đ„ Quick Fire with Ayodeji Alaran
Ayodeji Alaran is the founder and CEO of PBR Life Sciences, a healthtech company working to fix Africaâs healthcare data problem. After years of seeing drug oversupply, expiry, and waste across the continent, he launched PBR to help pharmaceutical companies make better decisions using clean, anonymised data from pharmacies. Before PBR, Ayodeji built a 16-year career across global pharmaceutical and health data giants like Pfizer, GSK, AstraZeneca, IQVIA, and Cegedim, before moving on to launch PBR in 2022. Backed by Techstars, PBR has raised $1 million across one publicly disclosed funding round (pre-seed). The startup is also spread across different markets, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and the UK (headquartered). With a team spread across multiple markets, Ayodeji is leading a product that helps life sciences firms reduce drug waste, forecast better, and plan smarter. He holds a pharmacy degree from the University of Lagos, an MBA from London Business School, and executive training in marketing and pharmaceuticals. Explain your job to a five-year-old. Think about a big and messy pile of LEGOs and imagine building a cool spaceship. My company is like that for medicine. Companies that make medicines need information, but these are like a billion billion LEGOs all mixed upâbut if we arrange this properly, it will help us know which medicines people need and how much of these should be made in the factory. My job is to lead a team that has a super-smart brain and a robot called AI. We feed the robot called AI all that scattered LEGO.. The robot arranges all the LEGOs super fast, and it says, âAha! I found a secret pattern! This tiny piece is the key to stopping the sickness!â We tell the companies that make the medicine and their scientists what we found, so they know exactly which âLEGO piecesâ to use to build the new medicine. So, I donât build the medicine myself. Iâm the boss of the team that finds the secret instructions hidden in all the information. We help the companies that build medicines build the right medicine, faster. 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A pharmaceutical company in Lagos once told us they destroyed medicines that had expired in their inventory worth $700,000 and had to pay the regulatory agency before they could destroy them. This is one company out of thousands in Africa that experiences the same challenge. And what is the root cause? Lack of data to understand disease and treatment patterns, and to effectively identify and quantify which medicines to import or manufacture. Annually, the industry loses more than $10.2 billion in Africa to expiry and missed opportunities. Even more disturbing is that as the global pharmaceutical industry accelerates towards the use of big data in healthcare for training AI tools now being deployed in drug discovery, these tools exclude African patients. By the year 2100, 8 out of every 10 people in the world will reside in Africa and Asia, yet these are the ones not being included in AI-driven drug discovery and innovation simply because quality data on their disease and treatment patterns for AI training are not available. Youâve worked with global pharma giants. What made you decide to leave that world and start your own company? In my roles within
Read MoređšđżâđTechCabal Daily â NALA goes to Kenya
In partnership with Lire en Français ۧÙ۱ۣ Ù۰ۧ ۚۧÙÙŰșŰ© ۧÙŰč۱ۚÙŰ© TGIF! If you donât know yet, Iâm going to hold your hand when I say this: Moonshot by TechCabal is next month! Iâve never been to a big tech event, but I canât wait to meet the people shaping Africaâs tech ecosystem. At Moonshot, Iâm looking forward to experiencing innovation from startups and understanding the policies that guide them. You donât have to be a âtech personâ to attend. There is tech in everything, and youâll see it for yourself. Speaking of innovation, the NBAâs Triple-Double Accelerator is backing African startups solving real-world problems. Across fintech, healthtech, and sports-tech, this programme is helping African startups scale globally while building locally. Accelerators like these show just how exciting Africaâs tech scene is right now. Iâm excited for Moonshot 2025. You should be, too. And who knows, we might bump into each other in one of the content tracks. Until then, stay jiggy. â Yemi Letâs dive in. Quick Fire with Ayodeji Alaran NALA goes to Kenya iXAfrica secures $200 million debt Funding Tracker World Wide Web 3 Events Features Quick Fire with Ayodeji Alaran Ayodeji Alaran of PBR Life Sciences Ayodeji Alaran, founder and CEO of PBR Life Sciences, is tackling Africaâs healthcare data problem. After 16 years at Pfizer, GSK, AstraZeneca, IQVIA, and Cegedim, he launched PBR in 2022 to help pharmaceutical companies cut waste and improve drug supply using anonymised pharmacy data. Backed by Techstars, the startup has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding and operates in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and the UK (HQ). With a global team, PBR helps life sciences firms forecast demand and plan smarter. Alaran holds a pharmacy degree from UNILAG, an MBA from London Business School, and executive training in marketing and pharmaceuticals. Explain your job to a five-year-old. Imagine a giant pile of LEGOs. Drug companies need those pieces to build medicines, but everything is scattered. My team and I use AI, a kind of robot brain, to sort the pieces, spot hidden patterns, and reveal which ones matter most. We then share those insights with scientists so they can build the right medicines faster. I donât make the drugs myself; I lead the team that finds the secret instructions hidden in the data. What problem in healthcare data for Africa drives you every single morning? A pharmaceutical company in Lagos told us it destroyed $700,000 worth of expired medicines and still had to pay regulators for