-
AI in African Healthcare: The Good, the Bad and the RECKLESS
Artificial intelligence (AI) can have a major positive impact on the cost and quality of healthcare in emerging economies. But as AI gains traction in Africa's healthcare market, Mark Wien at PocketPatientMD calls out an alarming trend: New AI solutions are being introduced into actual practice without the proper safeguards, standards and scrutiny. And even worse, these solutions are often being developed by non-medical professionals and technologists, who rush to roll out new tools without caution — and without acknowledging or perhaps even understanding the risks they pose to vulnerable patients and health systems. He urges Africa's healthcare industry — including doctors themselves — to address this issue with the seriousness it deserves.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
-
Reshaping Africa’s Food Systems: Three Opportunities to Drive Sustainable, Inclusive and Scalable Impact
Africa's agricultural sector is plagued by low yields, fragmented value chains and a large finance gap, and the region is home to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. As Neil Wood, Oscar Garza and Hanna Dohrenbusch at Open Capital explain, these challenges have brought the sector to a critical juncture. They share three key solutions based on Open Capital's work on 450+ agriculture and food systems projects across Africa, which have the power to help drive the future of agriculture on the continent in the decades to come.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
-
Accelerating Africa’s E-Commerce Revolution: A SaaS Solution Leverages Payment and Logistics Innovation to Unleash the Continent’s Entrepreneurial Potential
Africa’s e-commerce landscape is in the midst of an ongoing revolution, as the growth in internet access has enabled businesses across the continent to sell their products locally, regionally and globally. Moulaye Taboure at ANKA explains how his company is leveraging “Software as a Service” (SaaS) innovation to connect these businesses with consumers, while providing payments and logistics services geared toward their unique needs. He shares highlights from a recent ANKA whitepaper that outlines key trends and developments in African e-commerce.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Nine Business Models for Productive Use of Electricity in Africa: A Framework for Generating Profit and Impact in Off-Grid Energy
Improving energy access in rural Africa is crucial for poverty reduction, but grid electricity is often inaccessible or unaffordable — and off-grid alternatives present similar challenges. Olowo Aminu, Bodunde Akinola, Nneka Chime and Mosorire Aiyeyemi at CrossBoundary argue that Productive Use of Electricity (PUE) has the potential to solve these issues, boosting household income and economic growth, while increasing profitability for energy providers. They share a framework CrossBoundary has developed to help off-grid companies and other stakeholders plan for effective PUE implementation.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Technology
-
From Proxy IDs to Autonomous Payments: Why the Future of Financial Services is Hyper-Efficiency
Despite the rise of digital banking and other technological advancements, financial services are still plagued by significant inefficiencies. Author and serial entrepreneur Arunjay Katakam explores the causes and consequences of these inefficiencies — including their impact on lower-income customers — and discusses some emerging innovations that are addressing them. He explains why the sector's growing efforts to streamline back-end processes, reduce transaction costs and enhance operational efficiency will be pivotal in shaping the future of financial services.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Energy Poverty is Not Gender Blind: How Companies, Funders and Policymakers Can Empower Female Energy Consumers Across Africa
While both men and women in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and clean energy technologies, women pay a bigger price for this lack of access in nearly every imaginable way. Mutale Ngaba, Katie Brauer, Nathalie Gogue-Ebo and Duda Slawek at Open Capital argue that this crucial aspect of the energy access conversation is often overlooked. They explore the gender inequities in energy poverty, and share learnings from Open Capital's work that can guide the efforts of energy companies, funders and policymakers to put women’s needs at the center of energy access efforts in the region.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
-
Making ICT4D Green: Three Focus Areas for Improving the Environmental Impact of the Information and Communication Technology for Development Sector
The global digital transformation is generating many positive impacts, and digital technologies have become essential tools for climate and environmental action. But according to Nora Lindström at Catholic Relief Services, the growing use of digital technology is also causing some significant environmental challenges — and the “Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D)” sector must address them. She discusses several ways to increase the tech industry's sustainability, focusing on three key elements of ICT: generative AI, broadband access and electronic equipment.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology, Telecommunications, WASH
-
An African Approach to Online Education: An Innovative Platform Aims to Prepare the Continent’s Youth for the Jobs of the Future
By 2050, one in every four individuals in the world will be African. In response to this demographic shift, it's essential to ensure that young Africans possess the necessary skills to compete in the global job market. But according to Adewale Yusuf at AltSchool Africa, conventional educational approaches have failed to meet these students' unique needs. He explains how AltSchool Africa developed an online platform based on African approaches to learning, and how the platform provides young students with the job skills they need to succeed in an increasingly global economy.
- Categories
- Education, Technology