Africa is the world’s most enterprising continent. It has become fertile ground for innovation and development, and even though it seems like the wave of development came to us a little late, we are fast catching up. Ideas that would not have been dreamt about ten years ago are now reachable due to the influx of technology and advancement on the continent. Africa’s tech field is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and every year new ideas are given life. These serve to better the economy, alleviate poverty, create opportunities for youth, encourage creativity and fill the various gaps that are left in our development.

The following are nine of the more recent, craziest start-ups that have caused a buzz on the continent with their daring, ground-breaking and imaginative ideas. They are not just focused on technology-economic, medical and socially-focused start-ups are highlighted too, and the reasons why they stand out explored in length.

SBUBBLE

COUNTRY: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

FOUNDED IN: 2014

Being a parent is difficult at the best of times, and even more so when they have to leave your immediate sight to go to school, visit with friends and grow into the people that they will become. For parents,it is distressing not knowing where your child is, especially with the growing spate of kidnappings and child molesting in the society. This is where sBubble comes in. It keeps parents informed about their children’s movements in a way that is not intrusive to the child, creating a safe bubble of space they can interact in.

sBubble works with a small Bluetooth tag device attached to the child’s clothing, which is then connected by Bluetooth to the parent’s phone. This comes in very handy in rough neighborhoods, crowded places and when the child is left with a caregiver. Once the child steps out of the “bubble” which is the parent’s comfort zone, the parent gets an immediate notification on their phone.

The idea is smart, simple and works on already existing technology. It gives parents peace of mind and makes them not have to hover to keep their child safe, as they can know in what area the child is allowed to visit. It reduces the influence of child molesters and kidnappers and other nefarious activities that the child could get entangled in. sBubble is not limited to children, though, it can be used to tag pets, household items and other property to make them easier to find when misplaced and alert the owners if they are stolen.

While still under development, sBubble is already gathering some buzz both locally and internationally and is one start-up to watch.

YAOOTA

COUNTRY: EGYPT

FOUNDED IN: 2014

There are hundreds, if not thousands of online vendors of different products, and instead of making shopping a more relaxing experience, it makes choosing a vendor for specific products confusing. Yaoota is an Egyptian online search engine for the myriad of products sold online.

Yaoota helps shoppers to search online for the products they need, comparing prices and different brands of products from several online stores, making specific choices easy. The tech developers came up with an algorithm that computes all the products, providing an optimal user experience for the shoppers. The application then diverts sales traffic to the merchants who are included in their algorithms for a cost per click fee. With this, the shopper does not have to start searching for different websites to buy different products from, all they need is the Yaoota search engine to direct them where they need to go.

The growing e-commerce market in Egypt means that the market is expansible and fertile for exploitation by the right type of tech start-up. Seeing that the online shopping experience in Egypt was more of a chore than a pleasure, the founder Sherif ElRakabawy and his partner Mohammed Ewis devised a way to streamline the experience and make sure shoppers get what they want in a short amount of time with minimal stress.

This start-up began as a self-funded operation, but due to the rousing success and the growing demand in the market, they have attracted the attention of tech bigwigs KBBO Group based in Abu Dhabi who have raised them up to $2.7 million, the largest for an Egyptian tech start-up so far. The developers took advantage of the budding economic climate of the country to insert themselves into the industry and create an opportunity in the gap created by the recent political unrest in Egypt. They generate so much traffic that it has surpassed that of Google and Facebook in the country. This does not mean that they do not face challenges, as the political climate is still unsteady, but it is admirable that they still prevail.

WEFARM

COUNTRY: KENYA

FOUNDED IN: FEBRUARY 2015

Smallholder farmers usually depend on experience and trial-and-error to solve the problems they run into during the planting season. More experienced people who plant flowers and gardens and have access to the Internet only have to connect to Google to get the information they need, but most of these farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are in rural areas where they do not have the access or literacy to use the Internet.

WeFarm is a peer-to-peer information sharing service, sort of like a search engine for rural farmers, but it uses an SMS service instead of the Internet. Farmers can ask questions and get answers from other farmers from across the globe via SMS, right from their farms in fact!

Kenny Ewan, the founder and CEO of WeFarm first started growing the seeds of the idea that would become this start-up when he was working abroad for an NGO based in Peru. He had first-hand experiences where a whole community of farmers helped each other with solutions for their agricultural problems, but a neighboring community would be at a loss for what to do with the same problem. There was no information dissemination or sharing, and it was affecting their productivity negatively.

