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  • DEMO Africa 2018 Announces Top 30 Finalists

    DEMO Africa 2018 Announces Top 30 Finalists

    Following a few months of innovation roadshows, city tours and virtual adjudication, the management team of DEMO Africa today announced the selection of the thirty (30) startup finalists for the 2018 edition of the annual conference.

    All roads lead to Casablanca in October as the finalists present their technologies to the world at the 7th edition of DEMO Africa. The selected startups represent Africa’s current generation of innovators and problem solvers and are poised to showcase the best of African ingenuity through technology, entrepreneurship and social impact at Le Studio Arts Vivants in Casablanca.

    “Over the last six years, DEMO Africa has launched startups that are solving some of the most pressing problems on the continent and offering some of the most unique, commercially viable solutions”— Harry Hare

    Meet the Finalists

    Accounteer (Nigeria) – Accounteer is a cloud based accounting platform that allows SMEs to create invoices, track expenses and receive online payments.

    ADN Corp (Senegal) – ADN is building applications to help African companies to improve their sales, marketing, and finance operations with decision support analytics systems.

    Atlan Space (Morocco) – Atlan Space is an Artificial Intelligence based drone technology that tracks illegal fishing in African waters.

    Brayfoil Technologies (South Africa) – Brayfoil is a patented wing design that is a first in aerodynamic engineering. The technology allows planes to take off in a shorter distance, fly further and faster on less fuel and improves safety by a massive margin.

    Casky (Morocco) – Casky is the world’s first BlockChain based, Artificial Intelligence platform that offers users a chance to earn an appreciative asset/income by driving safely via a rewards based system.

    Chefaa Medicine Delivery (Egypt) – Chefaa Medicine Delivery is a mobile medical application that allows users to order, refill and receive prescriptions seamlessly.

    CLoud9XP (Kenya)– Cloud9xp.com is a web and mobile platform where experience providers list their leisure experiences for exposure, and manage bookings across travel categories and styles.

    Complete Farmer (Ghana) – An application that provides remarkable and innovative agribusiness solutions that enhance productivity, increase profitability and amplify competitive advantages across the agricultural value chain.

    Dabchy (Tunisia) – Dabchy is a fashion e-commerce marketplace for the Arab world.

    Devless (Ghana) – Devless is a simplified data repository for DevOps environments.

    Hawkar (Tunisia) – Hawkar is a smart electric car for physically handicapped persons.

    Zuoix (Cameroon) – ZOOMED (Zuoix Object Oriented Motor Electronic Device) is an SMS based car security system that does not require any form of internet connectivity to locate, immobilize and geofence cars.

    Kourtim (Morocco) – Kourtim is a logistics management system that provides real-time monitoring to all the stages of road freight transport.

    Lula (South Africa) – Lula is a Mobility-as-a-Service platform that connects stakeholders across cities, municipalities and countries.

    Maurice Communications (Cote D’Ivoire) – A wearable technology company that provides health-tech solutions targeted towards emergency response, data collection and information dissemination for medical and emergency personnel.

    Moldiag (Morocco) – Moldiag is an R&D spin-off of the leading research lab that is focused on superior medical diagnostics.

    Niotek (Egypt) – Niotek is an Artifical Intelligence platform that enables implementation of Smart Factories, Smart Products and Smart Services.

    Qualitrace (Ghana) – QualiTrace provides traceability and anti-counterfeiting solutions to the prevalence of fake products on the market.

    Redbird (Ghana) – Redbird partners with local pharmacies to provide rapid test technology for chronic and acute conditions, enabling them to expand their business, and giving patients a convenient way to monitor their health, wherever they are.

    Regenize (South Africa) – Regenize is a recycling collections company which rewards people for recycling and also educates them about the benefits of recycling.

    Smarth (Algeria) – Smarth provides innovative analytical and predictive solutions for any problem involving massive amounts of data.

    Sote (Kenya) – Sote is an information logistics platform built to integrate an array of logistics services across the continent to form a single supply web.

    Tempest Gold (Botswana) – The Tempest Gold app allows users to search for properties, connect directly with the buyer/seller and eliminate the middleman.

    Termii (Nigeria) – Termii helps businesses stay profitable by driving customer loyalty across multiple marketing channels.