approval to do so. This is one company out of thousands in Africa that experiences the same challenge: poor data on disease and treatment patterns. Without it, pharma firms misjudge demand and the continent loses over $10.2 billion annually to waste and missed opportunities. Youâve worked with global pharma giants. What made you decide to leave that world and start your own company? In my roles across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, it was painful to see data driving innovation for patients in Europe while emerging markets were left out. It often felt like patientsâ lives were valued differently, all because of poor data. I could not accept that and chose to act, so future generations would not ask why we stood by while the rest of the world advanced. PBR helps reduce drug wastage and improve forecasting. Whatâs one story from the field that stuck with you? A pharmaceutical company once struggled with inflation, forex pressures, and pricing. Import too much and drugs expired, import too little and patients went without. Using our data, we analysed price elasticity for 30 products, tracking how patients responded to price changes, how doctors prescribed, and how pharmacies profited. This helped the company set optimal prices and quantities, contributing to revenue increase and product uptake by patients. The experience reinforced how big data, when mined for insights, can transform healthcare and create value for everyone. What was the toughest part of building your data platform, and how did you solve it? The toughest part is cleaning unstructured healthcare data at scale. There are no standardised healthcare database dictionaries or AI models in Africa to guide data transformation. When we started, the 10,000+ drug brands and 480,000+ drug molecules in Nigeria were not classified according to WHO standards, which are the minimum for research and analysis. Cleaning these unstructured datasets took 8-10 months on average, even as new data appeared every three months. The manual cycle was unsustainable. We built our own AI models and infrastructure, trained on initial datasets, and now we can clean new databases in 30 minutes, meeting global standards for research-quality data. How do you balance running a fast-growing startup across multiple countries while staying focused? I have learnt how to quiet the noise and focus on the most important thing at every time. My core job is leading and empowering our people to ensure they are doing the best job of their lives and finding it fulfilling. Outside of work, what brings you joy or keeps you grounded? My faith as a Christian, spending time with my family, and playing the piano. Ayodeji Alaran is a confirmed speaker at TechCabalâs Moonshot, happening on October 15â16, 2025. Connect with Alaran at Moonshot. Get your tickets. eCommerce Without Borders: Get Paid Faster Worldwide Whether you sell in Lagos or Nairobi, customers want local ways to pay. Let shoppers check out in their local currency, using cards, bank transfers, or mobile money. Set up seamless payments for your global online store with Fincra today. Fintech NALA makes debut in Kenya Image Source: NALA NALA, a Tanzanian cross-border payments fintech, has entered Kenya through a partnership with Equity Bank and the national interbank payment system, Pesalink, to plug into the countryâs booming remittances. This move will allow NALA route remittance through Pesalinkâs payment rails, with Equity Bank handling settlements. For Kenyans, this means receiving diaspora funds in real time, directly into their wallets. Itâs a smart bet. Kenya pulled in $4.94 billion in remittances in 2024.
Read MoreSafaricom is quietly adding utility services into M-PESA super app
Safaricom is quietly changing how its customers use digital products by moving everyday services into its flagship M-PESA app, raising questions about the future of its long-running self-care platform, the mySafaricom app. This week, users began noticing that functions once exclusive to the mySafaricom appâsuch as airtime purchases and home internet managementâappear inside the M-PESA super app. The overlap looks minor, but the shift signals a deeper rethink of how Kenyaâs largest telecom operator wants subscribers to interact with its digital ecosystem. Launched in 2016, mySafaricom app was marketed as the all-purpose self-care app for anyone with a Safaricom line. Five years later, Safaricom introduced the M-PESA app, which the company described as a financial tool for payments, savings, loans, and global transactions. mySafaricom has M-PESA services, but only in stripped-down form. The super app, by contrast, has evolved into a broader marketplace, hosting mini apps for ticket booking, shopping, insurance, and more. It also carries PayPal withdrawals and GlobalPay, a Visa-backed virtual card that lets customers pay international merchants like Netflix. Yet gaps remain. Subscribers canât configure Safaricomâs 4G and 5G routers directly on the M-PESA super app; Home Fibre, for instance, is still accessible only via a mini app, leaving mySafaricom still relevant. Safaricom has been experimenting internally for months to close these gaps, according to people familiar with the telcoâs operations. The company is now seeking customer feedback on the updated M-PESA appâs design, look, and navigation. This step may test whether users are ready to manage everythingâfrom internet and airtime to loans and global paymentsâinside one platform. For now, Safaricom hasnât said whether it plans to retire the mySafaricom app. Another complication is that the two apps are developed by separate teams. The telco did not respond to a request for comment. M-PESA remains Safaricomâs biggest growth driver. The platform now commands over 35 million active users in Kenya, with millions relying on the M-PESA app for daily transactions. In the year to March 2025, the app processed KES 2.3 trillion ($17.9 billion), pushing M-PESAâs revenue up more than 15.2% to KES 161.1 billion ($1.26 billion). That lift, combined with rising spend per user at KES 395.22 ($3.10), means the service now brings in nearly half of Safaricomâs Kenyan revenue, well ahead of the shrinking voice and SMS business it once depended on. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15â16! Join Africaâs top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% offâdonât snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Read MoreGITEX Nigeria: Resilience, a word used one too many
