research into Kenya found that the reason why M-Pesa is so successful there is because it has piggy-backed off this financial system that was already in place. All they did was took what the culture was doing and made it easier and safer. Instead of cash going to the mothers or grandmothers it now goes to their cellphone, and they know what to do with it once it comes in. This means we need to change our view on what financial inclusion means for people in Africa &#8211; and we must learn the lesson to look at how Africa functions and innovate based on how we already think and work and live.</p>
<p>There was a lot of discussion at the Colloquium about intellectual property (IP) and the impact of IP laws we’ve inherited from the colonial system and that sort of thing. All of this actually has tremendous impact and relevance to innovators, and getting them into the same room with academics has worked much better than even I dared to dream. In short, it’s put a fire in the heart of many of the innovators I spoke to. They’re seeing things more clearly &#8211; and putting more creativity into the right places. And this is the first step of many that I hope will pick up the pace and get us running!</p>


Op-Ed: The Future of Digital Finance in Africa

<figure><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241212/original/file-20181018-67188-12rs5mq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20181018 67188 12rs5mq.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><figcaption>The WHO recommends HIV viral load testing to monitor people on ARVs.<br />
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/glenda-gray-111201">By Glenda Gray</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/south-african-medical-research-council-1976">South African Medical Research Council</a></em></p>
<p>A United Nations <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/909090">initiative</a> backed by global experts has set its sights on an ambitious programme to bring an end to the AIDS epidemic by 2030.</p>
<p>The 90-90-90 strategy aims to do this by reaching three targets: 90% of all people with HIV must know their status, 90% of those diagnosed with HIV must receive antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of people receiving antiretroviral therapy must be virally suppressed. When a person is <a href="http://www.who.int/hiv/mediacentre/news/viral-supression-hiv-transmission/en/">virally suppressed</a> it means the virus in their blood is undetectable. The last goal is informed by <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(17)30183-2/fulltext#%20">evidence</a> that people with a suppressed viral load are less likely to transmit HIV to others.</p>
<p>But a couple of steps still need to be taken before these goals can be met. The first is large scale community based HIV testing that aims to get people tested on an annual basis at the very least. The second is linking testing to care. This is critical because it addresses the gap between a person being diagnosed with HIV to when they start antiretroviral therapy.</p>
<p>The third step is the close monitoring of people taking antiretroviral medication. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/255702/9789241512633-eng.pdf?sequence=1">viral load testing</a> as the primary method of monitoring people on antiretroviral therapy. Viral load is the measure of the amount of HIV in a person’s blood and is used as a measure of how well a person is responding to HIV treatment. The lower the viral load the better the health outcomes.</p>
<p>WHO guidelines advise that all patients on antiretroviral therapy receive a viral load test at six months and 12 months, and annually thereafter if the patient is stable. But very few patients receive that level of care.</p>
