News
Treepz Launches Treepz Kenya as it Continues African Expansion Plan
The award-winning African Mobility Startup, Treepz has announced the successful launch of Treepz Kenya following strategic investment deals to raise additional $1.2m over the last 12 months.
Treepz which was founded in September 2019 in Nigeria, has announced today that it has further expanded its operations in East Africa, with a focus on Kenya, just over a year after launching in Uganda and Ghana. With the launch of Treepz Kenya, it is the company’s 4th country where it operates from in 3 years.
This new expansion follows investments made in Treepz in the last couple of months led by GIIG Africa Fund along with MoAngels, Roselake VC, Unpopular VC, Goodwater Capital and BKR Capital.
There were also follow on investments from Treepz current investors including ShockVentures, Winston Limited led by the Lynch Brothers, Aston Investments and Novum Actus led by Clara Ogunsemi.
With the launch of its Kenyan service in Nairobi and later in Mombasa, the team at Treepz is also excited to welcome Mr. Samar Patel as its new Country Manager for Treepz Kenya.
Mr. Patel brings on 18 years wealth of sales, transportation and technology experience to the role, having most recently held a similar position with SWVL Kenya. Under his leadership, it is expected that Treepz Kenya will continue to grow and innovate in the region.
In recent times, Treepz has had a strong focus on vehicle rental service or what the company refers to as Business Treepz. This move has also led to Treepz Kenya signing up a couple of high-profile companies to provide commuting service for their employees or students. These companies includes reputable firms like Twiga Foods, Abacus Schools, OAK House School, Diamond Trust Bank, with 20 big-name deals across Kenya in the pipeline.
These partnerships demonstrate the growing demand for Treepz’s innovative solutions especially with vehicle rental services for businesses, and the company is confident that this trend will continue as it expands its reach.
Commenting on the announcement, Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Treepz, says: “We are thrilled by the addition of Samar to our team and the launch of Treepz Kenya in Nairobi.
“This was made possible with the support we received from our current investors amid a turbulent 2022. Also, after winning the GSA African Award in Cape Town last year, we received funding from it’s funding arm – GIIG Africa Fund and that was also very timely for us.
“Today, our efforts are focused on building a centralised solution across the 4 countries we operate in and to provide Africans with excellent mobility services, for their personal and business needs. We hope this will be the experience Kenyans will enjoy with our service and remember, as we build a world-class mobility business for Africans and the rest of the world”.
GIIG Africa’s investment into Treepz comes as the startup was named the Africa Winner in the ‘IndustrialTech’ category at the 2022 African Startup Awards – the largest independent startup ecosystem competition on the continent and exclusive vehicle for the GIIG Africa Fund to find, fund and scale Africa’s most innovative startups with Sustainable Development Goal-aligned solutions.
In doing so, GIIG Africa now joins the long list of Treepz’s investment partners, which include the likes of Techstars, Google, Orbit Startups, LoftyInc, Niche Capital, ODBA, Microtraction, Crossfund, Uncovered Funds and Jedar Capital, among others.
While not as widely regarded as sectors such as fintech, mobility tech has attracted significant attention from investors in recent years. According to the latest ‘Africa Tech Venture Capital’ report by Partech, the vertical accounted for US$ 195 million (or 4%) of total funding for African startups in 2022 – putting it on-par with health-tech (US$181-million) and ahead of the ed-tech and agri-tech sectors (US$97-million and US$86-million respectively).
This figure is expected to grow as demand for transportation increases amid Africa’s booming population growth and rising rates of urbanization.
“You’ve also got to factor in trans-national developments such as the African Continental Free Trade Area,” says Jo Griffiths, Co-Founder of GIIG Africa.
“These policies will result in a significant increase in the movement of people, goods and services – and as such – there’s going to be an even greater demand in the coming years for mobility solutions built for the African context.
“As investors, we’re excited to be working with the team behind Treepz because we see mobility-tech as a key enabling factor for Africa’s socio-economic growth.
For now, we look forward to supporting their efforts aimed at empowering Kenyan commuters.”
