Built in Africa

In this episode of Built in Africa, we examine how Nigerian e-mobility company, Savenhart Technology Limited (Siltech), wants to foster a cleaner Africa through Electric Vehicles production.

This episode is brought to you by Whogohost WordPress Hosting. Visit builtin.africa/whogohost and use coupon code BUILTINAFRICA to get 25% off on any annual plan.

This episode is brought to you by Whogohost WordPress Hosting. Visit builtin.africa/whogohost and use coupon code BUILTINAFRICA to get 25% off on any annual plan.

This episode is brought to you by Whogohost WordPress Hosting. Visit builtin.africa/whogohost and use coupon code BUILTINAFRICA to get 25% off on any annual plan. FULL TRANSCRIPT Narrator: I remember ten years ago when African music didn't get as much global attention as it does now. Interestingly, now that I think of it, it wasn't because of a lack of talent or content. So, I wonder what has changed. Well, your guess is as good as mine. But Africa now has a growing youth population, exceptional music talents, unique genres, and streaming companies. Africa's music industry is doing so well that global companies are eager to sign deals with artistes to get a share of their earnings.  Guess what? Streaming made up 62.3% of the $21.5 billion revenue made by the global music industry in 2020.  If you ask me, digital distribution was clearly the game-changer. And the good thing is that apart from foreign platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, and Shazam, local streaming platforms are also contributing their quota. On this episode of Built in Africa, we explore how indigenous music streaming platform, AfroCharts, is offering unreached African music talents the opportunity to get paid for their content. Narrator: Burundi-born Leonard Novati, AfroCharts founder, lived his early life in Tanzanian refugee camps because of the constant civil wars in his home country. During his stay, music was one of the things he loved doing asides from other menial jobs he did to make ends meet, so he stuck with that on reaching the US in 2007 at the age of 16. However, he needed to fuel his thirst for entrepreneurship. But what were his options: become a musician, a music producer, or a disc jockey (DJ). Eventually, Leonard chose to make a living from DJing for some reason. Leonard Novati: When I got here where there was so much technology, I thought I could sing like most young kids, young boys and girls, I tried that, it didn't work. And then I tried to open a recording studio, it didn't work either. So, I'm like, well, I love music, I must share with the public. You know, somehow, I have to make people happy through music. If I cannot sing, I cannot produce, why don't I become a DJ? From there, I started teaching myself to DJ. Narrator: So, he founded a DJ company to make a living while in college and focused majorly on African music, which turned out to be his selling point. He often got invited to African and American events.  While he trained himself to become a DJ, he graduated with a computer science degree and later became a web developer. In 2014, he saw a need. People listening to his Afrobeats mix asked where they could get it, and some African artistes also contacted him to add their songs to his mix. That was when he had the idea for AfroCharts. But his first attempt wasn't a success. Leonard Novati: While I was in college, I actually tried to create something similar but for beats. Like an online beat-selling marketplace. Whether you're an African or not, where you can sell your beats to the world. Artistes are looking for fresh beats. That failed. That was in 2014. Narration: After that, he started brainstorming the idea for AfroCharts in 2016.  Leonard Novati: All these streaming platforms, African listeners and artistes still feel like they're left out. That's when it hit me, I'm like why don't we create our own platform? Our platform focuses on African artistes, Af