<p>The main barrier is the time it takes to get test results back from laboratories that are often situated great distances from clinics. One way round the problem is to enable viral load testing to take place at primary health care level – what’s known as point-of-care viral load testing. This would be a game changer. Results would be known immediately and health workers could intervene swiftly by evaluating antiretroviral treatments in real time. This would, in turn, improve treatment outcomes.</p>
<p>But achieving this requires innovation. A new approach is being piloted. The idea is to test if point-of-care viral load monitoring is in reach.</p>
<h2>Testing</h2>
<p>Monitoring the viral loads of people on antiretroviral therapy is an essential part of HIV management. Viral load testing helps doctors determine if a person is taking their medication as prescribed. It also helps to determine if patients are on the correct combination of antiretroviral drugs.</p>
<p>It’s a key part of the arsenal against HIV because research shows that people who are virally suppressed are less likely to pass on the virus to someone else. That makes it a key factor in breaking the cycle of transmission.</p>
<p>The most efficient way of doing this is through point-of-care testing sites. These are based within the community so that patients don’t have to travel long distances to get tests done as well as to receive treatment. This new model is being piloted with the aim of providing convenient access to care for patients.</p>
<p>Currently nearly all viral load testing is conducted in centralised and <a href="http://www.nhls.ac.za/?page=hiv_pcr&amp;id=61">designated laboratories</a>. This means that there can be lags in getting results back to the field. Patients can wait for weeks.</p>
<p>Laboratory based viral load testing is also expensive. Point-of-care testing is also cheaper than lab-based viral loads: health care workers could do the test rather than highly paid technicians.</p>
<p>Small steps have been made in the direction of enabling viral load monitoring to be done at point of care.</p>
<p>But additional equipment is also needed. Pilots evaluating point-of-care viral load testing are ongoing. A pilot is being run using a portable testing machine – the m-PIMA HIV1/2 – that fits on a desk top and can provide an accurate reading of viral load in under 70 minutes.</p>
<p>The machine is being tested to establish whether it meets WHO standards. Once it is given the stamp of approval by the WHO, ministries of health can start the implementation at all sites.</p>
<h2>Closing the gap</h2>
<p>All countries still struggling to bring the HIV pandemic under control are focused on achieving the 90-90-90 goals.</p>
<p>South Africa, which still has the <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica">biggest HIV epidemic in the world</a>, with 7.9 million people living with <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/9234/SABSSMV_Impact_Assessment_Summary_ZA_ADS_cleared_PDFA4.pdf">HIV</a>, is no exception, and is making significant progress.</p>
<p>It is edging closer to the target of having 90% of people with HIV <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/9234/SABSSMV_Impact_Assessment_Summary_ZA_ADS_cleared_PDFA4.pdf">knowing their status</a>. And it’s made significant progress on the second target that 90% of people with HIV should be on treatment.</p>
<p>But it has some way to go on the third. While the country is on track to meet the goal that 90% of people on treatment be virally suppressed, it’s advances on this front haven’t been uniform. Some regions of the country still lag behind others. Being able to roll out point of care testing would go a long way in helping close these gaps.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104432/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/glenda-gray-111201">Glenda Gray</a>, Research Professor, Perinatal HIV Research Unit and President, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/south-african-medical-research-council-1976">South African Medical Research Council</a></em></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-innovation-can-help-end-the-aids-epidemic-by-2030-104432">original article</a>.</p>

