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#DemoAfrica2014, ‘Africa Getting Its Act Together’-Johnson

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The DEMO Africa event finally kicked off at the Lagos Oriental Hotel in Nigeria to an expectant audience of top investors, IT buyers, IT consumers, Government officials and IT enthusiasts from across Africa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr. Mrs. Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology, said the combination of an ‘Africa Rising’ and one that still has to overcome challenges represents a significant opportunity for African start-ups especially those in the tech sector.

Johnson while reflecting on Africa of past and present recalled that, “On May 13th2000, The Economist, an international current affairs magazine, had on its cover page a silhouette of the African continent, within it was the image of an armed guerrilla fighter; its caption read: ‘The Hopeless Continent’.

“Within the pages of that edition, the prognosis on Africa encapsulated the prevailing beliefs held not only by the majority of those living outside its borders, but also by those that considered themselves ‘trapped’ within it.  Africa –a starving, poor, disease ridden, fractured, war-torn, corrupt, dying mass of humanity … described by former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, as a “scar on the conscience of the world” .

“Fast forward a decade; December 3rd 2011, the cover page of The Economist bears the image of a boy running across a savannah landscape at sunrise, flying a rainbow coloured kite shaped in the image of the African continent. The caption reads: ‘Africa Rising’. Within its pages the magazine paints a scenario of dynamism, resilient entrepreneurial activity, fledging… yet growing economies, nascent… yet stabilising democracies, a population getting healthier and more educated, an expanding middle class signifying a potential to even out the distribution of wealth.

“An Africa, that is ‘getting its act together’. 54 countries of different ethnicity, culture , language and different levels of development, home to 1.1bn people, the second fastest growing regional economy (second to Asia) and home to more than half of the world’s fastest growing economies”.

She however, noted that in spite the efforts, Africa still has its challenges, which IBM has encapsulated and coined as Africa’s Grand Challenges which include education, access to water, energy, healthcare, financial inclusion, public safety and transport and agriculture.

The Minister said: “The combination of an Africa Rising and one that still has to overcome challenges represents a significant opportunity for African start-ups especially those in the tech sector.

“Mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa are forecasted to exceed 635 million by the end of this year (2014) and predicted to rise to around 930 million by the end of 2019.

The increase in the number of mobile subscribers has fuelled increases in mobile internet use in Africa and we are considered to be at the cusp of a mobile internet revolution.  Predictions are that mobile internet use in Africa will increase twenty fold in the next five years … this is double the estimated growth rate in the rest of the world. Lower priced devices (in particular smartphones and tablets), increase investment in network infrastructure, and increase availability of spectrum for mobile broadband, are among the factors that will drive this growth.

“One report that highlights this potential predicts that the Internet can contribute up to 300 billion United States dollars to Africa’s GDP by 2025; and this is from an estimated 18 billion in 2013 .

“This translates directly to opportunities to generate income, to create wealth, to create jobs, new business opportunities, economic expansion etc. … the very opportunities African governments are looking for and need to transform their economies and the economic lives of their populations”.

Over the next two days, the Continent will witness 40 African start-ups pitch their solutions to these great opportunities and challenges with a hope to secure funding and support to take their ideas and innovations to the next level.

She added that the Nigerian government has done and will continue to do her bit to support the software development industry.

The DEMO Africa event finally kicked off at the Lagos Oriental Hotel in Nigeria to an expectant audience of top investors, IT buyers, IT consumers, Government officials and IT enthusiasts from across Africa.

Also speaking, Harry Hare, executive producer of DEMO Africa commended the participants for showing such great enthusiasm towards finding the much needed solutions for Africa.

“It is inspiring to see that, now, more attention is being accorded the pursuit of solutions to problems that are uniquely African. The continent has one of the most diverse and talented pool of young people and finally, we are seeing a real intent by authorities to utilize the massive power within these brains to bring positive change, especially through technology.”

The DEMO Africa forum has seen serious minds put together through various organized forums including the LIONS@frica Summit and the Pan African Angel Investors forum held yesterday.

