Entrepreneurship Zone: 11 September 2019: These 5 start-ups are shaping the future of Africa's cities

Wed Sep 11 00:20:28 CAT 2019

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

By the end of the century, it is estimated that 13 of the world's 20 largest
cities will be in Africa - and none of them will be in the Americas, China,
or Europe.

More than half the world's population live in cities, and sub-Saharan Africa
is urbanising faster than anywhere else on the planet. Sub-Saharan Africa
has an average urban growth rate of 4.1% a year, over double the global
average. Most of the growth occurs in informal slums in which about half of
Africa's urban population already live.

While it is clear that Africa's future is urban, much more needs to be done
to shape the evolution of its cities, foster collaboration among
stakeholders and fund its urban infrastructure. Globally, urban start-ups
like Uber and Airbnb are drawing in billions of dollars in venture capital
while organisations like Sidewalk Labs, URBAN-X and Urban Us are changing
cities and helping to scale urban innovations across North America. Africa
also needs urban innovation groups actively reminagining its emerging cities
and their slums. We aim to establish urban venture studios - CITYLabs - in
Lagos and Nairobi, and to launch a 2020 Africa Megacity Prize to catalyse
the African urban innovation ecosystem.

We define urban innovations as those making cities better for the many, not
just the few. This could be in terms of service or product innovations
across different sectors, productivity gains, and cost savings or
revenue-generation opportunities, as long as they have a significant impact
on the lives of city dwellers across Africa. We are spotlighting some
companies that are already making a significant impact and we have
prioritised companies that are considered high-potential, headquartered in
Africa and with a primary focus on Africa.

Here are some of the start-ups shaping the future of cities across the
continent.

Max.ng

Max.ng is a motorcycle taxi service operating in three Nigerian cities. It
has completed over 1,000,000 rides and is one of Jumia's largest delivery
partners in West Africa. There are tremendous opportunities for motorcycle
taxi services in Africa due to inefficiencies in mass transit and growing
urban populations. Their model provides safe and affordable transportation
by offering trained, accountable drivers and the convenience of booking
rides through a mobile app. They recently announced $7 million in funding
and are the only motorcycle taxi service positioning themselves for Africa's
electric vehicle future by investing in infrastructure for solar charging
stations. This could potentially revolutionise urban mobility as they plan
to expand to 10 West African cities.

Twiga Foods

Food prices are over 30% higher in sub-Saharan Africa than prices in the
rest of the world at comparable GDP levels per capita. Much of this is due
to inefficiencies in supply chains and farming practices. Twiga Foods is a
digital marketplace that lets grocers in cities order farm produce from
smallholder farmers in rural areas across Kenya and have it delivered at
competitive prices. This eliminates the inefficiencies of sourcing mostly
perishable foods daily, while guaranteeing farmers consistent income and
timely payments. According to a recent report, Twiga Foods is the largest
domestic distributor of food produce in Kenya, servicing 10,000 vendors in
Nairobi and neighbouring counties through a network of 13,000 farmers.

mPharma

mPharma is eliminating inefficiencies in the pharmaceuticals supply chain
across Africa. These inefficiencies lead to consumers paying up to three
times as much as patients in western countries. After food, medicines make
up the largest family expenditure for most developing countries. This leads
to patients' inability to buy the drugs they need when they need them.
mPharma solves this by sourcing and procuring medicines and stocking
pharmacies across Africa at no cost to the pharmacies. They negotiate lower
prices with the best manufacturers and also provide flexible payment options
for patients. Currently operating in five African countries, they manage
inventory for a network of over 200 pharmacies and serve more than 40,000
patients each month.

LifeBank

Two-thirds of the world's maternal deaths per year occur in sub-Saharan
Africa. Most of these are preventable, and many are partly due to a shortage
of blood supplies. LifeBank was founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun to deliver
much-needed medical products such as blood, blood products, oxygen and
vaccines to hospitals across Africa. They have partnered with Google to cut
down delivery time to less than 45 minutes using Google Maps and, since
2016, have moved over 12,000 units of blood to hospitals and screening
centres, thereby saving almost 5,000 lives.

Sendy

Sendy is a parcel delivery service that operates across Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania, and links more than 1,000 delivery drivers to customers. The
service is used by over 5,000 businesses and 50,000 individuals to make
deliveries which are insured and can be tracked in real-time from a mobile
app. This leads to greater efficiency and reduced costs as it leverages a
network of otherwise informally employed motorcycle, pickup, van and truck
drivers. It also recently launched a freight service for domestic cargo
transport.-howwemadeitinafrica

Adetayo Bamiduro, co-founder, Max.ng

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