Two years after Lagos governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu first floated the idea of hosting GITEX Africa, the continentâs biggest startup show, in Lagos, his dream has finally materialised. He was beaming with happiness as he toured the exhibition area at Eko Hotel and Suites on Wednesday, and later declared on stage, âLagos is not just a city for today â it is Africaâs innovation nerve centre and a launchpad for Africaâs tomorrow.â Many speakers who came before and after him echoed Lagosâs potentialâhome to over 600 startups and the birthplace of unicornsâand almost all tagged Nigerian founders with the familiar label: resilient. That word, resilience, hung heavily in the air and was offered as both an explanation and a badge of honour for why Nigerian founders survive. Over the course of two days, Lagos hosted dual events: GITEX Nigeria Tech Expo and Future Economy Conference at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre, and GITEX Nigeria Startup Festival at the Landmark Centre simultaneously. Image Source: @NITDANigeria/X. Trixie LohMirmand, EVP of Dubai World Trade Centre and CEO of KAOUN International, organisers of GITEX Nigeria, described Lagos as âa mega high-speed technology testbed that is dense, diverse, and demanding, where SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurs succeed not by conventional rules but by distinctiveness and necessity-driven innovation.â Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General/CEO of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), admitted that while founders in other parts of the world used capital infrastructure to fuel innovation, those in Nigeria needed resilience. âBecause we have no options, and we need to create the solutions. We are ready for it. As a nation, our vision is clear,â he said. âNigeria and Lagos in particular are a crucible of innovation, where raw talent meets the unshakeable will to succeed, a factory of unicorns. Lagos is the place where people use talent and come up with solutions without infrastructure.â While this rhetoric made sense on the surface, ecosystem players are tired, and during the first panel session at GITEX Nigeria in Eko Hotel, Olu Olufemi-White, CEO of Alami Capital, an investment and advisory firm, put it plainly: âWe need a federal government innovation fund. A fund that is intentional, that is of the standard that you would find at the top institutions across the world.â Directing a plea to NITDA, she said, âWe want you to fund those who will build the today and the future of this nation. For a nation to progress, it must intentionally invest in innovation. When the public sector moves, private capital follows.â Nigerian startups raised $410 million in foreign capital in 2024, with fintech Moniepoint raising $110 million to achieve unicorn status. She noted that the government needs to start using its money as a signal, not just words: âWe are resilient, but support us by backing us with capital. Because what you do is you signal to the world that you have confidence in our innovation.â Government-backed funds are needed in startup ecosystems as they serve as patient capital and help strengthen public-private sector relationships. Image Source: GITEX Nigeria/X. For Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, founding partner, Future Africa, a pan-African-focused fund, investment in startups is not just nation-building but also lucrative. âIt is necessary for the government to actually invest, because they will make a lot of money from it.â He said beyond investing in startups, the government must urgently fund human capital, while noting the work it is already doing with the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program. âWe cannot afford to graduate fewer than 4,000 STEM graduates while China is graduating 3.8 million,â he said. Aboyeji noted that many unicorns from the country were the result of exceptional talent. âTalent is very key, but we need to fund talent. So we need capital,â Olufemi-White of Alami Capital added. NITDAâs Inuwa argues that the government has not been passive. He pointed to the Nigeria Startup Act and even the Central Bank of Nigeriaâs 2012 cashless policy, which he credited with sparking the rise of fintechs in Lagos. He, however, noted that the need to further reinvent the social contract between the government and the tech ecosystem still exists. In March 2025, Nigeria and Japan announced plans to establish a $40 million fund investing in early-stage technology startups. The Nigeria Startup ACT has provisions for seed funding of up to âŠ10 billion annually. Lagos, meanwhile, isnât waiting. âHere in Lagos, we are creating that future,â Sanwo-Olu said. The state wants to fill that gap with its proposed innovation fundâ1.5% of its annual capital budgetâto replace fragmented pools like the âŠ1 billion Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) fund and provide a real lifeline to over 600 startups and research institutions, especially as foreign investments dry up. Startups in Lagos attracted over $252 million in 2024, and as of December 2024, LASRIC had disbursed $330,000 to support more than 40 startups. âGovernance in the 21st century must be digital, inclusive, and data-driven,â Sanwo-Olu added. While GITEX Lagos is meant to serve as a bridge between local startups and foreign investors, it also presents the perfect platform for the ecosystem to ask the government to put its money where its mouth is. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15â16! Join Africaâs top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% offâdonât snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Read MoreZimbabwean ChatCash enters the âconversational commerceâ chat