This episode is brought to you by Whogohost WordPress Hosting. Visit builtin.africa/whogohost and use coupon code BUILTINAFRICA to get 25% off on any annual plan. FULL TRANSCRIPT SFX: Ambulance siren Narrator: Access to healthcare is one of Africa's biggest challenges. The World Health Organization's recommended doctor to patient ratio is 1:600, but Nigeria falls short with 1:2,753 as revealed by its federal government in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. From this, one thing is sure: Nigeria is a far cry from having decent healthcare. With these statistics come a string of casualties. For Ifeanyi Ossai, a Nigeria and US-based entrepreneur, his aunt died on her way to a distant hospital following a protracted allergic reaction, a death that could have been avoided if she had received medical attention sooner.  SFX: Sombre sound This sad event would soon inspire Ifeanyi to build four functional medical clinics in Delta state, Nigeria, a place he grew up. Enter WeCare in 2017. to provide superior medical care to underserved areas to reduce or eliminate preventable deaths. Narrator: On this episode of Built in Africa, we examine how a Nigerian-founded healthcare business, WeCare evolved into a full-blown telemedicine healthtech startup, CribMD. Narrator: Although it was a well-thought-out idea, Ifeanyi soon discovered that many patients went home without getting the healthcare they sought; with the problem of accessibility solved, the challenge of demand surfaced.  Ifeanyi Ossai: Our physical clinics could not accommodate most of the customers we get on any given day. On any given day, we could only see about 10% of the customers that come to our doorsteps” Narrator: That's Ifeanyi Ossai, CEO and Chairman, WeCare and co-founder, CribMD.  In a bid to solve the demand problem, WeCare planned to open 300 clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. But in 2020, it became clear that the demand for healthcare would always exceed supply. Ifeanyi Ossai: That is when we came to the realisation that we need to solve healthcare in Africa another way.” Narrator: So, in WeCare's third year of operation, Ifeanyi sourced out the best brains he could get, to help him salvage the leftovers of his passion for affordable and accessible healthcare. He found two. In June 2020, Ifeanyi co-founded CribMD with Ngiri Michael, an experienced software engineer who serves as Chief Technology Officer (CTO); and Lorna Mae Johnson, a nurse and midwife running some medical clinics in Los Angeles, serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Narrator: So, here's exactly how CribMD works. Ifeanyi Ossai: Instead of you coming to our physical clinics, we can deliver the doctor to your home at your comfort and convenience  So, our goal is to democratise health care by delivering quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare to you wherever you are in Africa.” Narrator: … and how the business makes money? Ifeanyi Ossai: CribMD makes money by charging monthly subscriptions. So, we charge you a very small amount of money so that you can access our healthcare on-demand.” Narrator: Through the mobile app and website, users can have access to doctor home calls, telemedicine, prescription delivery, and many other features that don't require them to visit a hospital by su

This episode is brought to you by Whogohost WordPress Hosting. Visit builtin.africa/whogohost and use coupon code BUILTINAFRICA to get 25% off on any annual plan. FULL TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Saturday March 25 2017. Chukwuma Eleje, father of four, says goodbye to his family as he sets out to make deliveries for the day. Chukwuma works for one of the third-party logistics partners of eCommerce giant, Jumia. But little does he know that it's his last goodbye. Chukwuma ended up being murdered by 2 young men who ordered 2 iPhone 7 devices using Pay on Delivery, a popular payment option on Nigerian eCommerce platforms. After brutally snuffing the life of Mr. Eleje, the young men tied Chukwuma up and stuffed him into a septic tank.  The unfortunate incident happened at a time when Nigerians were still coming to terms with online shopping. Pay on Delivery was the preferred option, given the level of distrust and fear they feel. But the murder incident didn't look good on the industry.  The question is if they took Pay on Delivery out of the equation in those early days, what were the chances of survival for eCommerce businesses in Nigeria?  Naturally, these platforms began to explore safer options as it became clearer that Pay on Delivery wouldn't be sustainable in the long haul. Soon, escrow services became the perfect replacement but they were quite unpopular at the time.  Somewhere in Ghana in 2017, on the floors of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) accelerator programme, three Nigerians, Ehi Aigiomawu, Ibrahim Oladele, and Tomisin Adeshiyan  came up with the idea for a bespoke escrow service. They named it Vesicash. Globally, the eCommerce sector is predicted to be worth $6.5 billion by 2022, and Vesicash plans to make it safe for Nigerian online businesses Ehi Aigiomawu: We found out that buyers could not trust the sellers to deliver the right items, so they would prefer Pay on Delivery instead. And sellers, on the other hand, people who sell, are not really convinced that “oh, if I ship this item, am I really sure this person will pay me? Won't it be an issue later on?”. So most of the time, this was leading to lots of unfulfilled orders. So how do we solve this problem? We knew that the main issue that these two people — the buy and the seller — had was trust. So they couldn't trust each other. So we asked, “how could we build a platform to foster trust between these sets of people so that they can transact smoothly?” Narrator: That's Ehi Aigiomawu, Vesicash Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer.  Ehi Aigiomawu: We did a couple of research in different spaces, and we found out that the problem was not just in the eCommerce space, it was also in the freelance sector, it was also in the real estate sector, and in other sectors too. So, we narrowed down and we decided that we're going to solve this problem, and we decided that escrow was a way for us to solve this problem, to foster trust between buyer and seller. So, we immediately registered the company called Vesicash with the sole purpose of guaranteeing payment security for digital transactions across Africa. Narrator: So, they pitched the idea and it sounded good. Ehi Aigiomawu: MEST liked it but then, we had to come back to Nigeria to validate the idea… MEST is in Ghana. Nigeria is a bigger market than Ghana so we had to come back to Nigeria, to actually validat

