Global Africa is a series of five conferences and exhibitions for technology companies that are aimed at making the lives of Africans better. The first conference took place in September in Cape Town. It was attended by more than 500 participants from more than 60 countries. Some of the companies featured in the event were PayPal, Lori Systems, Autochek and Stitch.
Lori Systems
Lori Systems is one of the most innovative companies launching in the African tech sphere. The company is currently based in Kenya but has recently expanded to South Africa and Nigeria. Its flagship product is an on-demand logistics solution which connects shippers and transporters. It aims to drive down the cost of goods in the sub-saharan region, one of the world’s most challenging places to do business.
In January, Lori Systems secured a Series A round led by Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, Chinese investors, and some major media names. According to DealStreet Asia, the total amount was $30 million. With over 120 employees on board, Lori has been a major player in the logistics space.
Autochek
A new kid on the block in the online car financing space is the car loans by Autochek. The company is betting that it can emulate the success of the likes of Moove, FlexClub, and a host of others by a combination of leveraging technology and local expertise. Currently, the company is expanding its footprint in East Africa, and plans to expand into South Africa in the not too distant future.
While the company is only two years old, its chief executive Etop Ikpe is no stranger to the digital realm. In fact, he helped spearhead the creation of a new mobile telephony platform that may be the most successful tech-related endeavor in Nigeria’s history.
Copia
The frican continent is home to approximately 750 million people. One of the fastest growing regions is Anglophone East Africa. Its population is growing at a rate of 5% a year. Copia, an e-commerce startup, hopes to use its mobile technology to expand its reach to consumers across the African continent.
Inaddition to food and household items, Copia’s catalogue includes electronics, construction equipment, farm inputs, and more. Copia delivers products to thousands of consumers daily. Using a network of 5,000 agents and delivery points, the company provides reliable and affordable delivery to a wide variety of customers.
This hyper-local solution is aimed at bridging the gap between rural and urban shoppers. Rural customers may have smaller wallets, but they still need access to the same goods as their urban counterparts. Traditionally, e-commerce in Africa has been targeted at upper-income consumers. However, the middle and lower income segments face a number of challenges.
Stitch
The crunch stitch is a fun little pattern that creates a dense, textured fabric. It can be used for making hats, scarves, and washcloths. This short, but useful, pattern is easy to remember once you get past the first few rows.
There are two basic variations on this particular pattern. One is a chain and skip one row pattern that uses a 1ss in the top of the beg ch-2 and a hdc in the next. In the other variation, you start with a sl st in the same place, but the sl st is made into a hdc instead. You can even make a baby blanket with the crunch stitch!
QED
QED Global Africa has raised a $50 million series of investments in two African startups. One of the companies, TeamApt, provides payment and banking platforms for businesses. The other, Copia Global, specializes in financial products for the unbanked in Kenya. This is the largest fintech round in the region, and QED Investors, a U.S.-based fintech-focused venture capital firm, led the investment.
Both the companies plan to use the money to develop web3 applications and gaming content platform Breach Club. TeamApt is also planning to expand its presence into Nigeria. It is estimated that over 200 million people in East Africa are without access to financial services.