In Harareâs informal markets, business happens in social media chatboxes. A grocery vendor takes orders over WhatsApp, a carpenter closes deals on Facebook Messenger, and payments are made either in cash or via mobile wallets such as EcoCash. For thousands of Zimbabweâs small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), these chats are the backbone of commerce, but they rarely translate into seamless, scalable business operations. That is the gap ChatCash, a Zimbabwean startup, wants to close. Established in 2023, ChatCash helps businesses from small to big, embed payments, sales, and customer management tools directly into the places where people already transact, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, without the need for extra software or platforms. John Sakala, an engineer-turned-founder of ChatCash, told TechCabal that the company is betting on the conversational future of African commerce. âBusiness here is built on relationships, and those relationships are nurtured in chat,â Sakala said. Although ChatCash is betting on Africaâs 44 million SMEs, many of them still lack the digital tools to automate payments and customer engagement. âYet most of them are already doing business through conversations. We just needed to turn those chats into commerce,â Sakala says. He believes the ChatCash model can reframe how Africa thinks about digital commerce, not app-first, but conversation-first. Global players like Meta and TikTok and local players like Nigeriaâs Bumpa and Kenyaâs Chpter are already creating similar solutions for merchants across the continent. But Sakala says that ChatCash localises its model for Africaâs markets by focusing on businesses that may not own a business page, but will respond instantly to a customer pinging them on WhatsApp or Facebook. The startup is also layering in payments and financial services by tying chat-based interactions to credit, wallets, and multi-language support. At its core, ChatCash offers three products. Firstly, a suite for SMEs that enables catalog creation, invoicing, order tracking, AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM), and integrated payments across platforms like EcoCash, InnBucks, Visa, and Mastercard. Secondly, tools for individuals in local languages such as Shona or Ndebele. It also helps users discover verified nearby businesses. Lastly a backend layer for banks and regulators, using AI trained on African transaction data to detect fraud and cut transaction costs. Did Bumpa just lay the foundation for conversational commerce in Africa? Built for African languages Sakala says that ChatCashâs system is designed specifically for African contexts. Its natural language models cover Shona and Ndebele, with 95% accuracy in detecting what the user is trying to communicate. That allows traders to respond to buyers in the languages they trust. The AI also does more than translate. It drives sales through âSmart Catalogsâ that he says have increased client sales by up to 30%, and uses geospatial intent mapping to connect queries like âheadacheâ with the nearest pharmacy. Meanwhile, its spam-filtering models cut irrelevant messages by 70%, giving businesses more time to focus on real customers. Navigating Zimbabweâs regulatory maze Building such a product in Zimbabwe, though, is no small feat. Sakala says the Reserve Bank requires fintech startups to pass through a regulatory sandbox. âLicenses are expensive, just applying for USSD access costs $55,000, while a full payment operator license can run into the millions, âhe says. To get around that, ChatCash has been working as an aggregator, plugging businesses into existing banks and payment providers. The company partners with ZB Bank locally and South Africaâs Secure Trust for compliance. Microsoft also stepped in with technical support and cloud resources worth over $1 million, allowing the team to train machine learning models that power its AI. Even with those partnerships, Sakala admits the path is uphill. âThe fees are high, but the opportunity is so much bigger,â he says. âWe are solving a tangible, continent-wide problem.â Making money in Zimbabweâs volatile economy Zimbabweâs volatile economy would seem like hostile terrain for a fintech. But Sakala argues that ChatCashâs model of serving businesses and their customers simultaneously makes it resilient. âWe are B2B2C,â he explains. âWhen businesses grow through us, their customers benefit too. So even in tough times, there is demand.â ChatCash claims it has 1,000+ paying businesses on the platform and more than 8,000 onboarded in total. Its clients include NGOs managing poultry farming cooperatives, SMEs running retail shops and household brands like Simbisa Brands (operators of fast-food outlets across Africa) and the Rainbow Tourism Group. ChatCash earns revenue through performance-based fees tied to client sales targets, monthly subscription averaging $125 per business, and premium add-ons like voice AI. The startup also sells enterprise-scale APIs and white-label solutions to banks, retailers, and governments. 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Read MoreHow foreign governments and Big Tech are racing to shape Africaâs AI future