Ben White, VC4Africa’s CEO and Founder, added: “Going into the third year of DEMO Africa, we are excited to introduce a new exclusive investor-only event as part of the DEMO Africa 2014 event. This is the next step in making sure the leading innovators from across the continent are going to get the backing they need to achieve scale. At the same time, we see angel networks emerging across the continent. Now is the time to bring them together in a shared conversation about how best to move forward.”

This year’s event has been organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners such as Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, VC4Africa among others) and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies and sponsored by Nigeria Information and Technology Development Agency (NIITDA), Software Giant Microsoft, USADF, Department of State, Evernote, SWELL, Airtel, Bank of Industry, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, Accenture, MTN, Oasis Management Company, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Main One.

 


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E-Business

StarNews, Global Black Economic Forum Launch Business Competition In Partnership with MTN & USAID

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Africa’s leading video streaming platform, StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum (GBEF), have announced a call for applications for the launch of their Business Competition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Held in partnership with MTN and United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative will empower Nigeria’s most promising businesses that are classified as Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable investment and partnership opportunities from the USA.

Held over 10 weeks between April 8th to June 14th, hosted exclusively on the StarNews Biz Channel on the StarNews platform, this competition offers a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to showcase their ventures and gain national visibility.

With subscribers voting for their favourite candidates, the top 20 contestants will seize the spotlight and make their mark on the business landscape.

The StarNews Business Competition in partnership with GBEF delivers a unique opportunity for thriving Nigerian SMEs to access mentoring, funding, partnerships and socio-economic development tools through the Global Black Economic Forum.

With the prospect of securing cash prizes through StarNews worth up to NGN5,000,000, getting access to StarNews’s network of investors and the opportunity to gain national visibility by having their business on the StarNews web platform.

The top three winners will also receive coaching from GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence and become part of GBEF’s ecosystem of global leaders committed to social and economic justice across the Black Diaspora.

Previous speakers at GBEF convenings from the entertainment sector include Wyclef Jean (Haitian Musician & Activist), Debra Lee (Former CEO of Black Entertainment Television – BET) and Ceci Kurzman (Founder of Nexus Management Group). Applications will close on April 5th 2024.

Speaking on the competition’s launch, Guy Kamgaing, Founder and CEO at StarNews Mobile, says “The StarNews Business Competition is a passion project close to our hearts at StarNews Mobile.

It’s about discovering the most promising business entrepreneurs and creators in Nigeria, opening up global opportunities for them and providing them with the resources and tools to achieve their goals.

By partnering with MTN, USAID and GBEF, we want to be a platform of empowerment for these SMEs by helping them give back to the communities that are supporting them.”

According to the US Embassy and Consulate for Nigeria, over 80% of Nigerian startups are incorporated in the United States and more than 60% of venture capital funding in Nigerian startups accounted for by the US.

In 2023 alone, Nigerian startups raised a total of $398mn however, this signalled a 66% funding decline compared to 2022 due to the global economic downturn, reinforcing the massive need for a fresh injection of capital and business support for Nigeria’s emerging SMEs.

Alphonso David, President and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum notes that, “Our partnership with StarNews Mobile is a critical resource as we continue to build the collective strength of entrepreneurship across the Diaspora.

“Building a sustainable ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs in the United States and across the African continent is essential to create a future that makes economic opportunity and economic freedom a reality for all.”

A sister company to ESSENCE, GBEF advances its work by convening global summits and conferences, bringing together world leaders, business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities and civic leaders to address the most challenging problems facing our communities.

GBEF’s Academy for Advancing Excellence facilitates workforce and leadership development strategy, addressing the talent pipeline & employee lifecycle, providing leadership development & coaching, and conducting institutional assessments & research.

GBEF also develops and implements economic and social justice policy recommendations with partners ranging from civil and human rights organisations to government entities and corporations that advocate for economic opportunity, social justice, and health equity through thought leadership, advocacy and litigation.