With some other investors based in the UK, WeFarm started as an idea but quickly grew and finally, was launched in 2015.

The use of SMS instead of the Internet is the move that gave this start-up an extraordinary zest. Even though WeFarm is Internet-based, it is accessed through SMS for those who don’t access to it. As technology improves, WeFarm also makes provisions for the clients who can get access to their Internet database too. Because the ideas are crowd-sourced, the database is chock filled with simple, home-grown answers and solutions to most of the basic problems of both animal and plant farmers, solutions that have been used and found to be effective. This information sharing encourages creativity and development in the country, and as the enterprise expands to Uganda and Peru, it impacts more lives and contributes to the poverty and hunger alleviation goals of the government.

SAFEMOTOS

COUNTRY: RWANDA

FOUNDED IN: 2015

Most Africans depend mostly on commercial motorcycles to move around. They are fast, can meander through traffic and narrow streets and cost less than a taxi ride. This is the case in Rwanda. However, Rwanda also has one of the highest road accident prevalences in the world, with probability for one of the involved vehicles being a motorcycle being up to 80%. In Africa alone, road accidents are the second biggest killer after HIV/AIDS. Motorcycle accidents are frequent and commonplace, endangering lives and property. The SafeMotos service makes the drivers accountable for their driving and their passengers. This helps to streamline the driving methods of the moto drivers, who are notorious in Rwanda for their rough antics and concurrent accidents, most of which are fatal.

The service is like an Uber, except for motorcycles. There is an ongoing assessment of the driver as he provides the service. Interested drivers register with SafeMotos and are given a dedicated smartphone with the SafeMotos application, their vehicle particulars and performance charted. This information is fed into the database which runs an algorithm and based on their performance, they are chosen to work for the service. Drivers must get up to 90/100 and above to start and keep working for SafeMotos. They are provided with a helmet and chin guard and on each ride, the service collects a commission. The drivers are required to have up to three years of experience and are educated regularly with refresher courses on safety, traffic laws, and social responsibility.

Peter Karuiki and Barrett Nash, a Canadian, are friends who saw a unique need and devised a means to fill it. After a motorcycle accident in which they were both injured, their idea for a technology-controlled safety watch for the motorcycle riders that predominate in Rwandan traffic transitioned from a dream to a necessity. With private funding from the venture capitalist firm SOSV and Irish start-up investors Karma Axlr8r, the SafeMotos service was born.

Providing safety for the passengers and economic autonomy for the drivers, SafeMotos shows that there is no price too high for peace of mind. It encourages the drivers to drive more safely and considerately, as the better they are, the more passengers they have access to. SafeMotos drivers are sought after and have a competitive edge over their contemporaries, their red flags making them stand out to passengers who know that they can be trusted. It is economically empowering while reducing the burden of a vehicular accident statistic that is heart-breaking. It also ensures security, as SafeMotos drivers are recognized by the police as being more responsible than other motorcycle drivers and are given leeway due to their recommendations.

SafeMotos has been called “Africa’s answer to Uber”, but it is more than that. With founders in their twenties, it is a vision for what Rwanda could become, a country that is already making strides towards progress with the fastest and cheapest Internet on the continent.

KAJO-KEJI HEALTH TRAINING INSTITUTE

COUNTRY: SOUTH SUDAN

FOUNDED IN: 2013

There is a health practitioner deficit in the war-torn new nation of South Sudan. With a fast-growing population and civil war unrest, there is a great need for doctors and other medical professionals. As of April 2015, there were a reported 120 medical doctors serving an expanding population of 9 million with the highest maternity mortality in the world. The fledgling health care system desperately needs help, and that is what Lou Louis Koboji, Lokiri Peter and other visionaries at Kajo-Keli Health Institute daringly try to fill.

The Institute runs a three-year accelerated medical program to train doctors, laboratory scientists, nurses, and midwives who are desperately needed in the country as the health sector crisis debilitates a country already ravaged by civil war.

Loius Koboji fled Sudan when the civil war that would later divide the country into North and South Sudan was getting unbearable. He worked in Uganda as a Laboratory Technologist, and after South Sudan was created, he came back to the country to meet a health crisis. There were very few medical practitioners working, the practicing ones had a deficit of drugs and finances and equipment, and people were dying from very simple and treatable diseases. In September of 2013 with a class of 65 students, Kajo-Keji Health Institute was born, amidst skirmishes and disturbances of the war which keeps interrupting their medical program.