In August, the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) drew African attention for an unusual announcement: Japan proposed designating several of its domestic cities as âofficial hometownsâ for Africans from Ghana, Nigeria, and Mozambique. The symbolic gesture is part of a broader push to deepen economic collaboration and cultural ties. Tokyo also made some other important pledges that day. It promised to train 30,000 African artificial intelligence experts over the next three years, a move aimed at easing the continentâs acute talent shortage while embedding Japanese technology and corporations in Africaâs fast-emerging AI economy, estimated to reach $16.53 billion by 2030. This commitment reflects a larger pattern. Despite Africaâs modest 2.5% share of the global AI market, the continent remains a magnet for foreign governments, multinational companies, and international NGOs. The lack of domestic support for infrastructure, talent, and financing leaves the field open for others to shape how AI is adopted and developed on the continent. From Ottawa to Tokyo to Silicon Valley, external actors are investing heavily to influence how AI is developed, deployed, and governed in Africa. Canadaâs long bet Among Africaâs most consistent AI backers is Canada, mainly through its International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which funds research and innovation in low-income countries. Over half of the IDRCâs $282 million budget supports AI-focused projects in Africa. According to an IDRC policy paper, âresearch not only advances sustainable development in Africa but also builds a stronger future partner for Canada.â As of June 2024, the IDRC has about 82 active projects across countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and Rwanda. The impact is visible on the ground. At the University of Lagos, computer scientist Chika Yinka-Banjo heads an AI and Robotics lab established with IDRC support. Her recent AI in Education project, building personalised learning assistants for Nigerian students, is one of many responsible AI-focused projects funded by the Canadian institution. In South Africa, at the University of Pretoria, another IDRC-supported group is shaping how intellectual property laws can support inclusive, Africa-focused AI innovation. By filling critical funding gaps, Canada has positioned itself as a trusted, long-term partner in shaping Africaâs AI landscape. Japanâs talent diplomacy Ahead of TICAD, Japanâs development agency JICA released a report underscoring a key question: âWho will build, manage, and scale the continentâs AI future?â Its answer is the 30,000-expert programme that will place Japanese universities and companies at the centre of Africaâs talent ecosystem for the next three years. The scheme will draw in the top 20 to 30 African universities, with students trained in handling large datasets and applying AI to business. Graduates are expected to move between African startups and Japanese corporations. The model pairs human capital development with market access, a strategy that could spread Japanese AI standards across African businesses and economies. Italyâs different approach to diplomacy Under the 2024 âMattei Plan,â Rome is attempting to reframe its Africa policy away from traditional aid programmes towards partnership and innovation-focused investments. Senator Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister of Enterprises, says the country will strengthen Africaâs AI ecosystem by supporting 500,000 African startups with computing power over the next three years. The AI Hub for Sustainable Development, supported by Italy, will also commence a six-month-long compute accelerator programme in October to support 120 AI early-stage ventures on the continent with compute needs, technical mentorship, and opportunities for international partnerships. Big Tech is also making big investments Global technology giants are also racing to stake claims. In July, Google pledged $37 million to boost AI development across Africa, including $1 million each for the University of Pretoria and Wits University in South Africa to support research projects. Microsoft also announced a $1 billion initiative to build a geothermal data centre in Kenya alongside projects to develop language models in local languages. African players are not absent. In April, Cassava Technologies, a tech company founded by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa,  announced plans to partner with Nvidia, the leading U.S.-based chip designer, to build AI-ready data centres across South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco. The deal is valued at approximately $720 million. The sovereignty question Africaâs AI momentum is undeniable, but the imbalance in who funds and builds it raises questions. Foreign governments and corporations are already driving the establishment of research labs, data centres, and even regulatory frameworks. Without deliberate investment from domestic governments and institutions, Africa risks outsourcing not just its infrastructure but also its sovereignty over how AI is deployed. On September 1, Nigeriaâs minister of communications, digital economy and innovation, Bosun Tijani, called on African governments to unify their efforts to build AI infrastructure on the continent to help ensure nations still catching up avoid getting left further behind in the AI era. Unlocking the continentâs AI potential will require careful collaboration: leveraging external resources while building local capacity, ensuring that Africaâs AI future is not only imported, but owned. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15â16! Join Africaâs top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% offâdonât snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Read MoreNew platform connects visually impaired people needing assistive devices with donors