Launched in 2017, StarNews Mobile empowers African content creators with the unique opportunity to monetize their work through a subscription model, boasting over 4 million subscribers and a thriving community of more than 120 content creators.

With a strong presence across six countries including Cameroon, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Congo, Benin and Ghana, the platform has also established key partnerships with major telecom operators such as MTN and Orange.

To-date, StarNews Mobile has secured over $8mn in funding with its most recent raise – a $3mn pre-Series A funding round in October 2023 – led by Janngo Capital with participation from French football players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé and Mike Maignan.

 


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Companies Invest More than $100,000 Yearly to Upskill their Cybersecurity Teams – Study Reveals

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Over 70% of businesses pay more than USD $100,000 for additional training annually to keep skills of their cybersecurity employees up to date, a recent global Kaspersky study has revealed.

However, the surveyed companies also highlighted that there was a lack of relevant courses covering new challenging spheres in the educational market and stated that training does not always bring them the expected result.

In its recent study ‘The portrait of the modern Information Security professional’, Kaspersky examined the topic of the global cybersecurity staff shortage, analysing the exact reasons businesses lack cybersecurity experts, and identifying the ways they evaluate and upskill their cybersecurity workforce¹.

According to the research, companies are investing significant amounts in upskilling their cybersecurity teams: 43% of organisations globally say they usually spend between $100,000 and $200,000 per year on information security courses, while 31% even invest over $200,000 for training programs. The remaining 26% state they usually pay less than $100,000 for educational initiatives².

However, cybersecurity practitioners also note that the educational market is struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing industry and fail to deliver the necessary training programs on time.

Survey results for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa (META) region shows that the scarcity of courses covering new challenging spheres (48%) was the main problem for those searching for cybersecurity training.

50% of respondents from the META region also stated that trainees tend to forget what they learned because they had no opportunity to apply newly acquired knowledge, therefore the courses were useless to them.

The need for special training pre-requisites such as coding and advanced mathematics, which were not specified at the pre-registration stage were also problematic for 37% of practitioners from the META region.

“With a constantly evolving threat landscape, businesses should continually improve the skills of their cybersecurity personnel in order to be well prepared for sophisticated cyberattacks.

“Developing high-profile specialists within the company and building internal expertise can be an effective strategy for organisations that aim to retain existing employees and allow them to grow professionally, instead of constantly hunting for new candidates and checking their professional backgrounds and practical skills.

“For organisations served by Managed Service Providers it is also important to maintain a pretty high level of expertise internally and use the same language when discussing the scope of services and Service Level Agreement with them,” comments Veniamin Levtsov, VP, Center of Corporate Business Expertise at Kaspersky.


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Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

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Heirs Insurance Group, Nigeria’s fastest growing insurance group, has launched a new website that delivers the most user-friendly insurance experience in the industry.

Heirs Insurance Launches User-friendly Website for Stakeholders

In addition to its features that aid simple navigation, the website also personalizes the insurance experience taking customers through a short journey that enables them to make decisions quickly on the best insurance plan to support their personal and business success, or access competent insurance advisors to speak with.

According to Ifesinachi Okpagu, chief marketing officer, Heirs Insurance Group, the website, www.heirs insurance group.com, embodies the ethos of the brand: the delivery of simple, quick, and accessible insurance service that delights customers and brings the uninsured much closer to taking up insurance plans.

She said: “Today’s customers want simplicity and this new website delivers on that request, ensuring that people find the right insurance solutionsfor their needs in a few minutes. We are empowering customers to take control of their lives, their businesses, assets, and their most cherished people.” Heirs Insurance Group has been at the forefront of pioneering a new era of insurance solutions since its launch with the roll-out of various initiatives including a seamless mobile app, USSD; Prince, its intuitive chatbot; InConnect, its partnership portal Digital Experience Centre; and more. With the launch of this website, Heirs Insurance Group solidifies its position as the leading digital insurance company in Nigeria, democratising access to insurance for all.


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