The accelerated medical program is training doctors who are meeting a very critical and necessary need. The school is in constant peril, with examinations interrupted by gunmen and students dropping out due to the war, but it is has graduated its first set of students in 2016 and is thriving. Even more remarkable is that the school was founded by ordinary citizens with a passion for their nation. Due to the visionary mission of the school, they have attracted international recognition and partnership and is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in medical education.

BICYCLES AGAINST POVERTY

COUNTRY: GULU, UGANDA

FOUNDED IN: 2009

Most great start-ups are the literal drop in the ocean that creates a mighty flood. Bicycles Against Poverty is one such initiative, providing a much-needed service in predominantly small farming communities. In such small villages, having a means to move their produce to the market could be the difference between abject poverty and having enough to live by.

Most people who live in small villages are far from basic amenities like hospitals, water, and the marketplace. A means of transportation to get to all those services would make the difference in their standard of living, and bicycles are a simple and effective way to bridge that gap. The service provides bicycles for these small farmers on a hire-purchase basis with the option of paying back over one year. Those bicycles do not just provide a means for the farmers to move their products, it gives them the means to access healthcare, take their children to school and get to the water and other basic amenities. The bicycles are assembled locally and paying instalmentally makes the payments easy for the users while giving them immediate access to the means of transportation they need.

Muyambi Muyambi, the carrier of the vision that bore Bicycles Against Poverty, grew up in a family with a mother who suffered from a long-term chronic illness and whenever she needed to be taken to get to the hospital, they had to borrow a bicycle to get her the help she needed. Knowing firsthand that most people who grew up in small communities like him were most hindered from progress by their lack of a means of transportation, he conceived an initiative to alleviate poverty in his small way.

The program is small but effective, spreading through 13 communities and impacting more than four thousand lives. Having the means of transportation gives women autonomy and independence empowering them to take care of their families even without a male figure in the family. Added to that, it has precipitated up to a 30% increase in business creation and family income. A few bicycles in a community encourages sharing and empowers not just the owners but the other members of the community who can borrow it, and this comes in handy in case of medical emergencies and such occurrences when movement is necessary.

SUSTAINABLE POINT-OF-USE TREATMENT AND STORAGE (SPOUTS) OF WATER

COUNTRY: UGANDA

FOUNDED IN: 2011

Clean water is a luxury in the more impoverished parts of the world, which is ironic since two-thirds of our planet is covered in water. However, most of not is not drinkable. This is the plight of ten million Ugandans, almost one-third of the country’s population. The number one killer of children under the age of five years remains diarrhea precipitated by bad drinking water. The simplest means of purifying water is unavailable to most of the population who do not have access to chlorine, and proper filters. Moreover, boiling does not effectively purify contaminated drinking water. What is more, some of the population are averse to methods of purification that they are not familiar with.

SPOUTS of water is a non-profit organization that aims to make affordable and drinking water available to rural Uganda with its ceramic water filters. These filters are cheaper than the other commercially available filters in Uganda and because the material is made out of ceramic, it leaves a terracotta aftertaste that is preferred because the villagers are used to storing their water in clay pots. SPOUTS is the only water filtering plant in Uganda, using locally sourced materials to manufacture the PURIFAAYA filters which increase the local economy by creating jobs and opportunities. Their method of distribution by sale instead of through free aid encourages the users to view water as a commodity worth investing in, attaching its due importance to their lives. With the help of existing organizations, we will jumpstart a change in the way water is viewed.

The PURIFAAYA water filters are durable, lasting for up to two years, and it has been proven that having a stable water source keeps the family healthy, increasing their productivity and all-round improving the society.

In 2010, the founder Kathy Ku came to Uganda for the summer and spent too much on drinking water. The only source of water for drinking was bottled water, which she could only afford because she was a foreigner. This condition made her team up with her friend and fellow Harvard student John Kye to start the SPOUTS initiative with the sustainable ceramic filter initiative.

SPOUTS meets a need that not only improves the lives of the users of the ceramic filters but also creates a wave of socio-economic change that imparts the whole African continent. With aid from foreign organizations and donations, it has created a difference in many lives and continues to do so as they expand their operations to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

OKADABOOKS

COUNTRY: NIGERIA

FOUNDED IN: 2013

Writing is a dicey undertaking, and added to that is the hassle of publishing. Writers seldom get their money’s worth from the publishers and sellers-and that is for the writers who are even published. Okadabooks is a publishing platform that breaches that gap.

