NINJA Business Plan

Competition


 JICA Project NINJA
NINJA（Next Innovation with Japan）

With the explosive spread of cell phones in solving social issues in developing countries.
developing countries, businesses based on NINJA's support includes entrepreneurship
and derived from mobile payments have development activities, business matching,
emerged one after another, and innovations promotion of venture/impact investment,
and start-up businesses that utilize and policy recommendations to strengthen
technology are attracting greater attention. the ecosystem. The inclusion of "with
New businesses by entrepreneurs involved Japan" in NINJA implies that Japan will
in many of these start-ups in developing continue to innovate with entrepreneurs
countries are usually aim at solving social in developing countries to co-create a
problems, such as substitutes for things sustainable and prosperous economy and
that are not available in local life or services society. In order to make a significant
that improve inconvenient situations, rather contribution to achieving the Sustainable
than businesses that incorporate cutting- Development Goals (SDGs), we will
edge technology. also promote collaboration between
JICA launched the Project Ninja (Next entrepreneurs in developing countries
Innovation with Japan) in January 2020, and Japanese companies, investors, and
and it works on multifaceted support for research institutions.
entrepreneurs who take on the challenge of

❶ Activities to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and foster entrepreneurs.

❷ Promotion of corporate collaboration by holding events in Japan and overseas.
❸ Promotion of venture investment/impact investment
❹ Dissemination of information on local startups
❺ Proposal of policies to strengthen the startup ecosystem
❻ Understanding the impact of startups
 Table of Content

The grand final of the NINJA business plan competition 4

Analysis of the African Startup Industry 6

10 finalists selected for the Grand Final 9

59 African Startups selected

19
from the Business plan competition

Message from the Japanese company

39
who provided the special award

Messages from JICA, Nikkei and DFP 42

Index 44

Contact 45
 Startups in AFRICA
- The Grand Final of the NINJA Business Plan Competition-

Africa is facing many social issues, which distance in the world, including Africa.
are especially evident in Africa's high Against this backdrop, JICA held a business
unemployment and lack of public infrastructure. plan competition titled "NINJA Business Plan
On the other hand, many entrepreneurs are Competition in response to COVID 19" in 19
emerging to solve social issues through the countries in the African region in order to
implementation of the latest technology while support start-ups that will create innovative
engaging a market of 1.3 billion people, which business models and technologies for the post-
is known as the leapfrogging* . The global craze Corona era. 10 companies were selected from
of Covid-19 has also triggered a major change a total of 2,713 applicants, and the Grand Final
in the social structure and the concept of was held in collaboration with Nikkei Inc.

* Leapfrogging: A phenomenon where the existing social infrastructure is not well developed, and new services spread at once
without going through the "normal gradual changes in technological development" that developed countries have gone through.

Outline
19 : 00 Opening remarks, introduction of commentators
19 : 15 Panel Discussion "With Japan, Thinking about Partnership with Africa
19 : 25 Pitches by 10 African startups
21 : 20 Announced Top 3 winners -Viewer Voting Results and Special Awards -
21 : 25 Wrap-up and closing remarks by commentators

Commentator
Mr. Mutsuo Iwai Mr. Ken Shibusawa Mr. Keiji Katai
Chairman of the Project Team for African Chairman of Commons Asset Senior Director, Economic
Development, Keizai Doyukai (Japan Management, Inc./ The leader Development Department,
Association of Corporate Executives)/Deputy of the Nikkei`s African Business JICA (Japan International
Chairman of the Board, Japan Tobacco Inc. Delegation in 2019 Cooperate Agency)

4
 Grand Final and Results
In a final vote by the viewing participants, the top 3 outstanding startups were
selected, and 8 Japanese companies provided special awards.

Viewer Voting Results

Viewer Vote Mobile Scan Solutions

1st Place also known as M-Scan Uganda

Viewer Vote
2nd Place TranSoniCa Ghana

Viewer Vote
3rd Place Agrinfo Tanzania

As a supplementary prize, JICA will offer the top 3 startups the opportunity to invite
their representatives to Japan and match them with Japanese companies. Nikkei Inc.
will offer 5 free annual subscriptions per company to English digital media outlet,
Nikkei Asia.

Mr. Menyo Innocent, CEO of Mobile Scan

Solutions, commented on the awards:
"I would like to congratulate all the entrepreneurs who
took the stage for winning this [Link] company
that participated in this contest does something very
important and has a great impact on the lives of people in
[Link] the next 2 to 3 years, M-SCAN aims to make
the ultrasound echo device introduced here available to 1
Nikkei Inc.
.5 million pregnant women, and also plans to increase the
number of facilities where the machines will be provided."

Mr. Daniel Elliot Kwantwi, CEO of TranSoniCa,

commented on the awards:
“Through this contest, I was able to meet entrepreneurs
from other countries. For example, MojaRide in Cote d'Ivoire
has a similar service, but I would not have met them without
this opportunity. In the future, we will gain momentum to
further expand our business and achieve our goals. Through
our expertise and partnerships, we hope to develop a
Nikkei Inc.
business that contributes to the people in Africa.”

5
Analysis of the Africa Startup Industry

1 2

+41
1 3406 52671 million people
million people
2 48927
2020
million people
2050
458557 million people

3 4
US$ 143 billion 359 cases

6
5

6
7
8

7
 Meet the
Startups
These African companies were selected from 2,713
participating companies
in the NINJA Business Plan Competition in response to
COVID-19.

Finalists 10 companies

Excellent Startups 59 companies

Total 69 companies

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 1
Mobile Scan
Solutions Uganda
（M-SCAN） Uganda

Founded in 2017

Employees 7

Industry Health

Website [Link]

M-SCAN is providing a portable ultrasound

system in East Africa that can detect risk
factors for maternal mortality. Through
tele-imaging, M-SCAN plans to develop
a service that will allow expectant and
nursing mothers to receive ultrasound
examinations from the comfort of their
homes . M-SCAN has al r eady st ar te d
services in 180 medical institutions in
Uganda and expects to perform at least
2,400 consultations per year using the
home ultrasound system.

Menyo Innocent
The CEO, Menyo Innocent, is a radiographer with a bachelor's
degree in medical radiography from Makerere University.
He is well versed in point-of-care ultrasound* and has
extensive training in ultrasound as well as management
and entrepreneurship. His expertise and services are highly
compatible with a company focused on developing and
expanding the market for portable ultrasound systems.
Contact mscanug@[Link]

9
 2
Agrinfo Tanzania

Founded in 2016

Employees 4

Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

A g r i n f o p r ov i d e s a d ig i t a l p l a t f o r m , and to perform credit scoring with high

JembeKilimo, to small-scale farmers who accuracy. By using JembeKilimo, financial
do not have access to loans or agricultural institutions can provide loans to farmers
consultation services. Although agriculture based on accurate information. Al so,
is a major industr y in Tanzania, many by providing credit scoring, small-scale
financial institutions tend to avoid lending farmers will be able to access loans, which
to small-scale farmers, making it difficult will enable them to obtain higher quality
for farmers to raise funds. In addition, materials and enjoy services from financial
only 65% of farmers can enjoy agricultural institutions. Cell phone communication
consultation ser vices, and the lack of technology, reliable data from drones and
information necessary for production is satellite imagery, and advanced analytics
leading to stagnant incomes for farmers. will be used to remove
JembeKilimo is a service that enables barriers to smallholder
f inancial institutions to quantif y the credit, optimize GAP
creditworthiness of farmers by using smart information, and
farmer information (GAP information), enable agribusiness
such as farmland conditions and weather growth.
information, which is necessary for small-
scale farmers to improve their productivity,

Rose Funja
Rose Funja has over 12 years of experience working
in communit y development , both domestical ly and
internationally. She is an engineer and social entrepreneur
who uses digit al te chnologies to solve communit y
development challenges. She has worked in partnership
with We-Robotics and United States - International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on a maize pre-harvest*
loss research project in Chemba- Dodoma region, using
satellite and drone imagery. She is also a non-executive
director of Microfinance Victoria Finance and has been
awarded the Mandela Washington Fellow 2014 and IVLP
Hidden No More 2019.
Contact [Link]@[Link]

＊Pre-harvest：The application of the herbicide Roundup to a field before harvesting

wheat or other crops to kill the crop and facilitate [Link] our case preharvest loss,
is the reduced quality and quantity of crop because of challenges such as crop disease
or bad agriculture practices by the farmer due to lack of knowledge or information.

10
3
Moja Ride Côte d’Ivoire

Founded in 2020

Employees 15

Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Moja Ride is a comprehensive mobility and payment

platform that helps consumers find, book, and pay
for all modes of transportation, including a single
mobile app and a contactless Visa-enabled fare
card. By integrating payment and mobility services,
the service ensures reciprocity, with the payment
function enhancing the mobility service and the
mobility service facilitating the payment. It also has a
function that allows end-users to exchange messages
easily and quickly. The service is targeted at students
and working adults, and with digital payment
capabilities, the service is being expanded to include
online shopping and travel. As the urban population
grows, the need for mobility services and digital
payments will continue to increase. By analyzing the
number of farecard loads, the company will be able to
understand how the service is being adopted and how
many people are using it, and further
improve the service.

Jean-Claude Gouesse
Jean-Claude Gouesse is a cybersecurity and computer
network engineer. He holds a degree in Information
Technology from DeVr y University (Chicago, USA)
and a degree in Risk Management from the National
Polytechnic Institute (Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire).
Contact [Link]@[Link]

11
 4
Emergency Nigeria

Response Africa
Founded in 2019

Employees 10

Industry Health

Website [Link]

Emergency Response Africa (ER A) is a

healthcare technolog y platform that
provides safe and affordable emergency
care in Nigeria and beyond. The company's
ResQ emergency response management
platform can respond to emergencies within
minutes of their occurrence by efficiently
dispatching trained paramedics, equipment,
and vehicles to the scene and facilitating
smooth communication between paramedics,
first responders, and hospitals. ERA plans
to deploy the system throughout Africa to
solve social issues in the healthcare system
across the continent.

Folake Owodunni
Folake Owodunni is the Co-Founder and CEO of
ERA. She holds a Master of Business Enterprise
and Technology (MBET) degree from the University
of Waterloo. She has experience in healthcare,
non-profit, and management consulting in Nigeria,
the US, and Canada. She is also a certified First
Responder with the Canadian Red Cross. Folake
O wo dunni is commit te d to s o lv ing Af r ic a's
healthcare system problems through technology.
Contact info@[Link]

12
5
Lifestores
Healthcare
Nigeria

Founded in 2016

Employees 30

Industry Health

Website [Link]

Lifestores Healthcare provides an consumers to shop around pharmacies for

e f f icie nt inve nto r y manage m e nt an d the medicines they need and allows them
group purchasing discount system for to purchase medicines at lower prices. In
pharmacies. The system is developed the future, the company plans to spread
and refined based on daily feedback from and expand the service to the pharmacy
pharmacists and patients. The system industry, which has been slow to adopt the
has been developed and improved based technology, and to transform the pharmacy
on daily feedback from pharmacists and industry throughout Africa.
patients. This eliminates the need for

Bryan Mezue
Bryan Mezue, Co-Founder and CEO of Lifestores
Healthcare, holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics
and mathematical statistics from the University
of Warwick and a master's degree in business
administration from Harvard Business School.
Contact lifestores@[Link]

13
 6
TranSoniCa Ghana

Founded in 2020

Employees 23

Industry Finance

Website [Link]

TranSoniCa provides an efficient payment payment ef ficiency by eliminating the

and settlement service by utilizing the need for change when paying in cash, (2)
contactless IC card technology circulating reduce the risk of cash theft by employees
in Japan (simil ar to SUICA and other at stores where the system has been
services). The introduction of the card- introduced, and (3) promote contactless
based payment method will (1) improve payment as part of COVID-19 compliance.
Tr anS oniC a b e l ieve s that a c ashl e s s
society is the only way to build a capital
infrastructure. By drastically reducing the
contact with paper money, TranSoniCa
aims to prevent the threat of COVID-19 and
other new viruses that may emerge in the
future.