Please subscribe, share and drop a review of this podcast, by searching for ‘Built in Africa' on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also email us feedback at hello@builtin.africa For more stories on startups and innovation in Africa, please visit techpoint.africa

On this episode of Built in Africa, we bring you industry experts in the financial sector discussing financial inclusion juxtaposing between Nigeria and Kenya.

Build the money of the future at https://currency.techpoint.africa/ Image by WorldSpectrum from Pixabay Please subscribe, share and drop a review of this podcast, by searching for ‘Built in Africa' on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also email us feedback at hello@builtin.africa For more stories on startups and innovation in Africa, please visit techpoint.africa

Image by WorldSpectrum from Pixabay

On this episode of Built in Africa, we take a look at how Y Combinator-backed Eze Wholesale is altering the global landscape of the used smartphone market. Image credit: Techjaja.com. FULL TRANSCRIPT  Narrator: In 2017, two friends, one a software engineer, and the other, a petroleum engineer, saw an opportunity. They became wholesalers in the used smartphone market currently valued at a whopping $46 billion.  They operated this business for over two years before they eventually realised that the used smartphone market had more issues than they thought. This problem gave birth to an entirely new business. [Theme song] On this episode of Built in Africa, we explore how Y Combinator-backed Eze Wholesale is altering the global landscape of the used smartphone market. David Iya and Joshua Nzewi are childhood friends, and they ran a couple of businesses together up until they got into the university. By 2016, Joshua had become a petroleum engineer at Shell while David had worked as a software engineer with two US-based Internet companies. One day, David called Joshua telling him about a business opportunity he had in mind: Joshua Nzewi: So one day he called me the scan the arbitrage opportunity between buying phones locally and selling them online. And that's what brought us into that. Narrator: Having run businesses before, it didn't take long for the two friends to kick this off. They did this for two and a half years but soon began to notice a trend. Joshua Nzewi: For about two and half years where we were just trading devices, buying them from individuals and selling them overseas. Until we went to trading conferences where we realised that there are inefficiencies in the market at a much higher level where companies are moving a billion dollars in devices a month. And realising this was not just a problem in the United States but also abroad as well. So the channels in which people are able to source these devices and then resell them. Narrator: So in January 2020,  they built Eze wholesale to try to solve this problem. Joshua Nzewi: So we created this online marketplace that would enable people to transact a lot faster, with more security and safety, and transparency, and much more efficiently than people are currently trading now. Narrator: Globally, the used smartphone market is valued at $46 billion, and in markets like Nigeria, it has continued to grow in importance. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that used smartphone shipments will exceed 330 million units with a market value of $67 billion by 2023. Here's how this process works.  Ben lives in the UK and uses an iPhone X. But, he's tired of it, so he walks into a carrier store and drops it off. The carrier store then auctions the iPhone X and other phones that have been dropped off to wholesalers. The wholesalers are tasked with the responsibility of effective distribution to those who need them. And this is why weeks later, Tobi buys that iPhone X in Nigeria for much less than its original cost. As a B2B platform, Eze Wholesale allows traders to place, buy, and sell used smartphones. Sellers can post the devices they have in stock, and then buyers can buy directly from them via the platform. For Eze wholesale, the aim is to open up the market for all and eliminate the middlemen in this space. Joshua Nzewi: What we're trying to do in this space is open the ma

On this episode of Built in Africa, we take a look at how Y Combinator-backed Eze Wholesale is altering the global landscape of the used smartphone market. Image credit: Techjaja.com.