Okadabooks is a platform where the writers and readers can interact, with the readers paying to read the stories and the writers getting paid directly for every read. Books are not expensive, ranging from #75 to #500 except for some special cases like for new releases. Of course, the application gets a percentage of every sale as their remuneration-the writer gets 70% of the proceeds from the book by logging into their Okadabooks account and the money is uploaded to their bank account. The readers have the option of paying through their airtime credit or linking their account to the application platform to buy books directly and read directly it on the application. Readers who have bought a book can always access it whenever they log into their account.

Okechukwu Ofili, who is the founder of Okadabooks, is a prolific writer, satirist and comic book artist who has a great gift for using sarcasm to pass his messages on mental conditioning, cultural and educational limitations and other socio-economic barriers that Nigerians are faced with every day. Ofili used his own personal experience as a launching pad for the platform. As a writer, he experienced frustration after his book “How Stupidity Saved My Life” was published in 2011. The bookstores carrying his book withheld his payment for the longest time, prompting him to go on a social media crusade to get it back. His experience fostered the idea that became Okadabooks.

It makes publishing simple and controlled by the author – an autonomy that most writers don’t usually get. It is developed for the African market and converts the reader’s airtime credit into virtual money for the writers. It has opened up the market to writers of all genres and Nigerian languages who would generally find it difficult to be published in the mainstream publishing world.

DR CADX

COUNTRY: ZIMBABWE

FOUNDED IN: AUGUST 2016

It has been estimated that up to 170 million Africans do not have access to specialized health care providers like radiographers and medical imagery scientists and this leaves a gap in diagnostics. Dr. CADX is a mobile medical imaging specialist, helping health practitioners to provide well-rounded care to their patients even in rural areas without the delay of having to travel long distances for a specialist.

CADX provides an essential medical service by helping medical practitioners to read and interpret medical imaging files (x-rays, CTs, MRIs and ultrasound images) uploaded to their computers and tablets. It is a diagnostic system that is uploaded with the relevant data it needs to read medical images, focusing on head injuries, breast cancer, lung and heart diseases. This eliminates guessing and reaching, and proper all-round healthcare is achieved by the medic providers.

This start-up was founded by Gift Gana, a visionary physics degree holder and Tatenda Madzorera, a professional and experienced radiographer. They saw the mortality rates caused by lack of access to professional care and errors in medical imaging reading, and the vision to change the situation by involving more reliable technology was created.

With an 82% success rate of differentiating unhealthy from healthy tissue images and a growing database, Dr. CADX is one to watch. This beats the 70% accuracy that has been observed with human radiologists, who are not above making errors. Already they have been singled out by international investors who are watching out for the full version to be launched in 2018.

Our idea of wealth has for so long endeared us to a set of unrealistic dreams without knowing how to take each step to lead us to the end we desire. Your desire for money, quick money, has always made you want some sort of no hardwork but huge cash. That process is not sustainable. And if you think it is the way to go because you are getting results now, my advice to you is to have a rethink and change your strategy to life.

Put your skills to a productive use and let them make positive impact.

Let me give you a quick illustration. Have you ever considered internet fraudsters, those they call yahoo boys? Have you ever considered their digital skills? What if they restrategise and decide to trade their digital skills through legal means? What if instead of defrauding unsuspecting internet users and lavishing their ‘proceeds’ from ‘magas’, they decide to help people solve their digital needs. Imagine the chain reaction of job creation, legal and legitimate wealth creation, multiple layer empowerment of younger generation and more importantly, reducing criminal population in the society. Those who would have joined them in criminal act would now be mentored on legitimate value creation and skill development.

Who remembers ‘Evans’ the alleged kidnapper? Oh what high wired first rate strategy skills that must have been deployed into his business of kidnapping! What if he had restrategised his life course and become a better citizen and a good ambassador of his country by becoming a business strategist and consultant, with his philanthropic heart?

Who remembers the Young promising Nigerian billionaire Obinwanne Okeke? Yes, I know we do not want to be reminded of these names.

Now on this side, who knows Professor Ndubuisi Ekekwe, Chris Kwekowe, Obi Ozor, Saheed Adepoju, Seyi Oyesola, Jelani Aliyu, Col. Oviemo Ovadje (Rtd), Cyprian Emeka Uzor, Kunle Olukotun, Sebastine Chinonye Omeh, Shehu Saleh Balami, Yemi Adesokan etc. These are Nigerians, yes, Nigerians who placed more emphasis on value first and money was attracted to them. You will be pleasantly surprised to find out that most of them never had money in their motivation for doing what they did.