Innovation can assist in the end of the AIDS epidemic by 2030, here’s how

<p>By Nnamdi Oranye, Fintech Author and International Remittances Lead at Standard Bank Group</p>
<p>African economies are well positioned to benefit from rapidly accelerating technological change if they can harness the current open landscape for innovation.</p>
<p>East Africa is already a global leader in mobile payments, while mobile money accounts in sub-Saharan Africa are on an upward charge. Apart from being able to leapfrog the limitations and costs of physical infrastructure, the continent stands to benefit from having the youngest, tech-savvy workforce in the world in the next decade.</p>
<p>Africa’s working age population is expected to grow by 450 million people by 2035, according to the World Bank and the continent is projected to have the largest working population of 1.1 billion by 2034, notes the World Economic Forum on Africa. Recent GSMA data shows that mobile money accounts in sub-Saharan Africa are up 18.4% between 2016-17 to 33.8m registered accounts.</p>
<p>However, we cannot wait 12-15 years before adequate job creating initiatives and policies are unlocked. The answer lies in harnessing the power of the digital economy today to create African solutions for African problems. An important part of this will require promoting and partnering with African innovators to unlock sustainable growth.</p>
<p>We are already witnessing the significant potential of digital innovation in the remittance and mobile wallet space. Penetration of smart phones is expected to hit at least the 50% mark in 2020 from only 2% in 2010, according to the World Economic Forum, offering the continent a clean canvas for tech-based innovation. It is an opportunity we must not miss. These are exciting times and are forcing us to think differently to come up with true Pan African innovation and development.</p>
<p>MFS Africa is a good example of how carefully harnessed and supported technological innovation can have ripple effects through the continent. It now operates the largest digital payments network in Africa and connects over 170m mobile wallets through 100+ partners, including Airtel, Ecobank, MTN, Orange and Vodafone across 55 markets. It has about 15% of the African population connected to a platform.</p>
<p>M-Pesa, launched in Kenya in 2007, is an often-touted example of African technology making waves even outside its own borders. After capturing the local market for cash transfers it has spread to three continents and 10 countries</p>
<p>MicroEnsure, meanwhile continues on the path of developing pioneering insurance solutions for low-income people like micro-health, crop and mobile insurance. These are solutions directly aimed at emerging customers and it is little surprise the company continues new customers by cleverly partnering with telcos.</p>
<p>Access.mobile is another major success story, testing and growing its health innovation offerings for seven years in East Africa. The company works with health systems to hone their communications with patients in lower-income but also in growing areas and it hopped the pond in the opposite direction from most smaller startups and landed one of its first American clients. Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital, a Los Angeles facility that works largely with lower-income Hispanics, was looking for ways to use health data to achieve better outcomes within its population.</p>
<p>These are examples of the role models that will inspire our next generation of innovators. We need more and tech-savvy banks need to continue supporting them as they grasp future opportunities.</p>
<p>Just consider that Findex data shows that sub-Saharan Africa is home to all eight economies where 20 percent or more of adults use only a mobile money account: Burkina Faso, Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Gabon, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Opportunities therefore abound to increase account ownership: up to 95 million unbanked adults in the region receive cash payments for agricultural products, and roughly 65 million save using semiformal methods.</p>
<p>Standard Bank, as Africa’s largest bank by assets, hopes to support even more start-up and tech initiatives across the continent to ensure these opportunities are not lost. We are therefore innovating ourselves at a rapid pace to harness the benefits of the digital age to drive financial services inclusion. Mobile payment solutions like Snapscan is now available at over 25,000 merchants and a vast user network across South Africa. We are setting a new standard in digital payments with the launch of Africa’s first prepaid virtual cards ecosystem, among many other digital innovations.</p>
<p>The future will be about solving genuine customer problems rather than putting a band aid on them. One area in urgent need of change, for instance, is remittances, where Africa is still one of the costliest places in the world to remit payments – fees as high as 10% to 20% are still endured. We need to harness technology to genuinely solve this problem.</p>
<p>Sometimes when we talk about banking in cashless society we look too far out – but we don’t have luxury of time. Knowing your customer (KYC) is about understanding what they need today based on their culture and context and then unlocking the already available data to provide the solution.</p>
<p>Technology, for instance, can solve the unbanked problem on the continent. However, this does not mean you can “plug and play” by taking something that works in one country and expecting it to work in another. Success will increasingly be centred on having a Pan African view of the problem, but local implementation.</p>
<p>The future is certainly bright for Africa as exponential innovation continues to drive change across the continent we call home, disrupts industries and replace legacy technology. It is now time to grasp this opportunity with both hands before the innovation wave passes us by.</p>


Why banking in a cashless society will require African solutions for African problems

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<p>According to John Sanei, innovation strategist and best-selling author, the era of disruption is 10-15 years away. This is how different it will be and what Africans need to be, to be part of it.</p>