FULL TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Mental health in Africa is often misperceived, leading to the stigmatisation of people with mental health issues. Because of this, those in need of treatment usually put it off. The cost of therapy doesn't help either. On this episode of Built in Africa, we put the spotlight on Shezlong, the first mental health-tech solution in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). According to a survey carried out by Egypt's Ministry of Health in 2018, about 25 million people in Egypt — a quarter of the population — are suffering from a range of mental illnesses.  SFX: Ambulance siren.  In 2014, Ahmed Abu ElHaz, an Egyptian software engineer, was in an accident that almost cost him his limbs.  Ahmed Abu ElHaz: I had a severe depression after the accident and I wanted to go to a therapist to recover. But unfortunately, in Egypt, and similarly around Africa, it's very difficult to find a good therapist.  Narrator: Given his previous background as a consultant with the World Health Organisation on mental health, Ahmed decided to build a platform to tackle the problem he faced. Ahmed Abu ElHaz: I thought about how we can connect licensed therapists with anybody having mental disorders in a convenient, private, and anonymous way.  Narrator: Ruminating on how to tackle the problem, he considered stigmatisation, misconception, contradictions, and religious stance on mental health disorders, and concluded that online was the way to go. Ahmed Abu ElHaz: The online therapy, definitely, it's more convenient than clinics in different ways. The first thing is the people. It's easier to share their emotions and share their thoughts in their houses, rather than going to the clinics. Narrator: And so, in 2015, Shezlong was born as a video conferencing platform with a focus on mental health. With only three therapists initially, the platform was limited to Egypt and other Arabic-speaking nations. Ahmed realised very quickly that the problem was two-pronged. To build a client base, he needed online awareness campaigns to destigmatise mental illness. On the other hand, he also needed to hire qualified therapists to provide service to said clients. Ahmed Abu ElHaz: The main issue of mental health, it's an untapped industry especially for people and government. The governments, especially in emerging markets, don't put suitable budget for mental health and they don't invest a lot to provide loans to protect the patients and the therapists. On the other hand, the people don't have the awareness and the culture to go to the therapist, if we have depression, for example, and personality disorders. Narrator: But he eventually surmounted the initial challenge. Today, Shezlong now engages over 300 licensed therapists who specialise in depression, anxiety disorder, psychotic disorder, addiction, among other fields. It has grown into a global product, used across 60 countries, and is available in English, Italian, Hindi, Swedish, Turkish, Greek, Urdu, Deutsch, and French. Shezlong has managed to create a sub-niche in the area of European and American expatriates who require the services of culturally familiar therapists. These expatriates, Ahmed says, make up 30% of Shezlong's clientbase.  Along the journey, Ahmed enlisted the help of other professionals like Mohamed ElShami, who served as the Medical Director, now Medical Advisor, and Shaheer Shaheen, who serves as the CTO. Ahmed is the CEO of the company. Shezlong works sort of like a marketplace for mental health services. Both clients and therapists can access the platform via

On this episode of Built in Africa, we put the spotlight on Shezlong, the first mental health-tech solution in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This episode focuses on how Vybe, a Nigerian online dating startup that is designed to help Africans connect with other Africans both online and offline. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Photo by Iwaria

This episode is brought to you by HostGator.com, web hosting that scales from easy to expert. Visit builtin.africa/hostgator to get up to 60% off on your purchases. We put the spotlight on how eCommerce platform, Selar is working to grow Africa’s passion economy. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits:

This episode is extracted from a Techpoint town hall meeting with Peter Salovey, president of Yale University, enjoy. Build the money of the future at https://currency.techpoint.africa/