In a bid to fast-track the impact of technology on African growth, Griffiths adds that applications to the next round of the African Startup Awards are now open, with innovators from across the continent encouraged to apply before 26 February 2023, for their chance to receive funding from the GIIG Africa Fund.
Legit.ng recently joined forces with the Shade of Life Foundation to become a voice of autism, and drive advocacy for improved media support during Autism Awareness Month.
Participants at the event
Conversations around media support exploration was led by Joseph Omotayo, head of Department for Human Interest Stories at Legit.ng, and Dr. Eziafakaku Nwokolo, founder and CEO of the Shade of Life Foundation,
This partnership is a response to the concerns raised by organizations like the Shade of Life Foundation about the level of support received from the media in discussing autism as a disability.
While other disabilities may receive attention, autism, with its critical developmental implications often lacks adequate representation in mainstream media.
Recognizing the importance of addressing these concerns, Legit.ng took proactive steps by integrating itself into the essence of autism awareness.
It facilitated a one-hour workshop with Dr. Nwokolo, the founder of the foundation, to deepen our understanding of autism, its various spectrums, and the language boundaries associated with it.
Other steps we took in advocating autism awareness in the media, can be seen in our attached press release.
Legit.ng believes that by amplifying the voices of autism and advocating for better media representation, we can contribute to creating a more inclusive and accepting society for all.
While 85 per cent of Nigeria is in darkness, Tanzania, an African country has shut down five hydroelectric stations in a bid to reduce excess electricity in the national grid.
Kassim Majaliwa, prime minister, Tanzania, has said the main plant, Mwalimu Nyerere Hydroelectric Station, alone generated enough electricity to power major cities, including Dar es Salaam, the country’s commercial hub.
It is the first time Tanzania, which suffers chronic power shortages, has closed hydroelectric stations due to excess production.
“We have turned off all these stations because the demand is low and the electricity production is too much, we have no allocation now,” an official from state-run power company, Tanesco, said.
The 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam is said to be almost filled with water following heavy rains that started early this year.
Meanwhile, while the country has an installed capacity of 1,938MW and the grid installed capacity of 1,899MW, Nigeria which has an installed capacity of 13,000MW is struggling to electrify 85 per cent of its electricity consumers.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Jim Ovia, renowned banker and businessman, as the Chairman, Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Jim Ovia
Ovia’s appointment is contained in a State House statement titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints Jim Ovia as Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund,’ and issued on Friday by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the President, Media & Publicity.
The statement noted that “Ovia is the founder of one of Nigeria’s leading banks and a respected business leader, with a surfeit of efforts and benefaction towards nurturing and empowering young Nigerians.
“He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.”
The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.
“The President believes Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds,” the statement partly read.
Ovia’s appointment will also ensure “that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.”
Legit.ng, Shade of Life Foundation Partner to Advance Autism Awareness in Nigeria
As Nigeria Struggle, Tanzania Turns off Power Plants Due to Excess Supply
CBN Licenses Unified Payments as Second Provider for PTSA Services for Nigeria
FG to Fnalise National Intellectual Property Policy Soon– NCC Boss
NITDA, ICF Train 100 Schoolgirls in ICT Skills
See Full List of Fake Loan Apps Blacklisted By CBN
CBN Sacks another 50 Staff, 117 Disengaged in 20 Days
AfDB, AGF Partner on Female Entrepreneurs’ Access to Finance
Nigeria Plans AI Strategy Workshop for National Development
IMF says Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability
Telecom2 days agoWorld Earth Day: Kuda Partners with Wecyclers to Clean up Communities in Lagos
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Boosts NIPR Public Relations Week with Onsite Unlimited Data Connection
News2 days agoUK Pledges €1Bn to Fight against Malaria in Nigeria
Editorial2 days agoTelcos Ask NCC to Allow Them Hike Tariff
Broadcasting2 days agoNCC Seeks Media Collaboration on Copyright Infringement
Broadcasting2 days agoFCCPC to Review Multichoice’s Tariff Hike
Broadcasting2 days agoOJI Demands Ban on Netflix, TikTok, Others over Same-Sex Content
E-Business3 days agoConfronting the Google Monolith: Survival Strategies for Online Businesses