It Is Time the World Cared about Innovation in Africa, Find out Why

 

When digital technology was rising in the rest of the world, and countries shifting from analogue to digital, about 40 years ago, nobody cared to talk about Africa in regards to innovation.

Things have since changed as in the past decade, Africa has fast moved into mobile phones era and internet access – in a frantic attempt to ‘catch-up’ with the rest of the world.

Aza Finance reports that digital adoption has been on the rise in Africa. Mobile phones are now common gadgets even in the remotest areas and digital penetration is projected to be at 50% in the next 10 years or so.

Digital revolution is now being experienced in Africa, and this is what has sparked Africa’s innovation advances.

Today, according to Aza Finance, Africa has about 200 innovation hubs, 3,500 new technology-related ventures and over a billion dollars in venture capital.

As much as the world still looks at Africa as a remote continent, the fact remains that by 2050, this very lagging continent will be accounting for half of the world’s population. What this basically means is that Africa’s success, especially in the digital revolution, will have a huge impact to the rest of the world.

“In our global economy, progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders,” former US President Barack Obama said at the U.N Millennium Development Summit in September 2010.

So why should the rest of the world care about innovation in Africa?

To answer this question, here is a highlight of some of the successful African innovations that have not only solved regional problems, but also have had an impact globally.

M-KOPA

With access to energy a major hindrance to development, organizations like M-KOPA and Mobisol have succeeded in developing unique technology and rent-to-own payment model focusing on solar energy as an alternative source of energy for low-income communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

These are innovations likely to be applied worldwide, especially with a projection of a rise in the use of solar and wind energy consumption.

BRCK

This is a Kenyan innovation which is a rugged, self-powered, cloud enabled Wi-Fi hotspot router with built-in fail-overs that has been rivalling Facebook’s Free Basics and Google’s Project Loon at increasing internet access.

BRCK was initially built to solve internet connectivity problems in Kenya using solar energy and SIM-card operated modems and has also been successful at bringing connectivity to internet dead-spots in Wisconsin. 

Though created as a solution to a regional problem, such technologies have created unanticipated opportunities in markets across the world.

M-Pesa

M-Pesa is a Kenyan-based digital payment platform launched as a mobile phone-based money transfer service to promote financial inclusivity among lower-income households in Kenya.

This innovation has now surpassed borders to become the case study for global digital payments, with similar models operating in over 80 markets internationally. 

Aza

This is a Kenya-based digital foreign exchange, and payments platform that has revolutionized global payments through hybrid infrastructure to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper.

Aza started off as a niche product aimed at simplifying remittance payments for Kenyans living in the UK but is now primarily a digital foreign exchange and payment platform for frontier markets.

These growing expertise and innovations in Africa are poised to spur economic development in the continent that will go a long way towards improving access to food, health and better living standards which will come with economic and political stability.

African innovations can also create opportunities for multi-nationals – a collaboration that will benefit start-ups, global corporates and organizations – partnerships that have a huge potential to make a technological breakthrough in coming up with solutions to local, regional and global challenges.

Join the First and fast communication system (Fnfcom) and be part of the digital revolution in Africa. 

Fnfcom is an online airtime distribution system designed to help the youth in Kenya address the challenge of Okoa Airtime, Okoa Data Bundles and Mobile Loans.

Sign up today at Fnfcom, and say goodbye to mobile loans and okoa airtime and data bundles.

Written By Joshua Cheloti 

Joshua Cheloti is a digital journalist and an experienced content creator with demonstrated writing skills on a variety of topics ranging from digital investments, business and technology.