Browsing: Alibaba

The African logistics market has proven itself ahead of the curve in many areas, with endless potential and opportunities lurking just beneath the surface.…

I ended my May 2021 essay with the hypothesis “…leading fintechs might turn around and start acquiring the banks” and, sure enough, on the 12^th of May 2021, the Competition Authority of Kenya in a gazette notice approved the acquisition of 84.89% stake in Century Microfinance Bank by Branch International Limited – a leading global fintech with operations in Kenya[1]. One of the signs of a maturing ecosystem is home grown ventures mature into unicorns[2], gazelles and zebras[3], increased mergers and acquisitions[4] and the entry of global tech giants hungry for a piece of the action – the subject of this essay. So, whilst the Branch acquisition was unexpected, it was unsurprising when Twitter announced on 14^th April 2021 that they are setting up their Africa HQ in Ghana[5]. On the very same day Amazon announced an investment of …

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma witnessed the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the Ethiopian Government and Alibaba establishing an eWTP Hub in Ethiopia.

The eWTP (electronic world trade platform) Hub is intended to enable cross-border trade, provide smart logistics and fulfillment services, assist Ethiopian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reach China and other markets, and provide talent training.

The event was also witnessed by Alibaba Group Director and Ant Financial Services Group Chairman and CEO Eric Jing. Ethiopia aims to build a dynamic and growing digital economy that contributes significantly to overall economic growth in the country.

eWTP is an Alibaba-led multi-stakeholder global initiative promoting public-private dialogue in order to support more inclusive global trade which uses technology and policy innovation to provide greater opportunities for SMEs, women and youth.

Ethiopia is the second country in Africa to establish …

Alibaba Group and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will launch a digital map to track food-security issues across the globe.

The “Hunger Map LIVE” will leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to predict and track the magnitude and severity of hunger in close to real-time in more than 90 countries.

The map will allow the WFP, humanitarian-aid organizations and global leaders to identify negative trends early and enable better decision-making to improve response times and cut costs.

“The Hunger Map LIVE is a visual wake-up call every day, showing us a real-time snapshot of the problem and reminding all of us that we must do more to defeat hunger,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley, speaking on the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly in New York.

The map will bring together publicly available information on food security, nutrition, conflict, weather, and macro-economic data to …