    Toufoula (Tunisia) – Toufoula Kids is a multi-language Ludo-educational platform offered in Arabic, French and English for young children. The mobile app is linked to a smart printed magazine by Augmented Reality with the aim of reducing children’s addiction to screens.

    Travelbudds (France) – Travelbudds is the social network for young, mobile, connected, travellers looking for the most authentic ways to discover the world and share their experiences.

    VertoFX (London)– Verto is a decentralized, business to business currency liquidity provider and price discovery marketplace.

    Voxera (Egypt) – VoxEra is a revolutionary device that provides travellers with a mobile roaming service that is similar to telecoms but at much lower prices.

    WeflyAgri (Cote D’Ivoire) – A drone based agritech solution that helps farmers to remotely monitor their farms and identify inefficiencies in production for better management of their land.

    Zipora (Kenya) – Zipora is a smart luggage innovation with a patent-pending zipper that is breach-proof, and a security device that makes any zipped luggage smart. The smart device comes with a GPS tracker, a tensioner and vibration sensor to monitor luggage handling and breach attempts.

    The Bootcamp

    The thirty startup finalists will also participate in a six(6) week virtual bootcamp in preparation for stakeholder engagements at the main event, as well as a two (2) day physical bootcamp as a preamble to the DEMO Africa 2018 showcase.

    The Innovation Tour

    Five (5) finalists will be selected from the pitching startups to participate in the 2019 edition of the Lions@frica Innovation Tour in Silicon Valley. These DEMO Ambassadors will be the startups that show the highest potential for scaling across Pan-African and international markets, with a mature understanding of their product-market fit, a great team, and a defensible and commercially viable technology.

    Global Innovation Luminaries and Investors

    From Europe to the Middle East to Asia to Silicon Valley, the DEMO Africa event will also welcome global investors and luminaries in addition to African venture capitalists, business angels and ecosystem leaders over two days of quality interactions, networking and deal-making through leadership round-tables hosted by the African Business Angels Network.

    About DEMO Africa

    DEMO Africa is one of the flagship initiatives of Lions@frica that is geared towards connecting African startups to the global ecosystem. The DEMO Africa stage presents a platform for the most innovative companies across Africa to launch their products and announce their solutions to the world.

  • NABCO 2018 Placement Results are in after Interview Phase

    NABCO 2018 Placement Results are in after Interview Phase

    Hello Nation Builders,

    NABCO from today Thursday, 23rd August 2018 have begun the process of selection
    of the NABCO Trainees.

    Notifications are being sent to all applicants to check on the status of their applications. Nevertheless, an applicant that booked and attended the interview can still proceed to check their status whether they receive the notification or not.

    Visit the NABCO Website

    Applicants are required to visit www.nabco.gov.gh and use their NABCO numbers to check their status. A sample of the message is as follows;

    Dear Esinam, login at https://apply.nabco.gov.gh with NABCO number: NABCOVRREG12345 and your password to check your status.

    Print Conditional Letter of Engagement

    Selected applicants are to print a conditional letter of engagement. Applicants after reading the terms and conditions of engagement are required to sign, scan and upload the letter on the NABCO Portal to confirm their acceptance of the offer and for NABCO
    to also officially engage you.

    Receive Engagement Letter

    After confirmation, NABCO will send a message congratulating you on your engagement with them. A sample of that message reads :

    Dear Esinam, Congratulations on your successful enrolment into NABCO. Visit
    www.nabco.gov.gh/events for the next steps.

    Applicants are advised to visit http://support.nabco.gov.gh for Frequently Asked
    Questions (FAQs).

    We entreat all stakeholders to continue to remain patient with the process.

    Read this on how to check your NABCO appointment letter and print it.

  • Ghana E-commerce Awards: Nominations end today

    Ghana E-commerce Awards: Nominations end today

    Organizers of the maiden Ghana eCommerce Awards, OML Africa, have announced that nominations’ deadline date of 22 August 2018 will not be extended. Therefore, individuals and companies who fall within the various award categories are encouraged to file their online nominations on the event website www.ghanaecommerceawards.com.

    According to a spokesperson of the organizers, “We have already been overwhelmed so far by the number of nominations received for these important awards that are designed to recognize and celebrate excellence and innovation in Ghana’s e-commerce, digital payments, mobile money and fintech ecosystem. The Ghana eCommerce Awards will also boost confidence in doing online transactions and encourage major players to adopt best practice”.