The totality of the young people learn values and vices from their environments in collaboration with their personal choices and tendencies to form their identity. It is always good to make the choice of values over vices to be a positive influence.

Make it a duty to learn one skill every 3 months.

Yes, every three months, try to learn one skill in the direction of your goals! Determine those things that will move you one step or two closer to your dream. Do you ask yourself why would I advise three months interval? It is because a good habit can be formed in 21 days of consistently doing the same thing. This habit can now be more consolidated in 90 days. So anything you do consistently for 90 days, be sure you’re just some months away to becoming an expert in any field you so desire to master.

As a forward looking champion, a soon-to-be millionaire and a positive influencer that you want to be, you need to learn relevant skills and make it a continuous habit of improving upon the knowledge and skills you have for positive and developmental use. Continuously learn new things, useful values, become valuable and let your invaluableness create better influence on any and everyone that has any dealing with you. This is the true attraction that brings true wealth. This is the money you truly need! This is the currency for the right exchange you can ever imagine!

Money is a slave and not you! Money should be attracted to you and not you to money.

I spoke with my mom this afternoon. I told her I was bringing my TV to her home – to dump. The television all of a sudden developed a malfunction – the screen display colour suddenly went berserk and turned ghostly. The two technicians I consulted told me I should keep at least 40k for the repair – and they are not sure they will find the parts to fix it. Anyway, I decided I will dump it and start saving for another one. So, I called the only dumping ground I’m comfortable with – my mother’s home.

For the first time ever, my mother said ‘no’. She reminded me that all of us have taken up much space in her house to dump broken gadgets and electronics. Worst is that she has no means of disposing of them. And right now, I’m talking of bringing a ‘big’ television to join the collections. Anyway, she said I should find a way to dispose of it myself.

But where do I go? Honestly, we have problems with the way we dispose of electronics and gadgets in this country. And to crown it all, we are bringing in a lot of second-hand electronics (did I tell you my own television was ‘Belgium’?). Even some of the ‘new ones’ in our market are substandard; though they may last longer than the fairly used ones.

Some people may wonder how Nigerians have been disposing of their spoilt-beyond-repair electronics. Well, that’s easy to find out.

WAYS NIGERIANS DISPOSE THEIR BROKEN ELECTRONICS

There is nothing new that I will say here, but we need to be reminded of what our problems are. Some of the ways we Nigerians do away with old electronics that can never be repaired include:

Abandoning Them in Repairers’ Shops: This is the commonest method used here. In fact that’s the method I am considering right now. Honestly, these technicians have suffered in the hands of people. Someone that knows he is not ready to pay the amount mentioned for repairing his electronic device will still leave it with the technician and disappear. See, if you want to know the shop of a technician (and a good one), just look for shops filled with old televisions, fans, stabilizers and co.

But these technicians have their own problems. When they know that they can’t repair something, they will ask the customer to bring it hoping to siphon some money from him. Well, when the customer abandons the device, they will have extra loads to bear.

I hope we understand that abandoning these devices in the repair shops hasn’t solved our problems. This is because these people will still dispose of them wrongly and that action will affect us in the long run.

Dumping in Waterways and Bushes: This is the next alternative people have for dumping their old electronics if the repairer’s shop strategy didn’t work. Even repairers dump the ones abandoned in their shops in places like this. I once saw someone’s farm used as a dumping site for old television casings and couldn’t help wondering if the act was done out of malice. I know that this problem is already being battled by the government and concerned individuals but more efforts need to be made.

Using the Dumpsters: Let me be honest, the only television parts I see beside dumpsters are empty casings (without screens). But I know that spoilt gadgets such as flashlights, and small electronics like small radios, are thrown there. But my worries are, do the sanitation workers that empty these dumpsters sort these wastes? If they don’t, it means that they still dump these devices in the same place with other refuse. But, do we even have different dump sites for this kind of waste?

Well, this article is just a simple call to the right individuals and authorities to look into the matter of providing a good and safe place for the disposal of electronic devices, gadgets and other devices such as batteries. Some of these devices contain toxic materials that shouldn’t come in contact with human, animal and plant food. Yet we throw them into our waterways and litter the environment with them.

Another thing that needs serious attention is the quality of electronics brought into the market. It is quite wrong that we allowed substandard goods to fill our markets because our economy is bad. Let the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) buckle up in ensuring that Nigerians obtain maximum satisfaction for the money they spend.

Our cities may boast of maintaining good sanitary condition (in some areas) but our rural areas still practice the old method of using the bush and the ‘gutter’ as refuse sites. Waste management authorities need to see these.