Access Tech Innovation and Research Center, a Lagos-based non-profit focused on digital inclusion for blind individuals, has launched GiveTechToTheBlind, a new platform designed to connect blind people who need assistive technology with donors willing to fund these devices. The platform, launched on Tuesday, enables blind users to request assistive tech products from talking wrist watches to smart canes and donors to pay directly for items, ensuring transparency and tailored support. According to the Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA), there are about seven million blind Nigerians, making the country home to one of the largest populations of blind individuals in Africa. As a stepping stone to better living, Nigeria has the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Prohibition Act. Yet, many face significant barriers to independence. Persons with disabilities in Nigeria often experience high levels of unemployment and limited access to income, which makes it difficult to afford even basic assistive tools. A white cane now costs at least $12, while software like the JAWS screen reader, which enables blind people to use computers and access the internet, ranges between $350â$450. Many blind Nigerians cannot access the devices that would enable them to participate fully in everyday activities. Akinola said this challenge inspired the creation of GiveTechToTheBlind, adding that while many visually impaired people cannot afford assistive devices, willing donors often donât know where to find those in need or where to purchase the right tools.  âThere are many people who would love to support visually impaired persons by providing assistive tech devices, but they donât know how to reach them or even where to get these devices,â he said. âThe platform bridges that gap, connecting willing donors directly to verified needs.â Hereâs how it works: A visually impaired person registers on the platform and submits a request for a specific assistive device. Access Tech professionals then verify the request to ensure it is genuine and matches the personâs needs. Once a donor pays for the item, the recipient is notified and invited to collect it at an Access Tech center, where they must present a valid national ID before receiving the device. Although GiveTechToTheBlind is built to scale across Africa, Akinola said Access Tech chose to launch in Nigeria first to test the model and refine it before expanding elsewhere. âWe thought about other African countries, but we need to start from home first to gain traction before scaling to other parts of Africa,â he said. âAssistive technology is essential for every visually impaired person, but the structure we have on ground right now can only support Nigeria. With partnerships and support, we know we will scale quickly to other African countries.â GiveTechToTheBlind is Access Techâs flagship initiative and builds on its other programs, including digital skills training and an Assistive Technology Experience Center, where visually impaired people can explore and learn to use different devices. Since its launch, the platform has attracted over 50 blind people who have registered. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15â16! Join Africaâs top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% offâdonât snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Read MoreKrosAI is building for Africans without smartphones
In a village in Nigeria, where poor internet connectivity makes access to most apps difficult, a phone call to a local number could connect users to an AI assistant. In turn, real-time information, healthcare, and banking services become accessible in a few seconds. Thatâs the future Joshua Firima is chasing with his startup, KrosAI. For years, Nigeriaâs startup space was dominated by fintech promising to âbank the unbankedâ and solve payment problems for businesses. This era led to the rise of players like Opay, Moniepoint, and Paystack. Still, by 2023, financial inclusion in the country was still at 64%, well below the 95% target set by the Nigerian government. Firima believes the next frontier in banking and other industries is making artificial intelligence accessible to Africans overlooked by Silicon Valleyâs English-first products. âA decade ago, Africaâs biggest challenge for businesses was payments,â Firima said. Now, these businesses want to expand across emerging markets, but language barriers hold them back from reaching markets where attracting customers requires knowing local languages. âWithout the tools to connect with customers in their local languages, growth stalls and opportunities are missed,â Firima says. KrosAIâs bet is that voice is the main way to bring AI tools into everyday life on the continent. Its flagship product, Oracle, is designed to help banks, telcos, e-commerce players, healthcare providers, and other businesses speak directly to customers in their own accents and native languages. The entrepreneurship journey âIâve been an entrepreneur all my life,â he says. Firimaâs entrepreneurship journey began when smartphone brands like Infinix and Tecno started gaining prominence in Africa. He would help people install applications and games on their phones. Then, in 2019, he decided to build a team to make and sell software products. The team launched a drag-and-drop website builder to help non-coders build their own websites. The business was eventually acquired after 10 months. âThat was my first exit as an entrepreneur,â he said. Firima still liked the challenge and lessons of entrepreneurship and continued building. In 2022, he launched a tool called Moosbu, which was intended to be a âsuper business app for SMEs.â Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic CĂŽte dâIvoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda RĂ©union Saint BarthĂ©lemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Ă land Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Moosbu was a banking-as-a-service platform that enabled small businesses to set up online stores, manage logistics, access payments and accounts, and utilise AI-powered marketing tools. However, during Nigeriaâs 2023 cash crunch, when digital payments slowed, players like Moniepoint and Opay overtook the market. Dependent on partner banks, Firima realised they couldnât compete on speed and began to lose customers quickly. âWe started looking for other external ideas and how we can still add value to businesses, both in terms of revenue and impact.