    “Our passion and prediction of a boom in e-commerce have remained on course and its only appropriate for OML Africa to organize this landmark event to reward deserving winners in the e-commerce industry which could represent 75 billion dollars across Africa and could account for 10% of Africa’s retail sales by 2025”, he concluded.

    After nominations for this year’s awards are collated, an independent panel of 5 selected judges comprising Professor Atuahene-Gima (Founder, Noble International Business School); Dr Kajsa Hallberg-Adu (lecturer, Ashesi University and Founder, BloggingGhana); Stephen Nana-Osei Boadi (Chief Digital Enabler, Enable Growth Africa); Berthold Gadagbui (Head, Mobile Banking, Ecobank) and Anita Wiafe-Asinor (Owner, Delilah Secrets & savvy online shopper) will choose finalists for each category based on a pre-selection criteria.

    Some award categories are Best Online Retailer, Best Fintech Company, Best Fintech Innovation, Best Small Independent Retailer, Best Sin-Store Initiative, Best Online Retail Marketing, Best Site Optimization & Design, Best Mobile eCommerce and Best Online Real Estate Site.

    Others are Best Social Media Campaign, Best Omni Channel Customer Service, Best Delivery/Courier Service eCommerce, Best Female eCommerce Entrepreneur, Best eCommerce Banking App, Best eCommerce Payment Company and Best eCommerce Innovation.

    The rest are Best Internet Service Provider, Best Innovation in eCommerce (Payments), Best Online Food Delivery Platform, Best Online Hotel Site, Best Online Betting Site, Best Bitcoin Company and Best Online Retailer (Electronics).

    These prestigious awards for Ghana’s online business industry are also to boost the ever-increasing trend of consumers going online to shop and doing so, more safely and conveniently. It will also augment government’s efforts in making Ghana a cashless society and contribute immensely to achieving “The Ghana beyond Aid” Agenda as e-commerce is rapidly becoming an increasing contributor to the GDPs of African countries.

    The organizers, OML Africa, have the pedigree as a pioneer in organizing high-quality exhibitions and conference in Ghana’s e-commerce space, having held four Ghana eCommerce Expositions, which have been the hub for the online business community since 2013!

  • Nokia 7 plus wins Consumer Smartphone of the Year at EISA Awards 2018

    Nokia 7 plus wins Consumer Smartphone of the Year at EISA Awards 2018

    HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, today announces that the Nokia 7 plus has been selected as the Consumer Smartphone of the Year by the Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The EISA Awards are judged by the world’s largest independent panel comprising over 55 of the most respected specialist magazines and websites. (more…)

  • MTN Shortz Challenge: How to apply, participate and more info

    MTN Shortz Challenge: How to apply, participate and more info

    Telecommunication giant, MTN Ghana has launched a competition to monetize the creativity of content developers in the country.

    The digital innovation dubbed MTN Shortz is also to give subscribers a chance to make short video contents, which includes comedy, animations, podcast, games and films.

    Speaking at the launch MTN Shortz, Acting Chief Marketing Officer of MTN, Noel Kojo-Ganson underscored the need to make smartphones more relevant during this digital age as the poised to create relevant contents that would inform, entertain and educate the user.

    He said: “MTN Shortz is a platform that would empower our customers digitally and serve as a reference point for them to access short video contents like comedy, animation, podcast, games and Films. This platform is also expected to be a revenue-generating source for content developers.

    “In order to boost content injection on the MTN Shortz platform and create the opportunity for content developers to monetize their creation. MTN is inviting content creators, animators, game developers, newspaper houses, movie producers, TV stations, radio stations, bloggers, social media experts to submit very innovative contents on MTN Shortz platform to participate in the MTN Shortz Challenge” he stated.

    Mr Kojo-Ganson further stated that content should be generated locally, as they would use the platform to encourage the rich cultural heritage of Ghana.

    “The MTN Shorts challenge presents an opportunity for all of us to tell the African story or share information on Ghana’s culture and any other useful information required for life.

    “Content could be on health, education and any other issue of social importance. We hope to receive very exciting and thought-provoking contents from various developers,” he noted.