Daniel Elliot Kwantwi

Daniel Elliot Kwantwi is a master's student at the
University of Tokyo. He is also the Kanto Region
Manager of Kakehashi Africa (NGO), which aims to build
bridges between Japan and Africa. He holds a [Link]. in
Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana and
a [Link]. in Agriculture from Tokyo University of
Agriculture and Technology. He is a teaching
and research assistant in the Department of
Agricultural Economics and Management
at the University of Ghana. He has worked
for companies such as Ohayo Ghana
Foundation, Freight Links Logistics (FLL),
Century Company, and The Prince Links
Enterprise.
Contact info@[Link]

14
7
And Africa
South Africa

Founded in 2018

Employees 6

Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

And Africa provides Delivery service in suffers from redeliveries. ECD‘s locker
South Africa using IoT lockers called ECD technology streamlines the process of
(Easy Collect & Drop). The company is arranging deliveries required for regular
addressing issues faced by both consumers PUDO services2*, allowing ECD users to ship
and online retailers, such as high shipping packages 24/7 at the lowest possible price
costs, long waits at home to receive and receive them without any fees.
parcels, and increased risk of COVID-19
infection due to face-to-face interaction *1 Last-mile delivery: The delivery segment from the delivery center to
the user-designated destination is called the "last mile" as the last
with couriers. Since IoT lockers prevent delivery segment. The term "last mile" is used in the logistics industry
redeliveries that cost a lot, ECD offers to refer to the "last section between the operator and the user.
*2 PUDO services : Abbreviation for Pick Up & Drop Off. In the U.S. and
their one-stop solution including last-mile Europe, it is commonly used as a courier service in addition to a box
delivery1* to e-commerce businesses that service.

Yo Murofushi
Yo M u r of u s h i wo r ke d at D e l o it te a s a m a n a ge m e nt
consultant in SCM and M&A. After starting his own company,
he established a background in ecommerce business
by launching an online marketplace for used Japanese
cars in Tanzania and launching his own e-commerce site
specializing in Japanese products. He is also committed to
supporting African startups through direct investment and
the establishment and operation of a matching platform
called ZenVentures. He is challenging the last-mile delivery
industry in Africa by leveraging SCM, finance, EC business,
extensive network with African startups, and Asian H/W
technology. Contact murofushi@[Link]

15
 8
MajestEYE Tunisia

Founded in 2017

Employees 12

Industry Health

Website [Link]

MajestEYE is a data analytics company

that develops unique Artificial Intelligence
(AI) engines for a wide range of fields,
including health, medicine, and industrials.
For governments, MajestEYE has developed
systems to predict and analyze the impact of
investment policies on regions and sectors;
for the media, systems to analyze audience
tr ends; and f or f inancial ins titutions ,
systems to analyze and predict the business
conditions of small and medium-sized
enterprises. Concerning COVID-19, the
company have developed a system called
"DrugEye," which can analyze the genome of
the virus (i.e., genetic information analysis)
and analy ze information on the virus,
including its variants, and are taking prompt
action in cooperation with the Tunisian
Ministry of Health.

Jihed Hannachi
Jihed Hannachi is a Co-Founder of MajestEYE. He is
responsible for the design and execution of MajestEYE's
growth strategy, leading business development activities,
and he has extensive experience in the field of thought
leadership*, which he uses to transform business models.
He is also responsible for developing and maintaining
investor and partner relationships. He enjoys thinking
about history and philosophy while playing his favorite
instrument, the oud, on a daily basis.
Contact [Link]@[Link]

＊Thought leadership: The leader who hase in a specific field (industry, theme, or social
problem) by being the first to discover and demonstrate innovative ideas and solutions
that anticipate the future.

16
9
Upepo
Technology Kenya

Company
Founded in 2018

Employees 14

Industry Others

Website [Link]

Upepo Te chnolog y C ompany (Upepo) is a

provider of integrated water supply management
system services using IoT in Kenya. The water
system in Kenya is not properly managed,
resulting in aging water meters, water theft and
leakage. As a result, the water infrastructure
system is facing challenges due to the inability
to collect appropriate fees. The company's
ser vices can help improve water resource
management, increase revenue and promote
water conservation. The company operates in
partnership with Safaricom, and Liquid Telecom,
Kenya's largest telecom provider. The company's
model is mainly BtoB, and it plans to expand
its business by partnering with various water
companies in Kenya over the next five years.

Kevin Kihara
Kevin Kihara is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of the
company. As General Manager of Business Development and
Strategy at the publicly listed Housing Finance (HF) Group in
2013, he developed the Group's diversification strategy with a
focus on housing and mortgages. After finishing his
career at his previous company, he invited his
long-time colleague, Amolo Ng'weno, co-
founder of Africa Online and director of
the Gates Foundation, to join him in
founding Upepo as a member.
Contact info@[Link]

17
 10
Appy People Angola

Founded in 2015

Employees 10

Industry Health

Website [Link]

Appy Saúde has developed an application is ensured. Appy Saúde allows users to
ser vice that allows users to compare review any medical institution within their
the location of pharmacies and medical profile. This facilitates a two-way flow of
institutions, the availability of medicines information from the user to the provider,
at each pharmacy and medical institution, and the provider to the user. By focusing
and the prices of medicines. In particular, on the customer experience, they are
it was hard to ensure transparency of the helping to improve the services of medical
medicine prices in the past, and in some institutions.
cases, prices have differed by almost two
times. With this service, price transparency

Pedro Beirão
Pedro Beirão is Co-Founder and CEO of the company and
has extensive experience in project management, having
worked at Huawei Technologies and TOTAL E&P Angola
prior to founding the company.
Contact [Link]@[Link]

18
ACE Smart Technologies Zambia

Founded in 2018 Employees 50, Full-timer 6 Industry Education

Website [Link]

A C E S m a r t Te c h n o l o g i e s , i n p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h Z a m b i a About the Founder

Communications (Zamtel), the Examinations Council of Zambia Chabu Titus Muchinshi is an
(ECZ), and the Ministry of Education, provides an e-learning portal account ant and banker with
that promotes education by providing past a passion for education in
exam questions and answers for Zambia's Zambia, and also has extensive
exams. TAM is 6 million K12 level pupils, and e x p e r i e n c e i n F i nTe c h a n d
the service is available for $0.99 per student learning management systems.
per month. The company links credit card
information to the portal site, making it easy Contact customercare@[Link]
for students to access the site.

ADFinance Rwanda

Founded in 2007 Employees 18 Industry Finance

Website [Link]

ADFinance is an African ICT company that About the Founder

provides a wide range of solution technologies O li v i e r Mu g ab o n ake i s t h e Pre s i d e n t an d
to microfinance institutions (MFIs). It oversees a Managing Director of ADFinance, where he
support team of about 300 SACCO (Savings and oversees the software engineering and support
crew teams. He holds a Master's degree in
Credit Co-Operative Society) *1 branches in more
Information Management Systems.
than seven countries in Africa, and offers ITES-
Contact [Link]@[Link]
BPO (Information Technology Enabled services /
Business Process Outsourcing) *2 to MFIs, helping
*1 SACCO: Savings and Credit Co-Operative Society, which refers to savings and
them to access the latest technologies with little
credit cooperatives.
investment. ADFinance is also creating jobs and *2 ITES-BPO: Information Technology Enabled Services/Business Process
Outsourcing, refers to IT-enabled services, such as back-office and call center
opportunities in Africa for those with specific skills
services, and business process outsourcing, outsourcing of administrative
in various areas. tasks, human resources and accounting.

Agro Marketplace Angola

Founded in 2017 Employees 3 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

Kepya is a digital market platform that connects About the Founder

transactions between major agricultural players. The Wanderley Augusto Ribeiro has a background
platform enables the four major players - farmers, in the oil and gas industry where he held
aggregators, buyers, and transporters - to respond p o s i t i o n s like Pr oje c t M a n a ge r a n d IT
quickly to each other's needs and conduct secure Operations Manager managing complex
operations and projects. In 2018 he did a
transactions in real time. Signing up for a Kepya
hard move into agritech where he operates
account is free, and the company aims to monetize
Kepya and other agribusiness initiatives in
from the transaction fees thereafter. Through this
Angola. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from
innovative solution in Angola, Kepya aims also Fernando Pessoa University in Portugal and an MBA in Corporate
to monetize the privileged market information Management from the College of Agudos (FAAG) in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
which they capture from different agents of the Contact [Link]@[Link]
agribusiness.

19
 Clandestine Insights South Africa

Founded in 2012 Employees 21 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

Clandestine is a market research service which provides About the Founder

platform to analyze mystery shopping and customer insights. Mike Metelerkamp founded
They allow organisations to gather feedback and information Clandestine Insights af ter a
from their teams, customers, and partners from anywhere career in market research and
thanks to the application installed into their devices. The digital marketing to provide
application also increases low-cost, scalable business
business ef ficiency as the intelligence solutions to retailers
collected data is presented to and brands. He holds a degree in
Marketing Management.
the team leaders in real time
on a dashboard. Contact info@[Link]

Cure Bionics Tunisia

Founded in 2018 Employees 6 Industry Health

Website [Link]

C u r e B i o n i c s i s a M e d Te c h s t a r t u p t h a t About the Founder

develops 3D-printed bionics arms (prostheses) Mohamed Dhaouafi is the CEO & Founder of Cure
that enhance the human body with multi-grip Bionics and he is also the Co-founder & COO of
functionality and empowering aesthetics for AGARUW, an online marketplace for eco-friendly
below elbow amputee adults and children aged products. Previously, he also Co-founded and
8 and above to make it more was responsible for running Zeta HUB, a private
accessible and cool-to-wear. The student pre-incubator. He holds a degree in
startup also develops therapeutic Electronics Engineering and a Master's degree
solutions using immersive in NGO Management. He is a 2020 FORBES Middle East 30 Under 30,
technologies and gamification to a 2020 MIT Technology Review 35 under 35 Innovator, one of the Next
allow people with disabilities to Generation Leaders by the TIME magazine, a MEPI, US department
receive treatment without having program, alumnus, and a 2019 Obama Foundation Africa Leader.
to visit a clinic. Contact dhaouafimed@[Link]

Cytex Technologies Botswana

Founded in 2018 Employees 6 Industry Health

Website N/A

Cytex Technologies produces a kit, Viral Transport About the Founder

Medium (VTM), that qualitatively detect nucleic Henry Lekgetho is a scientist with experience
acid from SARS-CoV-2 in nasal swabs and throat in both research and product development
swabs from people in public and academic institutions. Trained
who are suspected of as a medical scientist, he holds a Bachelor's
COVID-19. VTM makes it degree in Medic al L aborator y Science, a
possible to preserve the Master's degree in Biomedical Science
(Haematology and Blood Transfusion Science),
collected specimen which
and a PhD in caser studies (Haemato-oncology). He has worked as a
is fundamental to getting
scientific officer in the Botswana Ministry of Health and as a lecturer
accurate results.
in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science at the University of
Botswana. Contact info@[Link]

20
Daktari Online Kenya

Founded in 2015 Employees 8 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Daktari Online is an Medical EdTech service About the Founder

that aims to improve the learning outcomes D r. We r e O n y i n o h a s o v e r 1 2 y e a r s o f
of healthcare professionals through online experience as a physician in the public,
continuous medical education. It produces private and non-profit health care sectors. He
relevant content created by experts in an currently serves as the President of the Kenya
Medical Association. He is the chairman
accessible format to support the learning
of the board of Daktari Online and leads
of healthcare professionals for assessment
the company to establish strong corporate
and re-lic ensure. It is a pioneer in the governance structures.
industry and is used by a diverse range of John Mwangi is a computer scientist and entrepreneur with a career in the IT and
healthcare professionals, including doctors, service industries. John aims to use advanced technology to address the most
dentists, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory complex and critical issues in healthcare across Africa. He serves as the CEO of
technicians in Kenya. Daktri Media Africa, leading business development and strategic partnerships.
Contact info@[Link]

DilenyTech Egypt

Founded in 2018 Employees 10 Industry Health

Website [Link]

