5 Ways Innovators Are Shaping the Future of Work in Africa

Africa is a continent that faces challenges that are distinct from the rest of the world. To have the best chance at succeeding in business, entrepreneurs and innovators need to cope with a range of complex considerations. The need of the hour is to develop unique pathways that can shape the evolution of various regions in Africa.

Let’s look at the top 5 ways entrepreneurs are helping scale innovations across Africa.

LifeBank

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for two-thirds of the world’s maternal deaths per year. Out of these, most deaths can be prevented as many are due to a shortage of blood supplies. Founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun, LifeBank is aimed at delivering the much-needed medical products to save as many lives as possible. These include delivering oxygen, vaccines, blood and blood products to hospitals across Africa. LifeBank, in partnership with Google, has been able to cut down its delivery time using Google Maps to less than 45 minutes.

Farmerline

Farmerline, in Ghana, is leveraging technology to support the shift from subsistence-oriented farming to bring about more employment opportunities in the region. It provides helpful insights to the farmers on the prevailing market prices and weather conditions, among other things, for high-productivity agriculture. With their platform called Mergdata, they allow users to digitize their transactions and even access credit besides performing audits, tracing food sources, and mapping farms.

Ajira

An increasing part of the world is going digital today. Ajira Digital Programme aims to put Africa on the path of tech-enabled roles, including digital skills. This initiative has the support of the Kenyan government to give young people access to a host of skills and training. These include e-commerce, digital marketing, content writing, data entry, and more. Ajira also offers access to its computers in its Kazi Connect Centers and Ajira Centers across the country.

Twiga Foods

Compared to other countries, the prices in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 30% higher at comparable GDP levels per capita. A primary cause for this is the inefficiency in the farming practices and supply chain. Twiga Foods works to bridge the gap between sub-Saharan Africa and the world at large. The digital marketplace connects the grocers living in the cities with smallholder farmers across Kenya to order farm produce and get it delivered. This not only promises timely payments and consistent income to the farmers but also eliminates the inefficiencies of sourcing perishable foods daily.

Perks

Perks is working for the betterment of self-employed professionals and freelancers who are a part of the gig economy in Africa. It is carrying out user research on the gig workers and their needs at different stages of their freelancer journey. It aims to be a benefit aggregator for gig workers that helps them grow their business while also offering social protection.

The keys in the near future would be to maintain a global mindset, leverage technology and include sustainable business models to create a better and more prosperous Africa.