Here’s what Africans should do to be part of the era of disruption

<p><a href="https://www.cta.int/en/about-cta">By Michael Hailu, CTA Director.</a></p>
<p>As the impacts of climate change and conflicts threaten progress towards addressing global hunger, we need to apply new thinking in agriculture. Agricultural innovation can strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and offer adaptation strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change.</p>
<p>At CTA, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation, we believe that investment in the right innovations in agriculture will help to catalyse development.</p>
<p>Youth, digitilisation and climate resilience are CTA’s priority intervention areas in its refreshed strategic plan, 2018-2020, which, are critical to driving progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. All three are in line with the The European Consensus on Development, based around the 5 Ps: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.</p>
<p>African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have identified youth employment as a key determinant factor for sustainable development. An empowered workforce starts with the engagement of youth and youth organisations. At CTA we have learned how to harness the vitality and spirit of youth. Through our ‘Agrihack’ contests we have offered many young entrepreneurs a step-up to becoming the next generation agribusiness leaders driving change in the agricultural revolution.</p>
<p>Many of these ‘agripreneurs’ bring ICT solutions to age-old problems. In the digitalisation of agriculture, we see smallholder farmers being offered new ways to improve their livelihoods. The implications for productivity, reduction of food waste and even gender equity are enormous and CTA is now considered a guiding force in this area.</p>
<p>Digitalisation is also at the heart of climate-smart agriculture. Many solutions that can help agricultural systems to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change have emerged. The challenge is in the delivery of these solutions to farmers that need them the most. CTA therefore focuses on the development of partnerships to guide the implementation of climate-smart agriculture.</p>
<p>We will achieve nothing without such partnerships, and so, I look forward to continuing our important work together with the support of the ACP Group of States and the European Union.</p>


OpEd: How a focus on youth and women entrepreneurship can benefit agribusiness, livelihoods and create jobs

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<p>Uganda’s Techpreneur Abraham Natukunda is among the top 10 nominees for this year’s innovation Price for Africa. Abraham was nominated for his innovation; eNose – a sensor for tea processing. Natukunda joins CNBC Africa to share more.</p>


Ugandan Techpreneur nominated for innovation Price for Africa award

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<p>African Innovation Foundation recently announced nominees for this year’s innovation price for Africa. Organizers say the top 10 nominees reflect Pan African flavor of the awards with representation from north, west, East, central and southern Africa, including Madagascar. One of the nominees from Rwanda in the run for the prestigious US$185,000 Innovation Prize Henry Nyakarundi, Founder of African Renewable Energy Distributor joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Rwandans up for prestigious US$185,000 Innovation Prize