DilenyTech is a fast-growing AI health tech star tup that About the Founder
provides radiology professionals with AI solutions to improve Ahmed Ehab Mahmoud is
the screening and diagnostic accuracy and reporting time. The a n e n t r e p r e n e u r w i t h a 17-
company developed AI-enabled solutions for medical image ye ar ex p e r ie n c e in h e al t h c are
analysis, risk assessment, and structured reporting* in multiple t e c hn o l o g i e s . H e w o r ke d a s a
clinical applications such as breast, obstetrics, gynecology, and regular fellow at the NIOSH, CDC,
vascular imaging. The Current user base spreads across three U S A ( 2 0 0 8 -2 0 0 9), a r e s e a r c h
continents (Asia, Africa, and North America). The team has over as s o c iat e at t he Uni ve r si t y o f
15 years of combined professional and scientific experience, has Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA (2011-2013), and the
contributed to over 90 scientific publications, and holds three US director of the MECL laboratory, Egypt (2014-2018). He
patents. holds PhD. from West Virginia University, the USA, and
* Structured reporting: Extracting important information and rewriting it in a [Link]. and [Link]. degrees from Cairo University, Egypt.
format that follows a certain structure. It is easy to use for learning and is
intended to simplify communication with others and between different industries. Contact [Link]@[Link]

Direct Impact Partners Côte d’Ivoire

Founded in 2020 Employees 6 Industry Health

Website [Link]

ALLO SANTE (English: “HELLO HE ALTH”) is a medical About the Founder

appointment booking platform with the ability to chat with Richard Seshie has 15 years
doctors via social networking and messaging applications of ex tensive experience in the
startup, public, and private sectors,
(Messenger, WhatsApp). Targeting low and middle-income
including a stint at Microsof t
families, the service allows anyone to consult a licensed
Corporation. He founded the not-
medical professional for free. The service also allows users
for-profit Health Tech Africa and is
to book medical appointments online through a link on a former UNFPA (United Nations
Messenger or WhatsApp. 6,000 online Population Fund) innovation consultant for the healthcare
doctor chats have been performed sector in Cote d'Ivoire. He later received the Presidential
to date. ALLO SANTE also aims to A w a r d f o r t h e E m e r g i n g Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
provide testing services in research Fellowship in Cote d'Ivoire. He is a Global Shaper for the
institutes in the future. World Economic Forum. Contact richards@[Link]

21
 DURIGA Technologies Botswana

Founded in 2019 Employees 4 Industry Finance

Website [Link]

DURIGA Technologies provides a Business to About the Founder

Business to Customer (B2B2C) solution to the Laura, a 28-year-old from Botswana, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Duriga
lower income population by offering a digital Technologies. She is passionate about using technology to solve social
platform which allows users to make payments challenges for developing communities in low- and middle-income countries.
via USSD *1. The company is also expanding its Contact info@[Link]
services to social lending institutions*2 to help
users make payments and other services via *1 USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. A messaging technology was
USSD. In addition, they also provide mobile available in the GSM (Global System for Mobile) allows text messages to be
exchanged between cell phone handsets.
services such as *2 Social lending: A form of lending in which funds are collected from investors via
W h a t s A p p b o t s *3 f o r the Internet and loaned to individuals or companies that wish to borrow funds.
*3 WhatsApp bot: An automatic chat tool that incorporates machine learning
customer relationship
functions into the WhatsApp chat application. It can respond to questions from
management. users in real time, register appointments, and automatically remind users of them.

D-WEE Tunisia

Founded in 2020 Employees 6 Industry Health

Website N/A

D-WEE was launched with the aim to develop a Tunisian medical About the Founder
equipment industry, starting with meeting the immediate need Amine Rekhis is an Industrial
for oxygen therapy machines during COVID-19. The company Electronics Engineer
also voluntarily developed masks and visors for machines and and COO of D-WEE , Co-
delivered them free of charge to all regions throughout Tunisia. Founder/CEO of Factoorya,
D-WEE has helped to bring together and Director of Startup
Grind Sousse. He has been
various stakeholders, such as the
involved in entrepreneurship
Minister of Insurance and Education,
programs and competitions since 2015, and has won
Medical workers, as well as Computer
multiple awards.
Scientists and Engineers to help move
Contact [Link]@[Link]
the entire industr y move for ward
through demonstration experiments.

Ecoplastile Uganda

Founded in 2018 Employees 10 Industry Others

Website [Link]

Ecoplastile offers a chemical-free, energy-saving plastic About the Founder

extrusion (processing) technology called “Waxy II Franc Kamugyisha holds a Global Impact
Technology”. This technology can be used by corporates MBA from ALTIS Graduate Business School,
to recycle post-consumer plastic waste and packaging it the Sacred Heart University of Milan and
U g a n d a M a r t y r s U n i v e r s i t y. H e h o l d s
into a durable plastic. The company aims to be a social
a bachelor's degree in accounting and
enterprise that addresses issues such as post-consumer
business administration and holds various
p la s t ic p ollu t io n, w a s t e
credentials including national certification
management, deforestation, as an architect and a certificate in public administration. He is also
and climate change. a recipient of YSI Global Solutions for COVID-19 2020, EarthTech
Challenge 2020, TEF Awards, SEED Low Carbon Awards, and
Climate Launchpad Uganda 2019. Contact info@[Link]

22
E-Health IT Services Ethiopia

Founded in 2016 Employees 21 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Orbit Health is a leading health-tech firm in East Africa that About the Founder
has been at the forefront of efforts to transform healthcare Pazion Cherinet has more than 12
delivery in the region. One of Orbit’s service offerings is ye a r s o f e n g i n e e r i n g ex p e r i e n c e
“O-Health", a patient engagement platform that provides a t T h e B o e i n g C o m p a ny. H e h a s
users with real-time telephone or live audio-video interaction held various positions in strateg y
using smartphones (or basic phones). This allows direct and development, project management,
seamless transmission of a patient’s clinical measurements compliance, and business positioning.
and records from a distance to appropriate healthcare He has also co-founded companies
such as Negpri, Addisea and other tech startups. He holds
providers or referred physicians. Orbit aims to further grow in
a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from
the African digital market with both B2B and B2B2C models.
Seattle University.
Contact paziont@[Link]

E-msika Services Zambia

Founded in 2016 Employees 11 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

E-msika Services is a B2B2C online training and agricultural About the Founder
market platform. Farmers and retailers (Agro-Retailers*) Gilbert Mwale grew up as a
across the country can easily and affordably find, purchase, subsistence farmer in Chipata,
and share information on agricultural products. The service Eastern Province of Zambia, but while
also allows farmers to receive training on agriculture from earning a master's degree in computer
experts. The company has already science in India, he witnessed how
e-commerce changed the lives of the
provided 1,600 e-commerce
poor. Based on this knowledge and
transactions in three years and
experience, he launched Zambia's first online agricultural
150 trainings in two months.
marketplace with his long-time friend Elton Chirwa.
Contact emsikaservices@[Link]

*Agro-Retailers: Retailers who sell agricultural products to end consumers

after purchasing from producers or wholesalers.

Eneza Telecom Kenya

Founded in 2018 Employees 8 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

Eneza Telecom provides cloud-based, affordable, and easy-to-use About the Founder
ERP*1 system services for small business organizations and non- Peter Muraya has obtained
profit organizations. Its comprehensive ERP software package bac helor ’s degre e in Ec onomic s
integrates a full range of business processes. Users can interface from the Kenyatta University, and
with Eneza ERP via the web, app, or USSD. ERP solutions are built since then has gained ex tensive
in a modular fashion, and available modules include Accounting, experience in marketing and public
relations. Prior to joining Eneza,
Payroll, HR Management, SACCO *2 , Survey Research, Loan
he was the head of marketing at
Management System, Cash Management Systems, and more.
Liaison Media. Aside from overseeing the overall health of
*1 ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning. Refers to a process used by companies the business, he also manages the marketing and public
to manage and integrate the important parts of their businesses (human
resource, products, finance, information). relations activities.
*2 SACCO: Saving and Credit Co-operative Organization. Like Japanese Contact web@[Link], kamauwilson@[Link]
credit unions, SACCOs provide general financial services such as salary
collection, deposits, and borrowing to their members.

23
 Eyone Senegal

Founded in 2015 Employees 13 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Eyone is a digital solutions provider which aims to provide more traceability About the Founder
of medical data, such as patient files, invoicing, physical/online appointments Henri Gueye has won
with patients. In Senegal, the lack of traceability of data has been a multiple titles such as
tremendous issue amongst healthcare professionals and patients. Moreover, Orange Entrepreneur
some processes, such as communicating with insurance companies Social, Orange FAB,
or conducting additional inspections, can be quite sophisticated. By 20 most promising
implementing Eyone's service, administrative tasks and billing status can be startups in French-
easily tracked with their mobile device. Patients can speaking Africa,
and Most Valuable Company in XL Africa
also interact with their healthcare providers from
program. He has a partnership with Sanofi
their computers or mobile devices. Eyone currently
to share medical files between healthcare
has served 26 medical institutions, 100,000 claims
professionals and patients.
for medical services, and 70,000 patient referrals.
Contact contact@[Link]

Farm Wallet Ghana

Founded in 2016 Employees 6 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

Farm Wallet provides farmers with a mobile app About the Founder
that simplifies transactions on their existing bank Muhideen Adam is the former CEO and Co-
accounts. Consumers can easily check farmers' Founder of TROTRO Tractor. He is a young
produc tion information on tablet s installed in and hardworking entrepreneur who is leading
supermarkets and other nationwide agricultural the online business and smartphone app for
product sales outlets. These functions will enable TROTRO tractor*. He has also developed a
direct transactions between farmers and consumers portal that aggregates dealers and transport
and eliminate middlemen who charge high tractor owners. Contact team@[Link]
fees. Small-scale farmers in rural areas
*TROTRO tractor: A platform provider that connects farmers and tractor operators. It
who do not have access to bank accounts enables farmers to request, schedule, and prepay for tractor services, and operators
can use the cashless mobile payment to obtain requests for tractors quickly. FarWallet is a financial service that give small-
scale farmers power to bank at their farm gate. The core of this business is to tackle and
system, thereby creating a system that establish easy and flexible banking services and other Agriculture Services as well as the
returns profits to the small-scale farmers. value and supply chain by eliminating middlemen who do not add value to the product but
rather makes it expensive. In this way, prices of foods could be affordable for all.

FasoDrone Burkina Faso

Founded in 2018 Employees 5 Industry Others

Website [Link]

FasoDrone uses drone system design and aerial data analysis to provide About the Founder
innovative services in multiple domains. The services offered include Thierry Bayala is
growth monitoring of crops, mapping for mining and construction a computer and
companies, mapping for urban development and environment al s o f t w a r e e n g i n e e r.
protection, and aerial photography and videography for media. The He holds a master's
company combines new robotics-based degree in data
technologies with drones to provide timely and science from Miyagi
University, Japan.
accurate data to solve the challenges faced by its
Thierry is also a Ph.D. student at Nazi Boni
customers. Currently, the company is developing
University where he uses spatial data from
an autonomous solar-powered hand-washing
drones to improve agricultural yields.
system for COVID-19, and an initial prototype is
Contact info@[Link]
already in operation.