â They pivoted, setting the stage for KrosAI. Filling language gaps When ChatGPT gained prominence in 2023, Firima noticed a blind spot in AI tools developed by Big Tech. âMost AI tools were designed for high-resource languages,â he says. The problem hit him while freelancing on Fiverr. A client in The Gambia dropped him because their conversations, filtered through Google Translate, never quite made sense. âWe were talking,â he recalls, âbut we werenât understanding each other.â That experience pushed him towards fine-tuning open-source models with local language data and building a text-generation prototype. But he soon realised the bigger opportunity: voice. âBefore you even learn how to write, you already know how to speak,â he says. KrosAI is building voice and
Read MoreLelapa AIâs Jade Abbott is building AI that speaks African languages
The first computer Jade Abbott ever touched was not new. It was a patched-together machine her father had rescued piece by piece, a boxy hardware that buzzed loudly and crashed often. Abbott remembers sitting for hours in front of the flickering screen, not to play games, but to ask questions no one around her could answer. âIt fascinated me. I am like, how? I know itâs made of zeros and ones. How can it do all these things? When she was not tinkering with the family computer, Abbott was losing herself in the world of science fiction. Shows like Star Trek fed her curiosity about machines that could talk back. It was not fantasy for her; it was about possibility. At first, her dream was to build a robot pal, but as she grew older, Abbot realised what she really wanted was to understand how language and intelligence could live inside a machine. âAt some stage, I pivoted from building a robot friend to building tools that could help us communicate better. And that became my passion in a very deep way,â she says. That curiosity has positioned Abbott as a leading voice in Africaâs race to build local language artificial intelligence. Today, she is the co-founder and CTO of Lelapa AI, the South African startup building language models for African languages, tools she believes can bridge one of the continentâs deepest divides, communication. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic CĂŽte dâIvoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda RĂ©union Saint BarthĂ©lemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Ă land Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Encounters with the internet Abbotâs early encounters with the internet, back when it was âstill a really cute place,â gave her a sense of unbounded possibility. She read passionately, experimented constantly, and developed a deep sense of curiosity. But what drew her most powerfully was language. As she grew older, she realised her work was not only technical, it was deeply personal. âI grew up without being able to speak our own languages,â she says. Her work at Lelapa AI is a response to that absence, driven by questions that still haunt her: Why did I not learn this? Why was it never taught? What does that say about the society we live in? For Abbott, building Lelapa AI is more than innovation. She is creating the tools she once needed herself, and bridges for others to connect, reclaim, and belong. Building Lelapa When Lelapa AI was founded, Abbott and her co-founders had to decide where to place their bets. All had backgrounds in AI, but Abbott also brought her co-founder experience at Masakhane, a grassroots research collective advancing natural language processing (NLP) for African languages. Her conviction was that if Africa could solve language barriers, it could unlock every other application of AI. âLanguage is the enabler,â she says. âIf we get it right, we improve quality of life across the continent.â Lelapa AI builds language tools that make African tech more accessible and inclusive, with real-world impact in education, healthcare, and civic engagement. Their models support translation, voice interfaces, and local-language access to digital services, helping people navigate systems in their own tongues. As CTO, Abbott does not just oversee engineers and researchers. She also works closely on data, identifying, collecting, and curating the linguistic raw material needed to train models that can handle the complexities of isiZulu, Yoruba, Twi, or Amharic. But stepping into leadership demanded new muscles. âThe hardest part has been letting go of code,â she
Read MoreInteropĂ©rabilitĂ© en Afrique de lâOuest et du Centre : une nouvelle Ăšre pour le secteur financier
2 septembre 2025 Welcome to The Next Wave: Francophone Africa, your weekly look at the tech ecosystem in French-speaking Africa. This newsletter is in French by default, but you can click the button below to read an English version. Bonjour , Cette semaine, nous nous intĂ©ressons aux paiements et Ă lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© en Afrique de lâOuest et du Centre. Un changement est en cours, susceptible de transformer la façon dont les gens transfĂšrent de lâargent entre la CEMAC (CommunautĂ© Ă©conomique et monĂ©taire de lâAfrique centrale) et lâUEMOA (Union Ă©conomique et monĂ©taire ouest-africaine). Pendant des annĂ©es, lâadoption de lâargent mobile a connu une croissance fulgurante, mais chaque opĂ©rateur a maintenu son systĂšme fermĂ©. Envoyer de lâargent dâOrange Ă Wave, ou de Moov Ă MTN, impliquait souvent des coĂ»ts Ă©levĂ©s, voire aucune option. Les banques centrales interviennent dĂ©sormais. GrĂące Ă de nouvelles rĂšgles, les portefeuilles et les banques seront connectĂ©s entre les pays et les opĂ©rateurs. Cela promet des transferts moins chers, une concurrence accrue et un systĂšme financier plus ouvert. Quâest-ce