    Types of content you can submit through MTN Shortz

    Currently, the platform allows you to submit the following content:

    • Short Films
    • Funny Videos
    • Animations
    • Podcasts
    • Games

    How to apply to MTN Shortz

    Applicants interested in the challenge would have to log in onto MTN Shortz Site and provide necessary personal details for registration from August 8 till August 27, with the participant standing a chance of winning a total cash prize of Ghc 50,000.00

    The main MTN Shortz platform is expected to run after the challenge as various workshops would be organised by the telecommunication giants in order to educate content developers about how the platform works.

    Eligibility & Participation

    Entry Fee: Free

    Eligibility: All Ghanaian content creators and content aggregators

    Entry Category:

    • Short Film
    • Funny Video
    • Animation
    • Podcast
    • Games

    General terms of participation / Rules and Regulations

    • Short Films/ Funny Videos/ Podcasts/ Animations: Entries must not exceed 10 minutes in duration including all titles and credits.
    • Games: The “.apk” should not exceed 100MB
    • Deadline for submission is 27th August 2018.

    How to submit

    Participants should use “DropBox or We Transfer” to upload their videos and send the file link to [email protected] with below details

    • Full name
    • Team members
    • Contact number
    • Email address
    • State participating category

    Any queries should be submitted to [email protected]

  • Snake on Nokia Phones? It’s back via Facebook’s camera AR courtesy HMD Global

    Snake on Nokia Phones? It’s back via Facebook’s camera AR courtesy HMD Global

    HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, brings the classic snake game up to date with augmented reality. Snake Mask and Snake Real World filters bring the iconic game to a new generation of fans.

    The addictive premise of the game remains the same, but with a fun AR twist fans can now be the apple munching Snakes. Snake Mask utilises new Facebook AR technology to bring Snake to the widest audience possible.

    Snake at the zoo? Snake at the beach? Snake… on a plane? Now it’s all possible when Snake is on Facebook camera. Plus, with Facebook Live integration, it’s straightforward to broadcast gameplay live to the Facebook news feed, allowing friends to join the action.

    The all new Snake Mask uses the front-facing camera of Nokia smartphones running Android™ to allow players to turn themselves into the iconic Snake character, reacting to the motion of the player’s face. Snake Real World activates the rear facing camera.

    To celebrate the release of the updated Nokia classic, comedian and YouTuber Matt Keck, the man behind the accidentally hilarious viral sensation “I’m a Snake” which received 23 million hits on YouTube, tested out Snake on Facebook camera. Matt has recreated his own viral hit, this time using the Snake Mask filter to show off the brilliant new features.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZBu6rbYfwo&feature=youtu.be

    Pekka Rantala, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of HMD Global said: “The world famous game snaked its way back into people’s hearts at MWC in 2017, when we announced Snake for Facebook Messenger.

    It was designed for a new social generation; fans could invite friends to play and share scores making it even more playable than first time round. This was the first time in Snake’s history that it went onto a universal channel, rather than a device preload, and it gained 121 million players around the world.

    Now we launch an even more immersive experience to fans by allowing them to be the snake itself and eat the apples with filters available on Facebook camera – here at HMD Global we are bringing the much-loved gaming icon to a new AR era.”

    The camera effect can be accessed via the Facebook camera and is universally available, not just to Nokia smartphones. It is available on Android and iOS.

    HMD Global is encouraging players to share the most unusual places they play the game using the hashtag #imasnake2.

    How to play the New Snake Game on Facebook AR

    1. Open the Facebook app
    2. Click the camera Icon top left to open Facebook Camera
    3. Scroll to the Snake Mask
    4. Ssstart to play!
  • MTN Ghana Launches Mobile Money Month 2018 at Kasoa

    MTN Ghana Launches Mobile Money Month 2018 at Kasoa

    Telecommunication giant, MTN Ghana has urged for more acceptance of the cashless mode of transactions so the country can reap the numerous benefits associated with digitized payments.

    Speaking at the launch of the 2018 Mobile Money Month held at Kasoa Market, General Manager for Mobile Financial Services at MTN, Mr Eli Hini said there was a need to take a second look at the mode of payments in Ghana. (more…)

  • Wondershare Fotophire Photo Solutions Review: Photo Editing made simple for everyone

    Wondershare Fotophire Photo Solutions Review: Photo Editing made simple for everyone

    I have used a lot of Wondershare products, particularly in the areas of video works, yet I didn’t know much about their photo editing line until I came across the Fotophire Editing Toolkit.