24
Fraisen Senegal

Founded in 2016 Employees 20 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

Fraisen is a star tup leading the production, suppor t, and About the Founder
marketing of strawberries. It launched the first pan-African Souleymane Agne is a former
network of strawberry producers to unite producers and promote law student who became
a made in Africa brand. FRAISEN offers a farmer before founding
different product ranges (juice, syrup, Fraisen. He is responsible for
s t r aw b e r r y t r ay, f r oz e n s t r aw b e r r y, the planning and management
s tr awb err y jam) sold acros s Afric a, of agricultural projec t s and
particularly in Senegal via its customer is an entrepreneur who has
already led the co-founding of four startups. About
s e r v i c e an d d e li ve r y s e r v i c e w hi c h
the Founder
b o o s t e d s ale s dur ing t he C ov id19
outbreak. Contact reseaufraisen@[Link]

Gradely Nigeria

Founded in 2019 Employees 16 Industry Education

Website [Link]

Gradely is using analytics and data-driven About the Founder

recommendations to help schools and Boye Oshinaga is a second-time founder who previously
parents intervene in real-time to student's Co-Founder Riby Finance, one of Nigeria’s topmost fintech
learning gaps. Through weekly adaptive companies and helped grow the company to $1 million in
homework tests taken on the web or annual revenues in 4 years. He is passionate about education
mobile device, the solution is able to tell and has worked in Edtech for about a decade. While working
how much of a topic a student understands as VP in the Education division of a Technology Group, he
and recommend helped launch the first local online MBA program in the country
with 1,000 students in its inaugural class. Gradely is using analytics and data-driven
specific practice
recommendations to help schools and parents intervene in real-time to student's
set s, remedial
learning gaps. Through weekly adaptive homework tests taken on the web or mobile
videos or private
device, the solution can tell how much of a topic a student understands and recommend
tutoring.
specific practice sets, remedial videos or private tutoring. Contact team@[Link]

Green N Kool Madagascar

Founded in 2016 Employees 16 Industry Education

Website [Link]

Green N Kool is a social enterprise dedicated to reintegrating About the Founder

vulnerable populations and promoting sustainable consumption, Marie Christina Kolo is a
and offers Alt. Soap, an eco-friendly social entrepreneur with
soap made from used cooking oil. The 10 year s o f experienc e
company is currently developing the in the development
Alt. Soap Game, the first ad-supported and management of
freemium *1 educational mobile video humanitarian projects. She
g am e t ha t als o s e r ve s a s a c r o s s- holds a master’s degree
in International Relations (Catholic University of
buying*2 platform for Alt.
Paris) and has won the Female Entrepreneur Role
*1 Freemium: A term coined from Free+Premium. It refers to a business model in which Model Award and the Best Social Startup Award
basic services and products are provided free of charge, and fees are charged for more
at the Southern Africa Star tup Awards 2019.
advanced or special functions.
*2 Cross-buying: The act of selling between established customers, markets, and traders. Contact gnkkool@[Link]

25
 Health Direct Global Ghana

Founded in 2018 Employees 7 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Health Direct Global provides a multifunctional platform that uses About the Founder
electronic records with AI and biometric technology to match patients Amos Narh holds an MBA
with healthcare services in real time. These include Mobile Health Wallet, in Accounting and Finance
which allows users to save and use healthcare services when needed, and a bachelor’s degree in
and Telehealth, which allows patients to book medical services from the Economics and Psychology.
He completed his Bachelor of
comfort of their homes. The business model consists of (1) a monthly fee
Management Administration
from hospitals and medical service providers, (2) a fee/service charge
(BMA) and Human Resource
on bookings and doctor appointments, and (3) a fee for transactions
Management (HRM) from
through the Mobile Health Wallet. It ICM, UK. He has excellent financial modeling skills
provides blockchain-based payment and led the management of a major private health
infrastructure and aims to provide insurance company from the seed stage to the Series
alternative medicine to people in C stage of the company.
poor areas as well as urban areas. Contact healthdirectglobal@[Link]

HealthEdu Rwanda

Founded in 2017 Employees 10 Industry Health

Website [Link]

HealthEdu provides an E-learning platform solution for healthcare professionals About the Founder
in Rwanda dedicated to the challenge of malpractice and medical errors increase
Jean Damascene Bigirimana is a healthcare
as reported by the minister of health due to lack of updated knowledge of medical professional, Research enthusiastic currently
practitioners. HealthEdu is accredited in the National Pharmacy Council (NPC), completing a Master’s Degree in Public Health, he
Rwanda Medical and Dentist Council (RMDC), National Council of Nursing and has been trained with a Bachelor's Degree in Physical
Midwife (NCNM), and Rwanda Allied Health Professions Council (RAHPC). Therapy. He serves currently as the EXECURTIVE
HealthEdu offers three types of continuous professional development services; Secretar y of Rwanda Healthcare Federation and
Face to face courses for all invited health professionals, practical courses held at as a Private C onsult ant for JAMK Univer sit y of
clinical practice sites, and online courses taken on the company website. In August Applied Sciences – Finland in developing Digital
Rehabilitation concepts in Rwanda and the region.
2019, the company acquired a trademark in Japan and is looking for partners to
He founded GDA Sabri Enterprise in 2011, Pamelise
expand the service in Japan with the mission in which healthcare professionals
Limited in 2013, and HealthEdu in 2017. He has
are responsible for developing and updating their abilities, knowledge, skills, and
experience from different incubation programs. He got basic social enterprise founding
attitudes as professionals throughout their lives by systematically ensuring their and management from Acts of Gratitude (AoG), trained by 250 Start-ups in developing
suitability at all times. So far, we have 4600 users still increasing, 145 courses HealthEdu Ltd, and he has benefited from the support of Westerwelle Start-up Haus
already uploaded, more than 40 specialists from worldwide who are responsible in series of trainings that supported the finance and legal status of HealthEdu Ltd.
to avail content and on average daily enrollment track equal to 20 professionals.
The system provides completion certificate and CPD Credits for license renewal as Contact healthedultd@[Link]
requested by the minister of health policies.

Helm Academy Egypt

Founded in 2016 Employees 21 Industry Education

Website [Link]

Helm Academy introduces the first accessible About the Founder

e-learning platform dedicated to persons with Amena El-saie, along with Co-Founder Ramez
disabilities offering Arabic content in the MENA Maher, have grown the social enterprise Helm
region. SEED (Skills Enhancement and Employee Consulting to serve over 300companies and help
Development) an online training program for job them become inclusive. They were Awarded three
years (2017-2018-2021) for their best practice by the
skills, bridges the gap between the skills of people
Zero Project at the United Nations Headquarters
with disabilities and the needs of the labor market
in Vienna for their employment and accessibility
by simulating what is expected of them in the real
practices. They were selected to be one of the top 5 social enterprises in
workplace.
Egypt in 2015 and awarded a two-year global acceleration program by Rise
Egypt. Also, they participated in “The Improvement of Accessibility of Social
Inclusion – Barrier-Free Environment” program by (JICA) in Japan, 2016
Contact amena@[Link] ramez@[Link]

26
Himore Medical Cameroon

Founded in 2014 Employees 14 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Himore Medical developed Oxynnet, a medical oxygen production network About the Founder
that consists of multiple oxygen production stations connected to a single Z ang Adz aba Marc
control system. Each station is located in a hospital and can produce Arthur is a Chief
pure oxygen concentrations ranging from 21% to 95%. The stations are E n g i n e e r, P r o j e c t
capable of supplying oxygen to more than 10 patients at the same time and Manager, and
can also be remotely controlled via a phone analog line using an Android CEO, computer
[Link] Cameroon, medical oxygen was only available at referral science engineer
hospitals and large clinics, but Oxynnet has made and biomedical
e n g i n e e r i n g r e s e a r c h e r. H e o v e r s e e s
it possible to receive COVID-19 treatment at a low
the business and mentors engineers
cost without traveling to urban areas. In recognition
responsible for software development and
of this achievement, the company won the UNDP
embedded systems development.
Cameroon New Coronary Measures Hackathon.
Contact arthurzang@[Link]

iCompass Tunisia

Founded in 2019 Employees 12 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

iCompass offers an online chatbot, voice bot, and text-to-speech business About the Founder
tool for Arabic and other African languages and dialects. The business Ahmed Nouisser
model is subscription-based, and users have access to a large-capacity has an international
cloud service that provides access to digital text and the vast amount c o n s u l t i n g
of information contained in the data set using deep learning. Its chat background in
service specializes in increasing sales on e-commerce sites, thanks to the digitization
benefits such as increasing purchasing behavior of technical and
through automated AI-based customer service functional processes
for over 20 years. After returning to Tunisia,
operations. The company also provides 24-
he founded iCompass, where he serves as
hour suppor t for digital strateg y planning,
CEO.
c o mmunic a t io n , mar ke t ing e f f e c t i ve n e s s
Contact team@[Link]
verification, and data analysis services.

ICT4DEV Côte d’Ivoire

Founded in 2016 Employees 10 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

ICT4DEV has produced several synergistic commission-based About the Founder

services that address the challenges of the agricultural value Jean Delmas Ehui is a social
chain, including (1) the GELICO management plat form for entrepreneur with diverse
cooperatives (2) the Virtual Market platform to link cooperatives s k i l l s : c o m p u t e r e n g i n e e r,
and buyers, (3) the E-Variety mobile application web and mobile developer,
and the E-Variety mobile application and SMS consultant ICT trainer, ICT and
rural development expert. He
service promoting agricultural seeds in local
has experience in the ICOOP-
languages and (4) the Farm book training
CI (Agricultural Cooperative Identification) project
application based on a license that provides with the Lôr Bouôr Chamber of Agriculture, Côte
agricultural advice to farmers. that provides d'Ivoire, where he launched an ICT solution platform
agricultural advice to farmers with remote for modern and efficient agriculture.
monitoring of their activities by an agronomist. Contact info@[Link]

27
 iFox Code Mauritius

Founded in 2014 Employees 7 Industry Health

Website [Link]

iFox Code is a digital agency specializing in mobile and web About the Founder
application development. The company conceptualized a Imteeaz Rajabalee is an entrepreneur
telemedicine platform to improve access to medical care to with a passion for technology and
support medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic. market ing and has over 20 year s
With the applications, patients request consultations, of ex p e r ie n c e in t h e in du s t r y.
doctors receive notifications and start video consultations He holds a Master's degree in IT
with the patients. The Engineering, an MBA in Marketing
business model is to collect and a Project Management
Professional certification from the University of Bordeaux
a fee equivalent to 3% of
(France), is a lecturer at Supinfo (France), a member
the monthly profit earned by
o f t h e Fr e n c h Te c h B o a r d , C J D (C e n t r e d e s J e u n e s
doctors using its mobile and
Dirige ant s) and MBN (Maurit ius Busine s s Net work).
web applications.
Contact imteeaz@[Link]

IoT Communications Botswana

Founded in 2019 Employees 6 Industry Health

Website [Link]

IoT Communications provides an IoT*1 Low Power Wide Area Network About the Founder
(LPWAN)*2 service that monitors the geographic location of quarantine Tefo Donald Seleka has
more than 20 year s of
and protective surveillance targets. Using smart wristbands, the scope of
experience in the design,
an individual's activities can be analyzed remotely, aiming to improve the operation, and management
containment of COVID-19 infection and the tracking of infected individuals. of large-scale dat a
The service is available on a pay-per-use or monthly subscription basis. communication networks.
*1 IoT: IoT stands for Internet of Things and is used to connect things other than computers He has worked as a
to each other via the Internet. IoT Applications are used to provide functions based on data data net works manager
sent to the platform from sensor devices. It is becoming more and more common to add IoT for Botswana’s largest mobile operator, Mascom
functions, such as machine learning algorithms to analyze large amounts of cloud-stored
connected sensor data. Wireless. He has also worked for Nokia Networks, a
*2 LPWAN (Low Power Wide-Area-network): refers to a power-saving wide-area network that large multinational company, where he held several
enables wireless communication over long distances with low power consumption. It is a project roles including pre-sales technical support,
wireless communication technology that has rapidly gained attention in recent years due to
its suitability for IoT communication, and uses radio wave technologies such as LoRaWAN, network planning and performance monitoring in the
Sigfox, ELTRES, and ZETA, based on LTE used mainly in smartphones. Americas region. Contact info@[Link]

IRIBA Water Group Rwanda

Founded in 2017 Employees 11 Industry Others

Website [Link]

IRIBA Water Group provides innovative water About the Founder

solutions to poor communities. The company Yvette Ishimwe holds a B.S.
provides (1) kiosks, which are public drinking water in Business Management
supply points for low-income communities in urban w i t h a c o n c e n t r a t io n in
and suburban areas, (2) Leased water filtration Logistics and Management
systems with purchase option*1 for schools, and from Southern New
(3) solar-powered pumps for remote mountainous Hampshire University, USA.
She has participated in the
areas. The company hopes to roll out each solution
Young African Leadership
and business model across Africa as never before.
Initiative (YALI) at the E ast Afric a Regional
*1 Lease with purchase option: A lease in which a lessee is given the right to purchase Center and the Mandela Washington Fellowship
the leased asset at the end of the lease term. The residual value of the leased asset program at Rutgers University. Both programs
is calculated by setting the price of the right to purchase in advance, which allows the
customer to use the leased asset at a lower rate than a normally financed lease during the are supported by the U.S. Department of State.
lease term. Contact info@[Link]

