Browsing: Africa

Google positioning itself to reap from the explosive internet market in Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Google positions itself to reap from Africa’s explosive internet market

Tech & Business

The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was the special guest of honour at the digital launch and reception to mark the landing of Equiano sea cable systems in Nigeria.

Nigeria marks Equiano’s second stop in Africa after Togo, with future landings expected in Swakopmund, Namibia, and Melkbosstrand, South Africa.

While speaking at the digital launch, Juliet Ehimuan, Google’s business strategy director in West Africa, said that the cable leverage state of the art technology to provide approximately twenty times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve the region.

4IR Tech adoption and use leaves many Africans unemployed. www.theexchange.africa

Technology replacing humans. 4IR leaving many Africans jobless

Tech & Business

Within the service industry, 4IR creates a potential for new goods and processes enabled by technology. As demand develops in lockstep with income, possibilities exist as African countries resume economic growth. Because technology complements rather than replaces labour in many service industries where formal companies and employment dominate, the adoption of technology should develop new formal wage positions for young and educated job seekers.

Adoption of 4IR technology may also result in improvements in job quality (e.g., earnings, income security) in the large non-farm informal sector (63 per cent of total employment)—for example, by the use of online stores and channels to find customers and satisfy their needs safely and efficiently.

Foreign Investment Deceit: Africa Start-ups Need Protection. www.theexchange.africa

Foreign Investment Deceit: Africa Start-ups need protection

Investing

The takeover of MainOne and Digital Realty is but a tip in the growing startup iceberg. In recent years, the continent has witnessed the creation of a significant number of startups, many of which have proven to be heavily lucrative. “Technology-savvy younger people have established kinds of enterprises that we have not seen before,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the World Trade Organization (WTO) director, says. They are supporters of Flutterwave, InstaDeep, and Copia International.

The valuation of these African startups is increasing, as is the appetite of foreign traders, mainly venture capital firms from the United States, Europe, and even Asia. They have attracted a total of US$5 billion so far this year. In terms of fundraising, 2022 has gotten off to a strong start for these businesses, with the significant milestone of US$1 billion being reached between January and February.

Nonetheless, the current change is raising key concerns, such as whether Africa is genuinely benefiting from the global capital’s thirst for its technology or if it is being plundered of its gems.

Africa: Explosive meat alternative industry fights climate change and chronic diseases. www.theexchange.africa

Lab-grown meat: Is Africa ready for this alternative?

Industry and Trade

The meat-alternative market is taking advantage of climate change awareness, and the messaging has changed accordingly, particularly as these products enter the mainstream.

“We can see what many brands’ marketing strategies are – they used to market just to vegans and vegetarians – why not advertise it to everyone and call it the healthy burger?” says Will.

“Now, when non-vegans try some of the products on the market, they are surprised by the quality, they say ‘this is amazing and can’t believe it’s plant-based and environmentally friendly.”

Indeed, this shift in messaging is reflected in the advertisements of large retailers introducing meat-alternative products.

Burger King, which recently launched plant-based Whoppers, Royale’s and Nuggets in South Africa, highlighted the health and environmental awareness prominently in press releases and advertisements.