que cela signifie pour les banques, les fintechs et les opĂ©rateurs dâargent mobile comme Wave, dont lâavantage initial rĂ©sidait dans la construction dâun rĂ©seau solide et fermĂ©? Ă travers une Ă©tude de cas sur la licorne fintech, cette Ă©dition explore les rĂ©percussions de lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© sur le commerce Ă©lectronique, lâagritech et les transferts de fonds, et pose la question: sâagit-il vraiment dâune nouvelle Ăšre pour la finance numĂ©rique en Afrique francophone? Allons-y. Read in English 1. InteropĂ©rabilitĂ© : quâest-ce que câest et pourquoi est-ce crucial ? Dans le secteur de la finance numĂ©rique, lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© dĂ©signe la capacitĂ© des acteurs financiers (banques, fintechs, opĂ©rateurs de mobile money) Ă effectuer des transactions fluides et instantanĂ©es entre leurs systĂšmes. Cela signifie quâun utilisateur de Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money ou de toute autre plateforme mobile peut dĂ©sormais envoyer de lâargent instantanĂ©ment et en toute sĂ©curitĂ© Ă un utilisateur dâune autre plateforme, sans frais de transfert supplĂ©mentaires, et ce quel que soit le pays ou lâopĂ©rateur dâune zone donnĂ©e (nous nous concentrerons ici sur les zones CEMAC et UEMOA). Ce concept est essentiel en Afrique, oĂč le mobile money a explosĂ© ces dix derniĂšres annĂ©es. Mais cette croissance sâest souvent produite au sein dâĂ©cosystĂšmes fermĂ©s, contrĂŽlĂ©s par des opĂ©rateurs dominants, crĂ©ant ainsi des silos. Pourquoi câest important : Elle favorise lâinclusion financiĂšre, surtout en zone rurale. Elle rĂ©duit les coĂ»ts pour les consommateurs. Elle stimule la concurrence et lâinnovation. Elle pose les bases dâune Ă©conomie numĂ©rique unifiĂ©e Ă lâĂ©chelle rĂ©gionale. Les deux grandes zones CFA en Afrique sont gĂ©rĂ©es par deux banques centrales: La BEAC et la BCEAO, qui chacune Ă leur tour avait lancĂ© des initiatives vers l’interopĂ©rabilitĂ©. 2. LâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© imposĂ©e par la BEAC et la BCEAO DĂšs 2018, la BEAC a publiĂ© lâinstruction 001/GR/2018, dĂ©finissant lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© des paiements monĂ©tiques (mobile money, cartes bancaires, virements) Ă travers le systĂšme GIMAC. En avril 2020, le gouverneur Abbas Mahamat Tolli a annoncĂ© que lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© mobile au sein de la zone CEMAC est dĂ©sormais opĂ©rationnelle. Le GIMACPAY, systĂšme monĂ©tique intĂ©grĂ©, est commercialisĂ© depuis juillet 2020, avec 79 participants (opĂ©rateurs, banques, PSP). Pour la zone en Afrique de lâouest, dans lâespace UEMOA, la Banque Centrale des Ătats de lâAfrique de lâOuest (BCEAO) a lancĂ© en 2021 un vaste projet dâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© rĂ©gionale. En 2024, ce projet a dĂ©bouchĂ© sur un cadre rĂ©glementaire obligatoire pour tous les opĂ©rateurs, obligeant tous les acteurs du mobile money et de la finance numĂ©rique Ă devenir interopĂ©rables. La mise en place de GIMACPAY rend dĂ©sormais possible lâenvoi dâargent entre utilisateurs de diffĂ©rents comptes (wallets ou bancaires), dans toute la zone CEMAC, comme au sein de lâUEMOA. Ă la diffĂ©rence de lâUEMOA oĂč Wave dominait, en CEMAC, ce cadre est centralisĂ© dĂšs lâorigine via BEAC, ce qui structurerait un terrain de jeu plus rĂ©gulĂ© dĂšs le dĂ©part. Un communiquĂ© du 1er aoĂ»t 2025 de la BCEAO a annoncĂ© le lancement officiel de la Plateforme InteropĂ©rable du SystĂšme de Paiement InstantanĂ© (PI-SPI) pour le 30 septembre 2025. Cette plateforme permettra des transferts instantanĂ©s, sĂ©curisĂ©s et interopĂ©rables dans toute lâUEMOA, peu importe la banque, le compte ou lâĂ©metteur. Ceci vient aprĂšs une sĂ©rie « de tests en conditions rĂ©elles utilisations » faites depuis le 5 Juin 2025. Ceci a Ă©videmment eu un impact sur plusieurs secteurs et startups. Par exemples, sur les acteurs concernĂ©s : OpĂ©rateurs de mobile money (MTN MoMo, Orange Money, Airtel Money, etc.) : soumis Ă la mĂȘme interopĂ©rabilitĂ© imposĂ©e. Banques traditionnelles, MFIs, et Ă©tablissements de paiement : intĂ©grĂ©s dans le mĂȘme rĂ©seau. Fintechs & PSP : dĂ©sormais rĂ©gulĂ©s, avec obligation de licence pour accĂ©der Ă GIMAC Plusieurs consĂ©quences sont Ă noter, donc les suivantes : Fin du cloisonnement propriĂ©taire : lâavantage concurrentiel fondĂ© sur un rĂ©seau fermĂ© disparaĂźt. Ăgalisation des chances : comme dans lâUEMOA, les retardataires peuvent entrer sur le marchĂ© via GIMAC sans construire une infrastructure coĂ»teuse. Commoditisation de lâinnovation basique (transfert instantanĂ©) : valeur repoussĂ©e vers services Ă plus haute valeur ajoutĂ©e. Charge rĂ©glementaire initiale pour les acteurs en place, mais un terrain plus structurĂ© pour tous Ă long terme. 3. Ătude de cas : Wave, victime de sa propre innovation ? Image Source: Wave En Afrique de lâOuest, Wave a redĂ©fini les rĂšgles du jeu avec son application simple, des frais Ă 1 %, et un contrĂŽle total de la chaĂźne de valeur. RĂ©sultat ? Une adoption fulgurante dans plusieurs pays, et maintenant une entrĂ©e (certes timide) sur lâAfrique centrale en commençant par le Cameroun. Puis vint lâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ©. Le projet dâinteropĂ©rabilitĂ© imposĂ© bouleverse le modĂšle de Wave : Fin des Ă©cosystĂšmes fermĂ©s : Le principal avantage compĂ©titif de Wave disparaĂźt vu quâest Ă©liminĂ© la fidĂ©lisation forcĂ©e de lâutilisateur Ă une seule plateforme Effet dâaubaine pour les concurrents : Le marchĂ© a Ă©tĂ© Ă©duquĂ© par Wave, mais les autres en profitent sans le coĂ»t initial. Standardisation de lâinnovation : Le transfert instantanĂ© nâest plus un diffĂ©renciateur. Double effort rĂ©glementaire : En tant que pionnier, Wave doit sâadapter en premier aux nouvelles normes. MalgrĂ© une anticipation probable, la rĂ©gulation nivelle le terrain et
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