African tech start-ups received more than $560 million
of investment in 2017, a new record, while in 2018 the
number of internet users increased by more than 20%.
The liberation of talent is also a key factor. Says Anne-
Françoise Yao, who heads the École Polytechnique’s
pioneering, multi-partner Data Sciences program in
Ivory Coast: “Previously, if you were a mathematician
you could become a teacher. But not everyone can or
wants to be a teacher. Now if you love Math you can do
a hundred things.” The examples below provide some
of the flavor of what is happening in Africa’s thriving
start-up scene.
M-Pesa: the Kenyan money app that impressed Bill
Gates.
In 2015 The Economist was already asking, “Why does Kenya
lead the world in mobile money?” The magazine was impressed
with M-Pesa, a phone-based money transfer system launched in
2007 as a way to manage microloans. Now it is used for all sorts
of transactions – and is spreading not only through Africa but also
to eastern Europe, Afghanistan, India and beyond.
By its 10th anniversary M-Pesa processed 6 billion transactions
for 30 million users worldwide. As Bill Gates wrote on Twitter:
“Kenya’s M-Pesa proves that when people are empowered, they
will use digital tech to innovate on their own behalf”.