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Nigeria, Others to Account for Half of 115m new Subscribers by 2020 – de Morais
Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais is an entrepreneur and innovation specialist with a deep interest in African socio-economic development. In 2007, He founded Quantum Global Group, an international group of companies focused on African development, particularly in the fields of corporate finance advisory, asset and private wealth management, real estate and investment consulting. He has been supporting sustainable and innovation-led socio economic growth in Africa through African Innovation Foundation. He spoke to chike Onwuegbuchi on issues around his Foundation and supporting innovation in Africa
Low Internet penetration in Africa as a Challenge for Entrepreneurs
The 2017 Mobile Economy report by GSMA estimates that at the end of 2016, there were 420 million unique mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to a penetration rate of 43%.
The region will have more than half a billion unique mobile subscribers by 2020, by which time around half the population will subscribe to a mobile service.
Four of the most populated markets in the region – DRC, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania – will account for nearly half the 115 million new subscribers expected by 2020.
A decade ago, none of this existed. Today, despite bandwidth challenges, African entrepreneurship is on the rise.
The 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report shows that three quarters of working age adults in Africa consider entrepreneurship as a ‘good career choice’.
The GEM report also shows that ‘Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rates in Africa are amongst the highest in the world, with just under a fifth of working age adults engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity.
The majority, 55%, of early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa operate in retail trade, hotels and restaurants, while the second most-popular sector is agriculture, forestry and fishing, at 10%, followed by manufacturing at 8%.
Through IPA we have seen many African innovators rise above the common day challenges that affect Africans at large and go on to build successful local, regional and global businesses.
As I referenced before, the challenges are more in relation to entrepreneurs not being able to commercialize their ideas due to their lack of ability to meet the real needs in Africa, which renders their ideas technically and commercially unviable.
AIF and Innovative Initiatives in Africa
In the six years since AIF hosted the inaugural Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA), I have seen African ingenuity evolve in its sophistication and relevance. Africa’s youthful demographic has come of age in the digital era, making them early adopters of technology and the vanguard of innovation on the continent.
The continent has witnessed a cultural shift from consumers of technology to innovators capable of disrupting traditional sectors such as agriculture while pioneering relevant African-focused solutions in important growth sectors such as healthcare and clean energy.
However, not all segments of African society have been privy to being able to participate in driving the continent’s innovation needs.
In order for African innovation to truly have an impact on socio-economic transformation, we need to create more inclusive innovation ecosystems that provide windows of opportunity for Africans who are outside the formal economy to develop technically and commercially viable solutions that meet their needs as well.
Attracting Investment to Develop ideas in Africa
Africa’s investment in research and development (R&D) is less than one per cent of the global investment share. Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) infrastructure and resources continue to fall short.
These factors are amongst the reasons why very few scientific discoveries translate into viable solutions that solve real African challenges.
An innovative solution is only as good as its viability in the real world. Year after year, through IPA, hundreds of African innovators put forward solutions that they believe meet local challenges. Yet only a handful of African innovators are able to translate their ideas to the lab and scale their innovations.
There is a need for increased collaboration between researchers and innovators to facilitate knowledge transfer and enable the creation of more impactful and marketable innovations across the continent.
In an effort to close this gap, AIF recently entered into a MoU with The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) to create more value and enhance cooperation, interaction, and knowledge sharing in STI in Africa. In doing so, we aim to catalyse research-led innovations into sustainable African enterprises.
Motive Behind African Innovation Foundation
I founded the AIF in 2009 with the aim of supporting sustainable and innovation-led socio economic growth in Africa. Its key focus has been to enable Africans to create homegrown solutions for local challenges.
Then, in 2011 we launched the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). This proved to be the catalyst for unlocking the dormant African innovation spirit.
In 2012, at the joint Africa Union (AU) and UNECA conference, IPA was endorsed by the ministers in attendance, and a resolution was passed, calling for member states to work with AIF to promote innovation-based societies in Africa.
To me, this will always remain one AIF’s greatest milestones because it led to important beginnings.
Many African governments have since begun to see the real value in investing in innovation economies and have been increasingly putting innovation ahead on their development agenda.
Last year at IPA2017 held in Ghana, H.E. President Akufo-Addo pledged to commit a minimum of one per cent of GDP towards strengthening Ghana’s innovation ecosystem.