28
Kaizen Consulting & Services Cameroon

Founded in 2017 Employees 5 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

Kaizen Consulting & Services (KCS) provides a variety About the Founder
of continuous improvement consulting ser vices to Isidore Kemawou Fot abong has
companies and organizations. KCS offers training in more than 20 years of professional
the form of webinars, online coaching, and online video experience in various sec tors, with
materials to help companies and organizations improve several ac ademic and profe s sional
their productivity and the quality of their products and trainings in dif ferent fields such as
services. Kaizen Consulting industrial logistics, project management,
& Services aims to contribute leadership; and quality and productivity
improvement. He is also a senior consultant for JICA's KAIZEN
to the economic grow th of
Project in Cameroon and has contributed to the training of more
Cameroon and Africa, through
than 100 companies and organizations, including international
the creation and dissemination
organizations such as GIZ and UNDP Central African Republic.
of innovative services.
Contact infos@[Link]

Khenz Rwanda

Founded in 2016 Employees 10 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Khenz is a digital ticketing platform that provides a cashless About the Founder
transportation system between inland cities. The digital Mous sa Habinez a is t he Founder
ticketing platform ensures the safety of intercity and border- and CEO of Khenz. He specializes
to-border shipments, which have been difficult to track in in developing database-driven
many African countries, such as valuables transported by applications. He holds a Bachelor's
public transport. This digital ticketing platform can ensure the degree in Information and
safety of cargo transported between cities and borders. It is Communication Technology from the
widely used by freight forwarders University of Rwanda and a Master's
degree in Systems Engineering and Information Engineering
and long-distance bus companies,
from the University of Tsukuba as an ABE Initiative Scholar.
which have operated more than
He has participated in a JICA-sponsored ICT project aimed
800 trains and sold more than one
at strengthening the ICT ecosystem in Rwanda.
million tickets since 2013.
Contact info@[Link]

Kumakan Burkina Faso

Founded in 2019 Employees 5 Industry Others

Website [Link]

Kumakan is an African game development studio*1 that develops About the Founder
gamification*2 solutions that allow people to play and learn about social Haroun Yasser Sangaré
issues in a fun and engaging way. The mobile game "Corona Trip", allows is a professionally
players to move in the skin of the COVID-19 virus to understand the strategies trained economist
and graphic designer
that it puts in place to infect a maximum of people*3. The business model is
with seven years
mainly based on advertising revenues. *1 Game Development Studio : Refers of experience in
to companies that focus on game development services. *2 Gamification: A visual design and IT
term derived from "gaming" which refers to turning various elements of daily business development.
life into the form of games. There is a growing trend to apply the elements He has seven ye ar s of ex p er ienc e as a
and ideas of games, which entertain and enthuse people, to the fields of visual design professional and IT business
business and education. *3 Understanding Exposure: Refers to the experience development, with a strong focus on
IC T e nv ir o nm e n t s an d b uil din g A f r ic an
of absorption, inhalation, and contact that are risk factors for human health
net works in Burkina Faso and elsewhere.
problems. It is often used as a medical term such as "virus exposure". Contact ysangare@[Link]

29
 Kytabu Kenya

Founded in 2012 Employees 54 Industry Education

Website [Link]

SomaNasi is a compulsory education learning platform About the Founder

that enables online communication bet ween parents, Tonee Ndungu is a technology expert
students, and teachers. 4,500 videos covering the entire 12- and the Founder of Nailab, which has
year Kenyan education curriculum and 15,000 questions raised over 600 million yen in funding.
to measure learning achievement have already been Having struggled to get an education
accumulated. In the COVID-19 context, SomaNasi is also h i m s e l f, h e i s p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t
offering a new online student group discussion program providing educational opportunities in
and an interactive video* program that allows parents to Africa.

participate in the virtual classroom Contact kytabu@[Link]

with their student s. SomaNasi *Interactive video: Refers to a video that prompts the user to take
means "Learn with Me" in Swahili. actions such as clicking a button. It has the merit of increasing
students' learning commitment because it creates interaction the user.

Last Mile for BoP Africa South Africa

Founded in 2013 Employees 10 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Shopit, developed by the company, is a turnkey online store*, About the Founder
logistics and marketing service for wholesale and retail Arnaud Blanchet is the founder and
stores. By using the company's app, grocery stores can CEO of Shopit, where he has built
compare wholesale prices and then purchase purchased deliver y models for products such
items online. In addition, when consumers use the app, as solar electricity, water filters, and
food and sundries are delivered to consumers without sanitary napkins in rural South Africa.
going through wholesale or retail stores. In addition, when Today, he is still an entrepreneur
consumers use this app, food and sundries are delivered to committed to improving the delivery
the consumer without going through wholesale/retail stores, of goods and services in low-income areas.
Contact contact@[Link]
and thus can be purchased at a lower price. Stores selling
daily consumer goods can expect to increase their sales in *Turnkey Online Store: The term "turnkey" comes from the meaning
each market by using these two apps. It also functions as a of "ready to use as soon as the key is turned. It refers to an online
purchasing platform that can deliver products to customers as soon
community of over 6,000 store owners in South Africa. as they request to purchase them.

LiFi-Led Côte d’Ivoire

Founded in 2014 Employees 24 Industry Others

Website [Link]

L iF i - L e d i s a s e r v i c e t h a t About the Founder

integrates three ICT-based Ange Balma is a computer and
elements into one: (1) solar- network engineer. After graduating
powered electricity supply, (2) from Hautes Etudes Technologiques,
broadband Internet access, he became a certified IoT designer.
and (3) educational content With over 16 years of experience in
delivery for vocational training. the technology field, he founded the
It brings this service to the LiFi-Led project.

poor and unelectrified rural Contact infos@[Link]

areas.

30
Logidoo Senegal

Founded in 2019 Employees 9 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Logidoo provides a digital marketplace that connects About the Founder

logistics-related information and parties. By comparing Ta m s i r O u s m a n e Tr a o r é h a s 1 2
the selling price of each produc t , years of experience in the logistics
Logidoo executes and checks delivery sector, having founded Tex Courier,
operations on the platform, enabling a leader in the Senegalese postal
each part of the supply chain to work sec tor. He is pur suing a Ph.D. in
t o ge t h e r e f f ic ie n t l y an d c r e a t in g Management Science in Senegal and
an environment that facilitates the holds a master’s degree in Marketing
Services from Lille 2 University of Health and Law (France)
delivery process. The business model
and a Master's degree in Supply Chain Management from
is commission-based, from each
ESCA School of Management (Morocco).
transaction made on the platform.
Contact 2wl@[Link]

Madabooky Madagascar

Founded in 2016 Employees 7 Industry Education

Website [Link]

Madabooky is a social media service that provides online About the Founder
courses on mobile devices. Aimed at high school students, it Venceslas Tsira Louis is an expert
provides lectures and tutorial videos* on mathematics, physics, in commercial software, web
life science, earth science, philosophy, and others. In order to Madabook y of fers online courses
increase the pass rate of national exam, and to enhance long- (videos and PDFs) for students at the
term vocational support, the service also provides customized high school level. Users buy data or
career guidance and individual support access via the integrated platform,
based on each user's profile. Winner mobile money, or by scratch card.
Winner of the 2018 Orange Prize for Social Entrepreneurship
of the 2018 Orange Prize for Social
i n Af r i c a a n d t h e Mi d d l e E a s t a n d 2 019 O r a n ge Fa b
Entrepreneurship in Africa and the
Madagascar. Contact madabooky@[Link]
Middle East and 2019 Orange Fab
Madagascar. *Tutorial video: Refers to a video version of a manual or instruction
manual.

Magofarm Rwanda

Founded in 2019 Employees 4 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

Te company offers “Mobivet”, a tele-veterinary service, About the Founder

which provides remote advice to help livestock farmers in Moses Kat ala is the Founder and
Rwanda. Combining online and offline technologies, Mobivet CEO of Magofarm. He has experience
can be accessed from any mobile device, regardless of in sof t ware development , projec t
the Internet connection. Mobivet aggregates knowledges management, fundraising, and
and best practices both domestically and internationally, agriculture. In par ticular, his four
and is capable of ye ar s of ex p e r ie nc e in mana ging
providing these agricultural projects has been
instrumental in the success of this business.
information via
mobile me s sage s Contact mkatala@[Link]

24/7 throughout the

year.

31
 [Link] Nigeria

Founded in 2018 Employees 7 Industry Health

Website [Link]

[Link] is an online, on-demand platform that enables users About the Founder
to remotely see and talk to a doctor at any time either using the Aliyu Bello Aliyu is clinical
mobile app (for smartphone users) or by dialing pharmacis t wit h a bachelor 's
the smart number (for non-smartphone users). degree in Pharmacy from
It minimizes self-treatment and self-medication Ahmadu Bello University. He is
by providing quick and easy access to qualified p as sio n ate ab ou t te c hn o l o g y
medical practitioners. The partnership with to improve healthcare access
the Nigerian Ministry of Communication and and effectiveness. He has
significant experience in the design and implementation
Technolog y (NITDA ) to integrate clinic al
of technology-driven solutions for the-improvement of
laboratory data on the platform has greatly
healthcare, especially in resource limited settings.
expanded the scope of what can be done with
Contact myclinicng@[Link], ali@[Link]
online medical care in Nigeria.

Nanofib Tech Egypt

Founded in 2020 Employees 4 Industry Health

Website N/A

N a n o f i b Te c h p r o d u c e s e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y - f r i e n d l y About the Founder

disinf e c t ant s and s anit izer s using nano t e c hnolog y. Dr. Wael Mamdouh is an Associate
T h e c o m p a ny p r o du c e s a v a r i e t y o f Professor of Nanotechnolog y and
formulation types such as liquid, spray, t h e l e a d e r o f o n e o f t h e l a r ge s t
gel, and powder. The products are made research groups (biomedical polymer
from a wide variety of natural materials n a n o c o m p o s i t e s , hy d r o ge l s , a n d
rather than strong chemical, and have tissue engineering) at AUC, Egypt
antibacterial properties against viruses, with more than 20 years of experience
in Nan os c ie n c e an d Nan ote c hn o l og y, w it h s c ie nt i f ic
fungi, and bacteria. Users range from
public at ions at t rac t ing approximately 4 0 0 0 cit at ions
households to industrial sectors, especially
worldwide.
front-line workers in the medical, nursing,
Contact wael_mamdouh@[Link]
food, industrial, and agricultural fields.