<p><div id="attachment_318536" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-318536" class="wp-image-318536 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/800px-Silicon_Valley_facing_southward_towards_Downtown_San_Jose_20141.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="580" /><p id="caption-attachment-318536" class="wp-caption-text">Picture by Coolcaesar &#8211; Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 &#8211; Wikimedia Commons</p></div></p>
<p><em>Does anyone know if Silicon Valley costs us more than it gains us?</em></p>
<p>By Nnamdi Oranye</p>
<p>Does having Silicon Valley-based companies, like Uber or Amazon or Google, functioning and conducting business in our country cost us? Does anyone know? Or are we just guessing and assuming that the jobs created satisfactorily offset whatever it might cost?</p>
<p>Think about it. When you use an Uber your credit card is deducted instantly after your ride, and that money goes straight to the bank account of a Silicon Valley company far, far away from our borders. The driver gets paid out his percentage, fair enough, and that money goes into their account (I wonder how many charges the banks put on that process) but the bulk of it remains in Silicon Valley, does it not?</p>
<p>Or what happens when you buy an app from Google for your phone? Or from Apple? Or you buy a book on Amazon? How much of that money enriches our economies? Or is all this ultimately making us a mere conduit to enrich Silicon Valley?</p>
<h4>Has anyone done a proper cost analysis?</h4>
<p>I don’t think anyone really has done a proper and thoughtful cost analysis &#8211; at least not over the long term. I’m sure our governments are certainly thinking about these things, but I also get the general sense that we’re not having the right conversations with the right people at the right time. We’re certainly, as the public, not getting a sense of how this is all working.</p>
<p>How much money is actually leaving our African countries through these innovations &#8211; and through the continent as a whole &#8211; and ending up in Uber’s and Amazon’s and Facebook’s bank accounts, never to make its way back here? And can we compare that against the jobs created and the families empowered and come to the conclusion that it’s a good thing?</p>
<p>I’m not saying it isn’t a good thing. I’ve used Uber many times, and the discussions I’ve had with practically every Uber driver has been a positive one. They were retrenched but can now be their own boss. They are earning well and can work their own hours. Some never had work at all until now.</p>
<p>While I know there are many arguments around how drivers feel manipulated or used by Uber, and of course there are the dangers of violence, there are an equal amount of stories saying it’s been a good thing for them. Innovations that disrupt will always come with a mass of differing opinions, and it’s only over time that the truth will emerge. Uber, by way of an example, is in big trouble right now, and it’s “move fast and break things” attitude reflecting Silicon Valley is one that we all need to deal with.</p>
<h4>Excited to see African-based competition in the market</h4>
<p>So I’m neither for nor against Uber itself, although I think as an innovation it has done brilliantly and I am excited to see the African-based competition that is rising in that market. The taxi industry has needed a disruptor to get it to also deal with its own issues &#8211; some of which are still not being dealt with.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s easier to see how the likes of Uber creates jobs. But what about Facebook? What about Google? How are they creating work for the previously unemployed?</p>
<p>We need to have this conversation about whether it costs us to have Silicon Valley functioning on our continent here, or whether it benefits us. And this conversation must be a Pan-African one. The question is whether the number of jobs being created on the continent; the amount of revenue being invested; and what profitability looks like for them and for us, is mutually beneficial.</p>
<p>We would need to look at the long-term and the long tail. An Uber driver might now have work that he might not have had before, which makes him now able to put his kids through school and educate them and build a life for his family. That’s all a good thing.</p>
<h4>Weigh that against the revenue leaving the continent</h4>
<p>And is that long-term change something that makes us be happy with the amount of revenue leaving our continent? Or could we have done that in other ways? And is this all sustainable in the long term? Decisions for people here are being made by a bunch of executives in California. Is that a good idea or not? Is Uber simply using our tax money and our roads to run its business practically cost-free? At what point are they contributing in other ways?</p>
<p>Of course, one might accuse me of siding with the likes of Multichoice or Vodacom and MTN, who have both publicly complained about how these overseas innovations are taking advantage of their infrastructure but not paying a cent for it. Multichoice feels misled by the like of Netflix (but surely they saw it coming?) and MTN and Vodacom feel that Whatsapp is getting a free ride.</p>
<p>There is some sense in their arguments, but not complete sense. They have actually each had a long time to see these days coming and they could have developed their own products long before Silicon Valley came here. That’s for another discussion. But all I’m saying here is that we need to have a good, long, even public discussion with Silicon Valley about this &#8211; much like America is having with the big boys now.</p>
<h4>Silicon Valley companies think Pan-African</h4>
<p>It’s not good enough to just have a per-country strategy, because clearly, Silicon Valley companies don’t see it that way. They think Pan-African, and so should we. And the conversation needs to include central banks and regulatory bodies, politicians and even our own innovators. Because, ultimately, I still believe that Africans need to have space and support to create African innovations for Africa’s people. They need to be involved in how innovations are implemented or localised on our continent. They need to benefit as well and be a part of the process.</p>
<p>If Silicon Valley is good for us, then great; but if it isn’t… well, we better know that now before it’s too late. Because this can just be another colonialism in disguise if we’re not careful.</p>


Op-Ed: Who is Monitoring the Economic Impact of Silicon Valley in Africa?