This is yet another reflection of AIF’s impact in defining the importance of innovation in securing widespread socio economic transformation.
I sincerely hope to see more African leaders make this level of commitment towards driving innovation-led growth in their respective countries.
Way out of problem of Access to Credit for Entrepreneurs in Africa
This comes down to a financing mismatch more often than not. Africa is an early stage market. The ideas on the continent are also young, reflecting a young demographic that are early adopters of technology.
At present, investors are largely interested in startups in the e-commerce, clean technology, e-health and financial services space but many of these startups are still in early stages. What they need is venture capital because they do not yet qualify for private equity.
Africa needs to attract more venture capital money in order to boost its startup scene at a faster rate.
The theme for IPA2018, ‘Investing in Inclusive Innovation Ecosystems’ calls for African governments and innovation stakeholders to invest in building bridges for more inclusive ecosystems that will accelerate and scale African innovation at all levels of society.
The aim is to find solutions to increase access to innovative financing and knowhow, and to enhance collaboration between African nations to enable local innovators to access higher value markets for their solutions at a faster rate.
We are also looking to garner increased participation form the diaspora. Diaspora entrepreneurs and investors too are uniquely positioned to recognize opportunities in their countries of cultural origin as ‘first influencers’ in fostering economic growth.
Recent research suggests that diaspora entrepreneurs can contribute to development by creating businesses and jobs, stimulating innovation, expanding global networks, and generating social capital across borders. So in this regard, IPA2018 is a call to action for diaspora investors to support African innovation and entrepreneurship.
Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s leading champion of entrepreneurship, has announced the opening of applications for its 2025 Entrepreneurship Programmes.
It asked both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs from across Africa to apply for a chance to receive world-class training, expert mentoring, and non-refundable seed capital funding to scale their businesses.
Programmes open for application are: Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme: the flagship TEF Entrepreneurship Programme which is open to all entrepreneurs across Africa with innovative business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years.
This year, there is a special emphasis on businesses leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and green initiatives. Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
Secondly, the IYBA-WE4A Entrepreneurship Programme: Launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with the European Union (EU) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), IYBA-WE4A stands for Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Women Entrepreneurship for Africa and is exclusively for women entrepreneurs with green business ideas or existing green businesses in Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, with businesses not exceeding five years in operation.
Thirdly, Aguka Ideation Programme: The Aguka Ideation Entrepreneurship Programme is a partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, UNDP Rwanda and the Rwandan Ministry of Youths and Arts to support young Rwandan entrepreneurs between 18 -30 with business ideas with a seed capital of $3000, with the aim of nurturing and developing innovative concepts into viable enterprises.
Application Details: Platform: Applications are to be submitted through TEF’s proprietary digital hub, TEFConnect. Application Period: January 1, 2025 – March 1, 2025. TEF urged interested applicants to complete and submit their applications well ahead of the deadline.
On eligibility, it said the programme is open to African entrepreneurs with scalable business ideas or existing businesses not older than five years while applicants must be at least 18 years old.
For more information about the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s transformative work and the success of our African entrepreneurs, it advised applicants to view “our Impact Report, which highlights the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s achievements and contributions to Africa’s economic growth; African Entrepreneurs’ Success Stories, showcasing the inspiring journeys of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs and Annual Reports, offering insights into the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s strategies and outcomes.
Recall that The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and increasing women economic empowerment.
Founded in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is committed to empowering African entrepreneurs as a catalyst for the continent’s economic transformation.
Besides, since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the Foundation has provided up to 2.5 million young Africans with access to training on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over USD$100 million in direct funding to over 21,000 African women and men, who have collectively created over 800,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generated over USD$4.2 billion in revenue.
The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.
Management of Zinox Technologies Limited, foremost African digital conglomerate, has demanded public apology from Mr. Femi Falana SAN, over alleged defamation and reputational injury inflicted on the company and its representatives by Falana and his client, Benjamin Joseph, the CEO of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, an Ibadan-based computer firm.
In a statement on Sunday, Zinox referenced recent news items in the media relating to certain charges filed by Falana, purporting to act on a fiat donated to him by Mr. Lateef Fagbemi SAN, attorney general and minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whom Zinox said may not have been properly briefed.
“We are sure that if the circumstances of this case were made available to the respected Honorable Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, he would not have granted the purported fiat to Femi Falana,” Zinox said in the statement.