Outsource Now Zambia

Founded in 2016 Employees 6 Industry Finance

Website [Link]

The company offers, “ZPOS”, which point of sale (POS) application About the Founder
that allows retailers to record and track various information. It has Chisepo Chirwa has over
features such as recording sales, tracking credit customers, adding new 10 ye ar s of ex p erienc e
inventory, storing post-payment transactions, etc. Users can record in computer software
all their sales history and purchase transactions on their smartphones analy tics and product
for free. For a monthly fee of US$8, users can also subscribe to email sales. After studying
computer science at the
newsletters and set up dashboard screens to receive a wider range of
University of Greenwich,
business support, such as monthly sales analysis
Chis ep o wo r ke d in s al e s at Fo reve r Li v ing
and cost calculations. In the future, the company
Products. He then moved to Syntek Global, where
aims to provide credit rating scores to retailers
he was a top salesman in the Zambian office and
based on historical transactions, which they can a distribution consultant in the South African
use to apply for loans.
office. Contact info@[Link]

32
Panda & Wolf Holding Mauritius

Founded in 2017 Employees 5 Industry Others

Website [Link]

Discover MauritiusTM , provided by the company, is a travel About the Founder

guide and tourism media service for tourists and locals who Lord Brian Dean founded Panda &
want to listen to traditional music and experience the culture Wolf Holding in 2017 and hos te d
of Mauritius for free. Recommended the first ever Games & Animation
tourist attractions are displayed C onference in Maurit ius in 2019.
according to the user's location, He also released Eco-warriorsTM,
and the user is notified of various a mobile game for children to learn
information via push notifications. about environmental issues such as
deforestation and waste, which was supported by UNESCO
In addition to the of fline travel
(Unite d Nat ions Educ at ional, S cient if ic and Cultural
guide application, it also includes
Organization).
an online radio function.
Contact brian@[Link]

Rology Egypt

Founded in 2018 Employees 26 Industry Health

Website [Link]

Rology aims to address the health inequality challenge in Africa, About the Founder
especially the shortage of qualified radiologists. With Rology’s AI- Amr Aboraiaa has
assisted teleradiology platform, they can deliver accurate and timely extensive experience in
medical reports so that emergencies can be handled in time. They business development,
currently support 100 active scan centers and hospitals in Africa, including resource mobilization,
mobile clinics that reach disadvantaged communities in remote areas expansion into new
m ar ket s , an d inve s to r
who are days away from the nearest hospital.
management. He
They have also developed an AI model that
graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at
can detect possibilities of COVID-19 through Alexandria University. He also holds a certificate
CT-Scans, so that suspicious results found by in Business Management from the Arab
radiologists can be then raised to appropriate Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime.
medical professionals. Contact amr@[Link]

Route Masters Nigeria

Founded in 2019 Employees 8 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Route Masters is a freight management platform that automates the About the Founder
dispatch and transport of vehicles according to routes. It is built using Seye Odukogbe holds a Master of Engineering

machine learning and applied mathematics, leveraging telematics*1 degree from Queen Mary (University of London)
and an MBA from Oxford University. he has
and aggregated data from multiple dispatch and transportation over 10 years of experience in international
management systems. A Number of unscrupulous dispatchers is still multimodal transportation projects, including
a social issue in Africa, and Route Masters will help to alleviate it Nigeria's first bus rapid transit. He has also

by managing the data flow of dispatchers. In addition, given Africa designed some of the most extensive transport
data projects in the history of the region in
has the lowest usage rate of dispatch applications in the world, the Lagos, Kaduna, and Kano. Africa is the last
accumulation of databases among public transport, shipping, and place on earth with low use of mobile transport

logistics operators, will not only expand the company's services but apps. Using GNSS, telematics and a fusion of other data sets, we utilize machine
learning and applied maths to build, automate and deliver mobile transport
also help accelerate the digitization of the logistics industry. along with route and fleet management applications. Our customers are public
*1 Telematics: Method of monitoring cars, trucks, equipment and other assets by using transport, fleet and, logistics operators and, a massively growing user base in
GPS technology and on-board diagnostics (OBD) to plot the asset’s movements on a African cities with high amounts of informal transport.
computerized map. Also known as fleet tracking or GPS vehicle tracking, telematics
is now an essential management tool for many commercial and government fleets. Contact seye@[Link]

33
 RxAll Nigeria

Founded in 2016 Employees 37 Industry Health

Website [Link]

The company's R xDelivered is Africa's largest drug supply About the Founder
platform for both patients and healthcare providers. Pharmacists Adebayo Alonge decided to
can purchase authentic medicines at wholesale prices from the become a pharmacist af ter
wholesale network on RxAll. Patients can also use RxDelivered an experience in which he
to save time and transportation costs by eliminating the need for was knocked unconscious for
patients to visit drugstores and pharmacies. In addition, patients three weeks by counter feit
can purchase proper medicines medicines. He has 10 years
of experience working as a
and avoid counter feit produc t s in
developer in the pharmaceutical industry in West
c i r c u l a t i o n . Fu r t h e r m o r e , d u e t o
and Central Africa. During that time, he developed
increased user experience, wholesalers
new businesses in the pharmaceutical industr y
c a n ex p e c t a n in c r e a s e in s a l e s ,
totaling more than US$100 million in sales.
business areas, and recognition. Contact support@[Link]

Seriti Insights Botswana

Founded in 2018 Employees 4 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

Seriti Insights is a Botswana based Artificial Intelligence and About the Founder
Advanced Analytics* boutique firm focused on providing tailored Nomsa Sophia Makgabenyane has
big-data-centric solutions and generating intelligence to help worked in business development for
five years and has also worked in
organisations/enterprises solve real-world problems. Seriti
the space of digital transformation.
Insights developed a social media listening application to monitor She has degrees in economic
misinformation, disinformation, and gauge public perceptions histor y, development economics,
and optimism around Covid-19 the pandemic and beyond, by international strategic business,
leveraging Artificial Intelligence to mine social media data. The as well as data analytics and
platform has an online interface in the form of a dashboard and organizational design for digital transformation.
Contact analytica@[Link]
can be used for business purposes to measure and analyse
customer sentiments around a company's brand or campaign. Kagiso E. Mpa has a degree in statistics and data analytics.
He is currently enrolled in a master's program in Information
*Advanced Analytics: Refers to solution analysis technologies in business for the
Management, specializing in Data Science and eLogistics.
purpose of optimizing business operations, improving user experience (UX), and
innovating business models. Contact kagiso@[Link]

Solar E Cycles Kenya

Founded in 2015 Employees 6 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Solar E Cycle of fers a transpor tation ser vice, Tr y Ke, About the Founder
which aims to bring economic empowerment to developing Roger Christen has an MBA in
countries through its pay as you go* business model. The I n d u s t r i a l E n g i n e e r i n g , 3 0 ye a r s
vehicle can travel at speeds of 25 to 45 kilometers/hour, and of experience in international
can travel 50 to 100 kilometers per day on solar energy alone. development, and 13 years of
experience with Pricewaterhouse
Excess energy is stored in batteries, which can also be
Coopers, where he worked in
used for lighting at night. In addition [Link] vehicles can be
private sector development and
leased for US$0.5 per day for three to five years. It provides
economic recovery, particularly in the power, water, mining,
affordable transportation and nature-friendly electricity to
privatization, and growth industries sectors. He is a recipient
the poorest of the poor, who earn only US$2 per day. of the World Bank Excellence Award Africa 2007 and other
*Pay as you go: A method of paying for a service only as you use it. It is linked to awards including the Valeo Innovation Challenge.
mobile payments (M'Pesa) by paying a small deposit, equivalent to one-tenth of
Contact solarelectriccycles@[Link]
the price of a motorcycle in Kenya.

34
Solar World Botswana Botswana

Founded in 2014 Employees 5 Industry Others

Website [Link]

Solar World Bot swana is an integrated solar energ y About the Founder
provider ser vice. It provides ser vices such as system Pelontle Maphula majored in
design, installation, operation, and maintenance (O&M). Business Economics in college. He
Its customers are companies and organizations in the has particular experience in strategy
s olar panel indus t r y. and business development. He has
The company has w o r ke d i n t h e re n e w a b l e e n e r g y
developed a system that sector with the International Business
allows for inexpensive Development Shizen Energy team. He
holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University
customization of each
of Botswana. He holds a Master's degree in Economics
ser vice required to
(Environmental Economics) from Reitaku University in Japan.
complete a project.
Contact pelontlemaphula3@[Link]

SPIKE-X Tunisia

Founded in 2013 Employees 2 Industry Health

Website [Link]

The company's [Link] is an ultra-fast, cloud-based About the Founder

computer-aided diagnosis plat form with an AI-based M . Kirmene Mar zouk i is a senior
diagnostic detection function that can detect breast expert in machine learning and has
cancer, Alzheimer's, malignant melanoma, and Sars-COV-2 worked for the Japanese Ministry of
(COVID-19) at an early stage. Current users are mainly Education, Culture, Sports, Science
medical institutions in Tunisia, however, the number of client and Technolog y (ME X T). She has
base is expected to increase worked on various cross-disciplinary
due to the development of a projects including AI, a JICA project in
Tunisia, and as a consultant for Japanese companies.
tool for antibody testing of
the new coronavirus. Contact contact@[Link]

Tanzania Maji Jibu Tanzania

Founded in 2017 Employees 29 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

Tanzania Maji Jibu provides a turn-key* safe drinking water About the Founder
franchise service. The company has developed a business Ta y e b N o o r b h a i h a s e x p e r i e n c e
model that allows customers to pay per liter rather than an in set ting up social enterprises in
upfront purchase and has already established a network of Ta n z a n i a . H e h o l d s a n H o n o u r s
20 community-based franchises that are growing rapidly degree in Development Studies
across the country. The company brings advantages to from the School of Oriental and
users including financing, onboarding, continuous support African Studies (SOAS), University
of London. He holds a Master's
to owners and staff; a production line and system; a high-
degree in International Development from Oxford
visibility retail front; recognised branding and patented
Universit y. During the past decade, he has worked in
bottles; consumable inventory with economies of scale.
various companies in the education, health, and drinking
*Turn-key: An expression meaning "turn the key and you're ready to go," water sectors, and has also been involved in new business
referring to a form of delivery in which a product is delivered to a customer in
a ready-to-use condition. creation. Contact tanzania@[Link]

35
 Toolboksi Technologies Tanzania

Founded in 2018 Employees 7 Industry Others

Website [Link]

Toolboksi is a B2C technology platform that provides stable About the Founder
job opportunities for workers in the informal sector, enabling Julius J Mbungo II is a social
them to improve their skills and advance their careers. entrepreneur who has worked in the
It serves as a link between households/businesses that technology industry. In particular, he
want to repair their equipment, and handymen (repairers has contributed to the development
and handymen) who perform the repair, installation, and of products that combine
building materials with innovative
maintenance. Learning and training sessions are held once a
technologies. He works with various
month so that the handymen can obtain the knowledge and
organizations in Africa as well as globally to suppor t
skills needed to deliver the service. Various training such as
entrepreneurship and T VET (Technical and Vocational
job-specific tutorials, digital literacy training, and systems
Education and Training) activities.
through soft skills ensure the continuity and quality of repair,
Contact julius@[Link]
installation, and maintenance services.

TradeBuza Nigeria

Founded in 2018 Employees 15 Industry Food and Agriculture

Website [Link]

TradeBuza provides a data management mobile platform that which utilized About the Founder
technology to streamline transactions among multiple farmers. The platform Nonso Eze is the Co-Founder of TradeBuza. He
allows farmers to manage and track their data from pre-production planting to
has experience in leading the digital banking
harvesting, and through to supermarket and retailer transactions. Users can also
division at Riby, a Nigerian FinTech company,
digitize their own profiles, farming activities, and post-harvest tracking history.
and as an operations manager at Venture
The company contracts with a wide range of clients, from agricultural lenders
Garden Group. TradeBuza digitizes last mile
and insurance companies to government agencies and NGOs that require last
mile operational data*. This is because it is necessary to engage with a variety of operations for agribusinesses. We help these
stakeholders in order to build a system that appropriately distributes profits to busine s se s digit ize their smallholder and
producers in each production area. farmland profiles, farm activities and post
harvest ops tracking. TradeBuza also caters to a broad spectrum of clients
*Last mile operational data: Operational data regarding the last segment ranging from large growers, food corporations, ag-buyers, ag-financing, and
of the process of delivering goods and services to an end consumers.
insurance companies, to governments and NGOs who require key last mile
Accumulating and analyzing these datapoints would allow recognition of
where the bottlenecks are within the ecosystem (harvesting, shipping, operational data to engage these agribusinesses.
delivery), and alleviating such issues could reduce the financial burden for Contact contact@[Link]
various players.

Ucomad Madagascar

Founded in 2018 Employees 17 Industry Health

Website [Link]/

The company offers Clinogel, an automated alcohol gel product whose About
packaging can be designed to meet the needs of the user. The company the Founder
offers a rental contract that includes the supply of alcohol gel, delivery, and Nassirhoussen
regular maintenance. In addition to the standard business model of selling to Moujahid is a
businesses, there is also a fee-based business board member
model in which advertising space is provided and project
leader at
on the Clinogel package and PR and advertising
Clinogel. He is
fees are collected from each company. Ecomad
also an executive officer of the Well.
has an exclusive partnership with IMPEC, a
com Agency.
major alcohol and gel company, to acquire the
Contact clinogel@[Link]
user list of each distributor and build a system
to receive monthly orders for Clinogel.