<p>By Mimi Kalinda</p>
<p>Innovation is a critical part Africa’s DNA, but it only plays a part in shaping the continent’s narrative when the world becomes aware of it. This is where tactical communication is paramount in disseminating information about the continent’s progress, so that the right people join the journey in supporting and investing in innovation.</p>
<p>The underlying concept of communicating to the right audience requires an understanding of Africa’s dynamics coupled with a strategic approach that encompasses not only smart ideas and effective planning, but also a combination of traditional and digital media expertise. As the communication landscape evolves rapidly, strategic communication means keeping a watchful eye on the way your audience consumes information and the channels they utilize.</p>
<p>Let’s look at The African Innovation Summit (AIS), for example. It showcased potential solutions to Africa’s challenges in water, energy, food and healthcare. Young innovators from across the continent identified problems in their communities and came up with ways to fix them. What followed was genius. A compelling communications strategy was developed and effectively delivered. It entailed a three-step approach from pre-summit to post summit and this method involved telling the stories of each innovator in a way that would inspire audiences to action.<br />
The hope was to enhance the African narrative and change the poor perception of its youth.</p>
<p>With media and business in attendance at the event, the summit highlighted detailed information about innovations that, with the right funding and support, could change Africa’s outlook in the future.</p>
<p>One of the inventions at the AIS included a remarkable diagnostic test that could detect and distinguish between seven different viruses simultaneously, including HIV. Dr Dougbeh-Chris Nyan invented the portable system, which fits into a college-size backpack and could be powered by a car battery plugged into its cigarette lighter outlet. Solar power was being looked at for alternative power.</p>
<p>This device could go a long way in helping deal with Africa’s health challenges, given that the continent accounts for 25% of the global disease burden. Health should be one of the region’s major priorities considering that HIV and AIDS claims around one million lives each year, while Africa’s leading cause of death in children under five is malaria.</p>
<p>This is just one example from the variety of proposals emanating from AIS that could advance Africa into the future. The key driver in turning these creative ideas into prototypes and tangible outcomes is strategic communications. Once the rest of the world sees Africa’s potential through a positive lens, investment and support is likely to follow.</p>


OpEd: What is needed to get world to see Africa’s potential in order to attract investment in innovation

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<p>The global beauty business is estimated at 382 billion dollars. Blondie Okpuzor, CEO and Founder of BathKandy Company joins CNBC Africa to discuss how innovation can help position Nigeria&#8217;s skincare business.</p>


Could innovation help boost Nigeria’s skincare businesses

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa for todays’ ‘Tech Talk segment’ is Daniel Voros, CEO of Ads2Trade. Ads2Trade is a web-based aggregator and trading platform and aspiring to become the next step in online advertising innovation.</p>


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Why banking in a cashless society will require African solutions for African problems

Here’s what Africans should do to be part of the era of disruption

OpEd: How a focus on youth and women entrepreneurship can benefit agribusiness, livelihoods and create jobs

Ugandan Techpreneur nominated for innovation Price for Africa award

Rwandans up for prestigious US$185,000 Innovation Prize

Op-Ed: Who is Monitoring the Economic Impact of Silicon Valley in Africa?

OpEd: What is needed to get world to see Africa’s potential in order to attract investment in innovation

Could innovation help boost Nigeria’s skincare businesses

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innovation

Kennedy Kanyi of AzaHub on how youth should be empowered through digital education

Digital technologies are transforming African businesses, but what are the obstacles that remain?

World Bank on where Rwanda needs to develop

Investing in Africa’s entrepreneurs

Sanofi sets 3 challenges for African start-ups to innovate in health

Accenture’s Toluwaleke Adenmosun talks innovation in the financial services industry

Op-Ed: The Future of Digital Finance in Africa

Innovation can assist in the end of the AIDS epidemic by 2030, here’s how

Why banking in a cashless society will require African solutions for African problems

Here’s what Africans should do to be part of the era of disruption

OpEd: How a focus on youth and women entrepreneurship can benefit agribusiness, livelihoods and create jobs

Ugandan Techpreneur nominated for innovation Price for Africa award

Rwandans up for prestigious US$185,000 Innovation Prize

Op-Ed: Who is Monitoring the Economic Impact of Silicon Valley in Africa?

OpEd: What is needed to get world to see Africa’s potential in order to attract investment in innovation

Could innovation help boost Nigeria’s skincare businesses

This advertising firm gears up to disrupt the industry

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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