In the news reports, Falana was said to have filed a suit before Honorable Justice A. O. Ebong of the FCT High Court in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/985/24 in November 2024, a suit Zinox said was based on the same claims which various courts had in the past dismissed as falsehood and baseless.
“Our initial reaction was to ignore these publications as the usual campaigns of calumny that have been orchestrated against Zinox since 2014 by one Mr. Benjamin Joseph, the Managing Director of Citadel Oracle Concept Ltd, the client of Mr. Femi Falana SAN. However, we are persuaded to respond by the consideration that once falsehood is sustained over time, it tends to acquire the garb of truth.”
Zinox said the case arose from a contract between Citadel and Technology Distributions Limited over the supply of computers to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), stressing that the matter has no bearing whatsoever with Zinox and its promoter, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh.
“Firstly, we are shocked that Femi Falana would include Zinox in his purported fiat/charges, a company that has nothing to do with the transaction or allegations. For the records, we want to state as follows:
“Zinox has never been invited by any investigative agency, including the police and the EFCC, on these allegations. There is no report either by the police or the EFCC or any investigative agency where the name of Zinox was mentioned as a suspect. There is no judgment or ruling of any court where Zinox was mentioned as having anything to do, whatsoever, with the transaction or the allegations, the basis of the fiat/charges. Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, the Chairman of Zinox, has never made any statement to the police in the course of any investigations and has never been mentioned in any court proceedings or judgment as part of any investigations relating to these allegations. Indeed, he has never met with Benjamin Joseph before,” the statement said.
Zinox cited instances in which Mr. Joseph lost the case and its adjunct suit. In a petition/case Mr. Joseph reported since 2013 and for which the Inspector General of Police charged him for false information in charge no.CR/216/16, he was unable to prove his allegations for more than 8 years .
In another case filed by the EFCC at his instance against his partner, Princess Kama, in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/244/2018, Honorable Justice Danlami Z. Senchi of the FCT High Court (as he then was), dismissed as false all the allegations made by Benjamin Joseph, and imposed the sum of N20 million as damages against him for false petitioning in relation to these same allegations.
Zinox alleged that the current charges said to have been filed by Falana on the basis of a fiat from the Attorney General is the third in a row as he had earlier filed charge no.CR/469/2022, which was struck out by Honorable Justice C. O. Oba of the FCT High Court, by an order dated 8th November 2022.
In what appears to be forum shopping and abuse of court process, “he filed the same charges before Honorable Justice A. S. Adepoju of the FCT High Court, which charges were, once more, struck out by the Honorable Court on 19th March 2024, with Honorable Justice Adepoju holding that: “This matter was brought in dead, extinct and should be confined into the dustbin of history…I hold that the instant suit is an abuse of the process of court and it is hereby struck out accordingly,” the statement said.
Zinox said it was shocked that a “learned Senior Advocate in the person of Femi Falana, would, yet, proceed to file the same charges before Honorable Justice A. O. Ebong of the FCT High Court in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/985/24 in November 2024.”
The statement said: “It is, therefore, very clear that the deliberate intention for instituting this new charge by Femi Falana SAN, to include the name of Zinox and its Chairman and other persons who were never part of the investigations, is to embarrass them, harm their reputation, and thereby damage their businesses. In the circumstance, we hereby demand a public apology from Mr. Femi Falana SAN, if he is unable to produce the evidence demanded above.
“We, therefore, assure all our business partners, stakeholders, and friends, that we are not ruffled by these spurious allegations. While our lawyers are set to defend the present charges purportedly filed by Femi Falana SAN, we shall not fail to explore all legal remedies against persons associated with the orchestration of these false allegations and publications against us,” Zinox said.
World Health Organization (WHO), has declared the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, a global health emergency.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general, WHO, made the announcement at a press conference in Geneva.
WHO’s emergency committee on the epidemic had reportedly met Thursday afternoon and recommended designating the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, PHEIC.
The decision had been “almost unanimous,” Didier Houssin, chair of the emergency committee, said at the press conference.
“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries,” Tedros said at the press conference.
“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems and which are ill-prepared to deal with it. Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak.”
Tedros also outlined recommendations made by the emergency committee to control the outbreak, including accelerating the development of vaccines and drugs and combatting the spread of misinformation.
This is the sixth time WHO has used that label, Public Health Emergency of International Concern, PHEIC. since the designation was introduced 15 years ago.
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