    Nowadays, software continues to cost so much especially if it only provides you with no lifetime subscription. It has become expensive to have a decent photo editing software at a good price.

    Currently, Fotophire Editing Toolkit is available for PC and MAC at $49.99 yearly subscription and a lifetime subscription for $79.99. But is the software really worth the price?

    We’ll find out.

    Downloading Fotophire Editing Toolkit is pretty easy. You need to visit the main website and download. The good thing is there is a 7 days trial available if you just want to test the software.

    After successfully installing and launching the application, you would notice that Fotophire contains 3 different tools. They are:

    1. Photo Editor
    2. Photo Cutter and
    3. Photo Eraser.

    There are also the Photo Maximizer (a tool for enlarging photos) and Photo Focus (a tool for fixing and refocusing blurry photos) extension which can be downloaded to add new functionality.

    I tested all three “modules”.

    Let’s start with the Fotophire Photo Editor.

    Fotophire Photo Editor

    The photo editor puts all the tools you would need to edit your photos in your hands.

    There are over 100 effects and filters to choose from as well as the option to save your own personalised settings as a new effect. There are also colour adjustments, vignettes, frames, cropping and texture edits.

    Features

    • Drag & Drop Interface
    • Cut & Crop
    • Filters & Effects
    • 20+ Blend Modes
    • Wide Format Support
    • Before and After Views
    • Straighten Line
    • Texture
    • Save Presets
    • Tone Curve

    Fotophire Photo Cutter

    Whether you want a transparent background for an image, or just want a different background than your photo has by default, Photo Cutter makes it easy to get the results you want. The tool is one of the best background removers in the market today, to cut objects out in just a few clicks!

    The Photo Cutter can deduce the edges of objects for itself using its leading colour detection technology. There’s no need for you to edit pixel-by-pixel. You can import photos, edit and view the result instantly.

    So if you are looking for the best online photo editor to edit photos faster and easier than in Lightroom or Photoshop, you’d better choose Fotophire.

    Features

    • Customized Brush Sizes
    • Background Templates
    • Drag & Drop Interface
    • Straighten Line
    • Edge Blur
    • Built-In Tutorial
    • Cut & Crop
    • Wide Format Support

    Fotophire Photo Eraser

    The Photo Eraser is one of those priceless features from the Fotophire toolkit. It helps to remove unwanted objects and even people from photos. It’s hard to do this manually with the solutions that are available and Wondershare knows it, so they made things simpler.

    According to them, the Photo Cutter uses a specific algorithm that analyses the surroundings and automatically fills in the area with matched textures.

    Features

    • 4 Selection Methods
    • Customized Brush Size
    • Align Mode
    • Drag & Drop Interface
    • Formats Widely Supported
    • Lasso Tool
    • Clone Stamp
    • Built-In Tutorial
    • Straighten Line
  • WhatsApp Group Video Calls: How to enjoy the new feature on Android or iOS

    WhatsApp Group Video Calls: How to enjoy the new feature on Android or iOS

    Video calling has been available on WhatsApp for quite sometime, but what about if you want to video call multiple WhatsApp contacts at the same time? Well, WhatsApp Group Video Calling is now available to both Android and iOS users of the App.

    WhatsApp announced this on Monday via its blog post that it is making the much anticipated group video and audio calls available for all the users across the globe now.

    How to Enjoy the WhatsApp Group Video Calling

    (more…)

  • Introducing Chipper Cash – A Cross-border Mobile Money Platform

    Introducing Chipper Cash – A Cross-border Mobile Money Platform

    A new mobile money platform is hitting the market, through which users can send and receive money from foreign countries at no cost.

    The mobile app named Chipper Cash, also enables users to send and receive money from one telecom service provider to another, for instance in the case of Uganda, from MTN Mobile Money, to Airtel Money.

    Chipper Cash is the brainchild of Ham Serunjogi, a Ugandan based in the US city of San Francisco.

    Mr Serunjogi tells Chimpreports, the money transfer platform is the first of its kind in Africa, and is already operational in Uganda and Tanzania.

    “Chipper Cash will facilitate completely free and instantaneous peer to peer payments, both within a country as well as from one country to another,” he said. (more…)