TechCabal Daily – Africa’s digital economy to receive $500 million from the UAE

Kenyan data analytics startup Superfluid has been named winner of the ENGIE Challenge at the Africa Tech Summit Kigali. The victory earns them a $5,000 reward and the chance to secure a testing phase with ENGIE, a French utility company. Superfluid Labs uses data and artificial intelligence to help businesses to gain insights on revenue opportunities and avenues for value creation. Superfluid came out on top out of five startups selected to pitch to a jury panel and live audience at the event, TechMoran reports.

South African event ticketing and cashless platform Howler has secured a second round of investment from three companies: Techstars, Platform Investment Partners Growth and Platform45. The new round follows a seed investment that the company received in 2017 in which Techstars also participated. Howler was founded in 2014 and claims to have facilitated over R1.5 billion ($100 million) in transactions to date. Sounds impressive? Well, Howler is now the only means for buying drinks at many events in South Africa.

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The UAE’S multi-million dollar Consortium for Africa has been unveiled at the African Union. The initiative is led by the government of the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with the country’s private sector and is aimed at “turbocharging” development in Africa.

According to Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi, the UAE’s investment of $500 million, the Consortium would be a long-term builder of human capital by leveraging digitisation and youth. “More than simply donor or a provider of concessionary loans, the UAE understands that real value lies in the long-term building of human capital.” Al Hashemi, who is also the Managing Director of Expo 2020 Dubai, said.

It’s good news for renewable energy advocates as the African Development Fund approves a $34.74 million grant and loan to boost renewable energy access in Liberia. Agreements were reached in January between representatives of the African Development Bank and Liberia’s Ministry of Finance for two projects. First is the Renewable Energy for Electrification in Liberia, while the second is the Support to Investment Promotion Agencies in Transition Countries. The latter aims to promote business investment in Liberia and build the capacity of the country’s National Investment Commission, according to the AFDB’s announcement.

It will take place on February 28, 2020, at the Zone Tech Park, Gbagada Expressway, Lagos. If you are an investor interested in meeting or learning about the startups building the technologies of the future, sign up here so we can get in touch. If you are a startup interested in meeting key investors, let us know here.

Confirmed investors attending the matching session include Binance Labs, Platform Capital and Future Africa. To attend the Townhall, click here to buy your tickets. Discounts apply for companies/individuals buying at least 5 tickets. Click here to enjoy our corporate discounts.

Last week, an Ethiopian ed-tech startup, Gebeya announced the close of a $2m seed round led by Partech and Orange Digital Ventures with participation from Consonance Investment Managers. Gebeya is a tech talent outsourcing company which allows startups and SMEs to hire IT talents remotely or in-house. The seed fund will help Gebeya scale up its training and accelerate plans to launch an African online marketplace.

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