36
Universal Software Cameroon

Founded in 2018 Employees 6 Industry Business Services

Website [Link]

Universal Software specializes in designing and producing sector- About the Founder
specific packaged software solutions and counts around ten clients Aymard Djadchin is a
that use our services and software daily. One of the products software design engineer
they offer is HOSPISOFT, an IT solution that is a web application with six years of experience
for hospital data management. It manages the medical history of working for several
all registered patients and is used as a tool to support doctors in companies including
making accurate diagnoses, as it allows doctors to view information Poly technic C ameroon.
regarding prescriptions, consultations, tests, etc. with just one click. He has won the We Data
Ch all e n ge in Fran c e an d T h e B e s t St ar t- up
Of the 2000 hospitals and clinics in Cameroon,
Competition in Gabon. He was featured in Forbes
75% are covered by the ser vice, and the
Africa as a young entrepreneur to watch.
number of users is increasing with the spread
Contact dg@[Link] / contact@[Link]
of the new coronavirus.

Utiva Nigeria

Founded in 2018 Employees 17 Industry Education

Website [Link]

The company offers Nucleus, a self-paced, continuous About the Founder

distance learning service on a 300GB encrypted device. Eyit ayo Ogunmola is a Proje c t
More than 40 advanced technical courses such as Big Data Management Professional (PMP) with
Analytics, Product Design, Product Management, Web & App six years of experience in the field
Development, Software Development, etc. are pre-installed of international development. As a
on the dedicated device. The courses are divided into clearly product manager, he participated in
categorized folders, where each one contains video lessons. the "World Bank and USAID Funding
Currently, there are students in 19 P r o g r a m i n A f r i c a". S h e h o l d s a
Master's degree in Business Strategy from Heriot-Watt
countries around the world, and the
University (Scotland). He is a certified product manager.
company also offers job placement
services in the digital field. Contact omotola@[Link]

YenePay Financial Technologies Ethiopia

Founded in 2015 Employees 8 Industry Finance

Website [Link]

YenePay is a centralized money transfer account payment About the Founder

platform that can be used both on the web and on mobile. Sis ay G et n et is t h e Fo un d e r an d
The platform allows retailers to easily log in online or in-store G e n e r a l M a n a g e r o f Ye n e P a y
and receive payments from users. Users, on the other hand, Financial Technologies, a Microsoft
can make instant payments certified professional developer and
by using their preferred technology enthusiast in management
mobile payment service or information systems. He has more
than 15 years of experience in system
bank account.
architecture, software development and management. He is
a visionary leader who brings tremendous enthusiasm to the
design and execution of system builds and is an inspiration
to other entrepreneurs. Contact contact@[Link]

37
 Yugo Mauritius

Founded in 2017 Employees 2 Industry Logistics

Website [Link]

Yugo is the first localized platform app in Mauritius that About the Founder
connects users with cabs. It incorporates features that focus Kaushik Rathod is a tech
on user satisfaction, such as accurate cab fares, real-time entrepreneur with a passionate
booking and tracking, cashless payments, and a secure ride belief that technology is the path to
guarantee feature. Similarly, cab drivers can also benefit success. He is skilled in developing
from technology and businesses regardless of complexity
expand their user base by and size, and in managing teams
using this digital platform from an organizational management
perspective. In today's fast-paced society, he believes that
app.
these strengths will transform the organization while solving
social issues.
Contact hello@[Link]

Zetu Africa Uganda

Founded in 2019 Employees 11 Industry Education

Website [Link]

Zetu Africa produces “SeatPack”, a 600g light weight school About the Founder
backpack that is durable in all weather conditions. The company's R e g g i X a b a i s a n
SeatPack is made of thick sheets of recycled plastic and can be used entrepreneur who felt a
not only as a backpack but also as a chair or desk. Students can use strong sense of urgency
the backpacks for a variety of purposes such as school furniture, or about the lack of equipment
situations due to post-conflict or post-disaster. The production costs i n Af r i c a n s c h o o l s . Re g g i
uses his background in
of SeatPack are less than half of the cost
architecture to design and
of wooden study desks traditionally used
develop products that address community-based
in Ugandan schools, and it also allows
social issues with context-specific solutions.
each student to have a social distance
Contact info@[Link]
from each other compared to sitting at a
normal table.

38
Message from the Japanese company
provided the special award

Mobility54 Investment SAS / Toyota Tsusho

Toyota Tsusho, which operates in 54 African countries, is actively

Takeshi investing in and financing partners that develop innovative technologies
Watanabe and services in Africa, where a "leapfrogging cycle" is occurring through
CEO, Mobility54 Mobility54, an investment subsidiary established at the end of 2019 in
Investment SAS addition to its existing businesses such as automobile assembly and
Group Leader, Mobility sales.
Service Group, Toyota As a special award at this event, we have decided to invest US$50,000
Africa Automotive Division worth of convertible bonds in Moja Ride from Cote d'Ivoire.
Moja Ride is contributing to a drastic improvement in the quality of
transportation services in Cote d'Ivoire by providing reservation and
search functions across multiple transportation modes and mobile
Investing in Moja Ride (Cote d'Ivoire) payment functions for the informal transportation industry in the country.
By combining Moja Ride's new services with our automotive business, we
through subscription to a convertible
will accelerate the digitalization of the African transportation industry.
bond US$50,000 In addition, we will continue to work closely with JICA to support
passionate entrepreneurs in Africa under the "With Japan" initiative.

AAIC（Asia Africa Investment and Consulting Pte Ltd）

AAIC manages the Africa Healthcare Master Fund, an investment fund

Shigeru Handa that focuses on investments in the healthcare sector in Africa, and is
Director
currently investing in 25 companies. Nigeria's pharmaceutical distribution
market is estimated to be worth US$2 billion, and is expected to continue
its growth at 10% CAGR due to population and economic growth. On
the other hand, there are major issues such as counterfeit drugs, price
uncertainty, weak logistics, etc. I felt that Lifestore Healthcare has a
business model to solve such issues by using its unique innovative
digital solutions. In Africa, innovative startups that solve social issues are
growing steadily. We will continue to collaborate with JICA and the local
Providing Mentoring Opportunities to startup ecosystem in order to create as many startups as possible like
Lifestore Healthcare (Nigeria) the ones that participated in the final round, and to contribute to building
a system that will help them grow into global companies.

39
 Rakuten Group

As a Global Innovation Company with a mission to empower people and

Shotaro society through innovation and entrepreneurship, Rakuten is involved in
Yamanaka a variety of initiatives focused on creating a more sustainable society and
Rakuten Group contributing to the achievement of the SDGs targets.
EMEA Rep.
The winner of this award will receive Rakuten's support to further
accelerate its business through mentoring opportunities with executive
officers and other business professionals, leveraging our range of
experience and professional expertise. Headquartered in Ghana,
TranSoniCa was selected for this award due to its ability to provide
safe and secure payment services through cashless cards, which is of
great social significance. Rakuten is in the process of developing our
Six-month mentoring opportunities Fintech business globally, and we are excited to share our experience
provided by executives to TranSoniCa with TranSoniCa to benefit the Ghanaian community. We also recently
announced the signing of a comprehensive cooperation agreement with
(Ghana) JICA and look forward to creating opportunities for development in various
countries and regions around the world through this collaboration.

Stirling Engine Japan

We are a company that develops and manufactures cooling systems using

Koji Yamada Stirling engines. This ultra-cooling logistic box has a double function
President and CEO
of +30 degrees at the top and -86 degrees at the bottom, and it can be
used for a wide range of applications from frozen transportation of living
organisms and corona vaccines to food distribution. The reason why we
awarded a special prize to And Africa is because we want to support their
last mile business and contribute to Africa through frozen logistics.

Providing And Africa with an ultra-

cool logistic box that can also carry
coronary vaccines (South Africa)

ACCESS

We are a research and development-oriented company that focuses on

Jyunichiro software development to solve the problems of society and customers
Hayashi with our advanced technological capabilities under the vision of
General Manager, "connecting all things to the Internet”.
Sales Department, We selected And Africa because we are very interested in their IoT
Sales Division
lockers, which provide a contactless means of receiving packages at any
time and eliminating the need for redelivery. This is an issue that needs
to be solved not only in Africa, but also in other regions, and we expect
that it can be greatly developed.
Our company is in the process of concluding an MOU for business
collaboration in order to jointly develop business in South Africa, and
we are considering expanding our services to include location-based
Signed MOU with And Africa (South management solutions.
Africa) for business collaboration It was refreshing and great to see a Japanese entrepreneur competing on
the same stage as African-local startups. I also hope that the businesses
that are starting in Africa will expand their servies to Asia and other
regions.

40
 COLABO Management Matching App

Our company operates the largest business matching application for

Shinichiro executives in Japan. We also co-host pitch events with Nomura Securities.
Oikawa This time, we conducted interviews with AndAfrica and AppyPeople,
Representative
and distributed the articles to our membership audience, corporates
who participated in this competition, as well as our investors. This time
we selected AndAfrica because of their commitment to solving social
issues together with their Japanese and African members. In addition,
AppyPeople is a venture company that solves important life-threatening
medical issues in Africa, and we wanted to share their activities with the
people of Japan. The level of competition in the final round was very high,
Prepared interview articles and and we had a hard time selecting for the special award. We hope that the
distributed them to our members for number of actual cases will increase as the contact between Japan and
And Africa (South Africa) and Appy Africa continues to grow.
People (Angola)

Africa Capital Partners

We have established a fund based on an anonymous partnership agreement

Keiji Misaizu with the aim of contributing to the economic development of African
Representative Partner countries, as well as establish strong partnership between Africa and Japan.
General Incorporated We will promote open innovation by communicating the appeal of Africa to
Japanese investors and investing in startups. This time, we have signed a
Association Mpata Fund
MoU to invest in AndAfrica, which is developing a last mile delivery business
Duties Executor using IoT lockers mainly in South Africa. The fund that we are managing
focuses on start-ups in the agriculture sector, especially targeting logistics-
related tech companies. We have been working with AndAfrica for almost
three years, providing support for our fund-related business trips to Africa
and helping to select investment targets, and we are familiar with the sincere
management attitude of Mr. Murofushi. We have been hoping to provide
support to Mr. Murofushi since he started his business challenge in South
Signed MOU with And Africa (South Africa, and we took the opportunity of this pitch contest to conclude an
Africa) with a view to invest in the MOU with him. The companies that made it to the final round were all very
attractive. I was particularly impressed by the fact that each company was
company involved in activities aimed at solving social problems and was able to make
it work as a business. I felt that Africa has an environment where “Sustainable
Capitalism” and business success can coexist with each other, which is
similar to the concept of “Rongo to Soroban” in Japan (as one of the judges
pointed out). I would like to see each company continue to put this into
practice in the future.

NINJA Business Plan Competition

Award Results
Viewer Voting Results Special Offers for Companies
Viewer Vote 1st Place: Toyota Tsusho ▶ Moja Ride (Cote d'Ivoire)
Mobile Scan Solutions a.k.a.
Asia Africa Investment & Consulting ▶ Lifestores Healthcare (Nigeria)
M-Scan (Uganda)
Rakuten Group ▶ TranSoniCa (Ghana)
Viewer Vote 2nd Place:
TranSoniCa (Ghana) Sterling Engine Japan ▶ And Africa (South Africa)
Viewer Vote 3rd Place: Africa Capital Partners ▶ And Africa (South Africa)
Agrinfo (Tanzania) ACCESS ▶ And Africa (South Africa)
As a supplementary prize, JICA will offer the top 3 startups Accelerator (COLABO) ▶ And Africa(South Africa)
the opportunity to invite their representatives to Japan and
match them with Japanese companies. Nikkei Inc. will offer
Accelerator (COLABO) ▶ Appy People(Angola)
5 free annual subscriptions per company to English digital Double Feather Partners ▶ Upepo Technology (Kenya)
media outlet, Nikkei Asia.

