NEWS
Flapmax and Microsoft announce first cohort of African start-ups for the FAST Digital Transformation programme
with the most applicants included Nigeria , Kenya , Uganda , South Africa , Ghana , and Egypt . Applicants represented a diverse mix of technology and cloud-based products and services serving residents and businesses throughout Africa . Industries represented by the application pool included AgTech , EdTech , HealthTech , FinTech and more .
Flapmax has announced the 12 companies selected for the first cohort of theFAST start-up accelerator created to help strengthen and scale Africa ’ s digital ecosystem . In partnership with Microsoft , Flapmax ’ s 12-week start-up accelerator kicked off last month .
More than 800 applications from 25 countries in Africa were received for the first FAST accelerator cohort . The countries
“ Microsoft believes that African start-ups are well-placed to become a cornerstone of the African digital economy , with relevant solutions to local societal challenges . Participation in the FAST start-up accelerator program will help these entrepreneurs capture available funding opportunities and plan for growth and future market expansion ,” said Gerald Maithya , Start-ups Lead , Microsoft Africa Transformation Office .
Dave Ojika , Founder and CEO , Flapmax , said : “ In partnership with the Microsoft team , we are bringing together a unique mix of technology business and innovative entrepreneurs to build and scale societally impactful solutions that enable digital transformation across industries , as well as an introduction to cloud and AI-integration tools designed to unlock new value for their businesses .”
Mozambique joins collaborative ICT data collection initiative developed by African Development Bank
The African Development Bank has extended membership of a digital data supervision system known as the Remote Appraisal Supervision , Monitoring , and Evaluation ( RASME ) project to Mozambique , making it the sixth African country to benefit from the tool which enhances project-related data collection in remote areas .
RASME is a partnership of the African Development Bank and the World Bank ’ s Geo-Enabling initiative for Monitoring and Supervision and KoBoToolbox teams . The digital data gathering suite of tools being used for the RASME project is based on the KoBoToolbox platform , an open-source ICT solution developed by researchers affiliated with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative . The initiative uses mobile devices and personal computers to enable bank staff to remotely collect digital project data .
Carla Alexandra Louveira , Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance , Mozambique and Cesar Mba Abogo , Country Manager , African Development Bank , officially launched the initiative last month .
Deputy Minister Louveira said : “ The operationalisation of RASME will strengthen the oversight and monitoring capacity of project implementation and support a more effective decisionmaking process .”
Abogo said : “ The African Development Bank is determined to support Africa to build back boldly , but smartly , paying greater attention to quality growth . This forces the Bank to constantly reset itself and innovate to meet the challenges the continent faces .”
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