This episode is extracted from a panel discussion at Techpoint Build 2020 title, "Building products with African design," enjoy. Build the money of the future at https://currency.techpoint.africa/

This episode is brought to you by PureVPN. Visit builtin.africa/purevpn for 88% off on their 5-year plan this holiday. On this episode, we put the spotlight on how Nigerian-based startup, TalentQL, wants to build a pipeline of quality African talent for local and international companies. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

This episode is brought to you by PureVPN. Visit builtin.africa/purevpn for 88% off on their 5-year plan this holiday. On this episode, we put the spotlight on how Ivorian startup, Afrikrea, is building the online infrastructure for African culture commerce. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

On this episode, we explore how Nigeria's first feature-length animation movie came to life, the brains behind the project, their process and what all this means for the Nigerian animation industry. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

This episode tells the story of how a young innovator is building digital interactive apps in several Kenyan native languages, to support early childhood learning, despite locational challenges. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Additional music from www.zapsplat.com. Photo Credit: Global Partnership for Education - GPE Flickr via Compfight.

On this episode, we take a look at how Nigerian payroll software startup, Bento Africa is working to influence the monthly spend culture of Nigerians. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Music by Mixaund - mixaund.bandcamp.com Upbeat Corporate - JP Bianchini https://jpbianchini.com

This episode is brought to you by HostGator.com, web hosting that scales from easy to expert. Obinna Ukwuani takes us on his journey from shaping the development of robotics in Africa, to spearheading digital initiatives at the Bank of Kigali, Rwanda. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Music by Mixaund | mixaund.bandcamp.com

This episode delves into how Ghanaian based startup, BACE Group, uses state of the art technology to tackle the problem of identity theft in Africa. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Underneath the World by Mid-Air Machine www.freemusicarchive.org Additional sound effects from www.zapsplat.com

This episode is brought to you by HostGator.com, web hosting that scales from easy to expert. We put the spotlight on how Nigerian print-on-demand startup, Kiakiaprint is taking its business global with Canva partnership and South Africa expansion. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Upbeat Corporate by JP Bianchini - @jpmbianchini Optimistic / Inspirational by Mixaund - mixaund.bandcamp.com Safe In Your Arms by Mixaund - mixaund.bandcamp.com Additional music and sound effects from www.zapsplat.com

This episode puts the spotlight on how South African agritech startup, ITIKI uses artificial intelligence to simplify rainfall forecasts for small-scale farmers around Africa. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa Credits: Upbeat Corporate by JP Bianchini - @jpmbianchini Optimistic / Inspirational by Mixaund - mixaund.bandcamp.com Safe In Your Arms by Mixaund - mixaund.bandcamp.com Additional music and sound effects from www.zapsplat.com

This episode is brought to you by HostGator.com, web hosting that scales from easy to expert. We spotlight how Lagos-based eCommerce startup, One Kiosk Africa is exploring the hyperlocal model to achieve sustainability in a struggling market. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

This episode puts the spotlight on how Akiddie is working to create the largest collection of African children’s stories using technology Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

This episode looks at how Ugandan startup, Logistify AI, is helping businesses find flexible storage for their inventory. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

Funke Opeke takes us 10 years inside MainOne's journey of building West Africa's Internet infrastructure, the high moments, the low moments and the future plans. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

We explore how Kenyan startup, Apollo Agriculture, is solving the credit problem small-scale farmers face with technology. Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

In this pilot episode of the Built in Africa, we'll be taking a look at how South African startup, Voyc, is working to improve how call centres handle customer experience with its AI-based software. Soundtrack credit: Spark Of Inspiration by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Fan mail and feedback: hello@builtin.africa For ad placements: ads@builtin.africa

On November 8, 2019, in an interview with Techpoint Africa, Dara Oladosu, the Nigerian developer who created the Quoted Replies bot, discussed his surprise at Twitter’s job offer and the fate of his viral Twitter bot. He has since helped the Silicon Valley company integrate a native quoted tweets feature