41
 Meet the Organizers
Message from JICA/Nikkei/DFP
Organizer
Kenji Katai
Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA)
JICA Senior Director, Economic
Development Department

Graduated from the Department

of Architecture, Graduate School
of Engineering, Kyoto University
Thank you for taking the time to read this booklet. The in 1998 and joined JICA. In 2004,
entrepreneurs listed here are the winners of the Japan he graduated from C olumbia
International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) Business Plan Universit y's Graduate School
Competition contest in 19 African countries. With the of International Relations and
spread of COVID-19 in Africa, threats to life and health, Public Policy with a major in international economic policy, and
and the beginning of economic stagnation, in July 2020 worked in the Philippines, India, and the Planning Department
JICA began accepting applications for business plans before assuming his current position. He has promoted
that respond to social and economic changes in each industrial development in Africa, Latin America, the Middle
country and received more than 2,700 applications. East and Europe, and launched a start-up support project
(Project NINJA: Next Innovation with Japan) in January 2020.
Africa is facing a variet y of social issues, and
administrative ser vices are not as well-developed
as in Japan. In such an environment, entrepreneurs plan competition contest will provide an opportunity for
are promoting solutions to these issues by launching entrepreneurs to grow and for Japanese companies to
innovative businesses with a thorough understanding expand their business to Africa. JICA, the centralized
of the needs on the ground, recombining existing agency for Japan's Official Development Assistance
technologies, and creating new services using cell (ODA ), c onsider s ent repreneur s t o b e imp or t ant
phones. On February 26, 2021, we co-hosted a final development partners and will continue to support
competition with Nikkei Inc. where 10 more companies the growth of these companies and collaborate with
were selected from among 69 outstanding companies, Japanese companies under the name of Project NINJA
and Japanese companies were able to offer investment (Next Innovation with Japan). Let's take a new step
and business collaboration. We hope that this business together.

Satoshi Shimoda
Nikkei
Senior Producer, Media
Nikkei Business Planning and
Development Office

Graduated from Waseda

University, Faculty of Political
I was driving along a reddish-brown road in Africa after Science and Economics in
a rainy day when I fell into a ditch with my car. The 1990, and joined Nikkei Inc. He
neighbors gathered around, but there were no tow ropes, has covered macroeconomics,
no mats or boards to put under the tires. Such a situation economic and fiscal policy, and
is probably common everywhere that is outside of urban financial markets, etc. He served
as the Brussels bureau chief and the European correspondent
areas.
of the European editorial office from 2005, a deputy news
The digital revolution is taking place in Africa, where
editor of international division of the Tokyo headquarters
there has be en over whelming shor t age of goo ds
editorial office in 2009, and a deputy news editor of the
and services until this day. The driving force is the
economic and financial division of the editorial office in 2010.
rapid spread of smartphones and the enthusiasm of He was GM of Nikkei Europe (London) in 2014 and VP of Nikkei
entrepreneurs who want to do something about the America (New York) in 2017, planned and managed the East
status quo. There is now an eco-system available to Africa Tech Tour in 2019, and has been running participatory
meet the needs of society and solve its problems. web seminars on African tech since then.
In order to communicate the current state of Africa to a
wide range of readers, the Nikkei joined forces with the
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to hold entrepreneurs, whose passion lies in developing new
the "NINJA Business Plan Competition”. In addition to technologies instead of vested interests, appears as a
the interest shown by many readers, it was impressive to charismatic figure for the younger generation. Let's start
see the extremely high participation rate of the younger by taking a hard look at the current African economy
generation (20-30 years old). I believe that these African without preconceptions.

42
Operator
Kohei Muto
Double feather Partners
CEO

After graduating from boarding

Double Feather Partners school in the U.S., he graduated
from Tsukuba Univer sit y. He
worked at Morgan Stanley, where
There is a saying that goes, "Necessity is the mother
he was responsible for more than
of invention”. This means that new inventions and
30 cross-border transactions
innovations are born out of inconvenience and necessity. totaling approximately 3 trillion
In this sense, it’s natural to see innovation occurring not yen. Af ter that, he worked in
only in developed countries, but also in the most difficult Israel and Palestine for the Private Equity Investment Division
and harsh environments. Looking back, many of the of the United Nations, where he was in charge of investments
great entrepreneurs who created Japan's leading global in renewable energy and financial institutions in the Middle
companies were born when Japanese society was at its East. Currently, as CEO of Double Feather Par tners, he
most impoverished state. provides venture capital and strategic advice to companies
With a declining birthrate and aging population, Japan operating in Africa to solve social problems in developing
will not be able to maintain its position as the world's countries through business. He is a member of the Africa
third largest GDP for much longer. On the other hand, a Business Council, an advisor to the Cabinet Office's Public-
quarter of the world's population will be African by 2050. Private R&D Investment Expansion Program and Acceleration
Program, and a Global Mentor for the 500 Startup.
The key question is how to reverse-engineer the future
growth potential in African economy and implement it
into the corporate strategy. For Japanese corporates from Japan, and that it will be a source of new discoveries
to understand this, it is essential to look at how local and insights for you.
entrepreneurs define the problems and identify the Our c ompany specialize s in suppor ting Japane se
business opportunities in Africa. We hope that you will companies to develop markets in Africa, and to provide
gain first-hand experience of the current startup trends investments for promising local startups. If there is
in Africa, which is historically and culturally the farthest anything we can do for you, please feel free to contact us.

Investment for a total of 5 million yen and Reasons for selection:

The award was given because it was judged that
provision of consulting services to UPEPO
the project would solve the problem of water supply
(Kenya) management in Kenya using digital technology, and at
the same time, there was a wide range of collaboration
with peripheral areas, such as linking with payment
systems, and there was a high level of synergy with our
existing investment companies.

43
INDEX

Startups per Country

A G S
Angola Ghana Senegal
◆ Agro Marketplace … ……………… 19 ◆ Farm Wallet…………………………… 24 ◆ Eyone…………………………………… 24
◆ Appy People ………………………… 18 ◆ Health Direct Global………………… 26 ◆ Fraisen… ……………………………… 25
◆ TranSoniCa…………………………… 14 ◆ Logidoo………………………………… 31
B
Botswana K South Africa
◆ Cytex Technologies………………… 20 Kenya ◆ And Africa …………………………… 15
◆ DURIGA Technologies……………… 22 ◆ Daktari Online………………………… 21 ◆ Clandestine Insights… …………… 20
◆ IoT Communications… …………… 28 ◆ Eneza Telecom… …………………… 23 ◆ Last Mile for BoP Africa… ……… 30
◆ Seriti Insights………………………… 34 ◆ Kytabu… ……………………………… 30
◆ Solar World Botswana… ………… 35 ◆ Solar E Cycles… …………………… 34 T
◆ Upepo Technology Company …… 17 Tanzania
Burkina Faso ◆ Agrinfo………………………………… 10
◆ FasoDrone… ………………………… 24 M ◆ Tanzania Maji Jibu… ……………… 35
◆ Kumakan… …………………………… 29 Madagascar ◆ Toolboksi Technologies …………… 36
◆ Green N Kool………………………… 25
C ◆ Madabooky…………………………… 31 Tunisia
Cameroon ◆ Ucomad… …………………………… 36 ◆ Cure Bionics… ……………………… 20
◆ Himore Medical……………………… 27 ◆ D-WEE… ……………………………… 22
◆ Kaizen Consulting & Services…… 29 Mauritius ◆ iCompass……………………………… 27
◆ Universal Software… ……………… 37 ◆ iFox Code……………………………… 28 ◆ MajestEYE …………………………… 16
◆ Panda & Wolf Holding… ………… 33 ◆ SPIKE-X………………………………… 35
Côte d’Ivoire ◆ Yugo… ………………………………… 38
◆ Direct Impact Partners… ………… 21 U
◆ ICT4DEV… …………………………… 27 N Uganda
◆ LiFi-Led………………………………… 30 Nigeria ◆ Ecoplastile …………………………… 22
◆ Moja Ride……………………………… 11 ◆ Emergency Response Africa… … 12 ◆ Mobile Scan Solutions… …………… 9
◆ Gradely………………………………… 25 ◆ Zetu Africa…………………………… 38
E ◆ Lifestores Healthcare……………… 13
Egypt ◆ [Link]… ………………………… 32 Z
◆ DilenyTech… ………………………… 21 ◆ Route Masters… …………………… 33 Zambia
◆ Helm Academy… …………………… 26 ◆ RxAll… ………………………………… 34 ◆ ACE Smart Technologies… ……… 19
◆ Nanofib Tech… ……………………… 32 ◆ TradeBuza … ………………………… 36 ◆ E-msika Services… ………………… 23
◆ Rology… ……………………………… 33 ◆ Utiva …………………………………… 37 ◆ Outsource Now……………………… 32

Ethiopia R
◆ E-Health IT Services……………… 23 Rwanda
◆ YenePay Financial Technologies… 37 ◆ ADFinance… ………………………… 19
◆ HealthEdu… ………………………… 26
◆ IRIBA Water Group… ……………… 28
◆ Khenz…………………………………… 29
◆ Magofarm … ………………………… 31

44
Startups per Industry
Business Services Logistics Finance
◆ Clandestine Insights… …………… 20 ◆ And Africa… ………………………… 15 ◆ ADFinance… ………………………… 19
◆ Eneza Telecom… …………………… 23 ◆ Khenz … ……………………………… 29 ◆ DURIGA Technologies……………… 22
◆ iCompass……………………………… 27 ◆ Logidoo………………………………… 31 ◆ TranSoniCa…………………………… 14
◆ Kaizen Consulting & Services…… 29 ◆ Moja Ride … ………………………… 11 ◆ Outsource Now……………………… 32
◆ Seriti Insights………………………… 34 ◆ Solar E Cycles… …………………… 34 ◆ YenePay Financial Technologies… 37
◆ Universal Software… ……………… 37 ◆ Route Masters… …………………… 33
◆ Yugo… ………………………………… 38
Others
Education ◆ Ecoplastile …………………………… 22
◆ ACE Smart Technologies… ……… 19 Health ◆ FasoDrone… ………………………… 24
◆ Gradely………………………………… 25 ◆ Appy People… ……………………… 18 ◆ IRIBA Water Group ………………… 28
◆ Green N Kool………………………… 25 ◆ Cure Bionics… ……………………… 20 ◆ Kumakan… …………………………… 29
◆ Helm Academy… …………………… 26 ◆ Daktari Online………………………… 21 ◆ LiFi-Led………………………………… 30
◆ Kytabu… ……………………………… 30 ◆ DilenyTech… ………………………… 21 ◆ Solar World Botswana… ………… 35
◆ Madabooky…………………………… 31 ◆ D-WEE… ……………………………… 22 ◆ Panda & Wolf Holding… ………… 33
◆ Utiva …………………………………… 37 ◆ Emergency Response Africa …… 12 ◆ Toolboksi Technologies …………… 36
◆ Zetu Africa… ………………………… 38 ◆ Direct Impact Partners… ………… 21 ◆ Upepo Technology Company …… 17
◆ E-Health IT Services … …………… 23
◆ Eyone…………………………………… 24
Food and Agriculture ◆ Health Direct Global………………… 26
◆ Agrinfo………………………………… 10 ◆ HealthEdu… ………………………… 26
◆ Agro Marketplace…………………… 19 ◆ Himore Medical……………………… 27
◆ Cytex Technologies………………… 20 ◆ iFox Code……………………………… 28
◆ ICT4DEV… …………………………… 27 ◆ IoT Communications… …………… 28
◆ E-msika Services …………………… 23 ◆ Lifestores Healthcare … ………… 13
◆ Fraisen… ……………………………… 25 ◆ Mobile Scan Solutions… …………… 9
◆ Farm Wallet…………………………… 24 ◆ [Link]… ………………………… 32
◆ Magofarm… ………………………… 31 ◆ MajestEYE …………………………… 16
◆ Tanzania Maji Jibu… ……………… 35 ◆ Nanofib Tech… ……………………… 32
◆ TradeBuza … ………………………… 36 ◆ Rology… ……………………………… 33
◆ RxAll …………………………………… 34
◆ SPIKE-X………………………………… 35
◆ Ucomad… …………………………… 36

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Address: Nibancho Center Building, 5-25 Nibancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8012
E-mail: jicaed@[Link]
Nikkei
Contacts Address: 1-3-7 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8066
Phone: +81(0)3-3270-0251 (main)
Double Feather Partners
Address: 1114 New State Menor, 2-23-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-005
Email: info@[Link]

The information contained in this booklet is based on the information as of May 28, 2021.

45
NINJA Business Plan
Competition
Project NINJA