The Innovation Hub covered earlier co-launches a pre-incubation initiative "for young online entrepreneurs."-Startup Africa,HatTip Sean Park!
Buy into Africa says the Investors Chronicle
Juhel, a growing Pharmaceutical manufacturer founded by Ifeanyi Okoye
Green Wifi covered earlier in...
The Make Philosophy continues to blossom,G. Paschal Zachary writes in the NYTimes:
“A lot of people get lost in the world of computer simulation,” says Bill Burnett, executive director of the product design program at Stanford. “You can’t simulate everything.”
Using computers to model the physical world has become increasingly common; products as diverse as cars and planes, pharmaceuticals and...
Empretec profiles Nyaya Industries founded by Emelda Nyasha Nyamupingidza:
Nyaya Industries is the largest candle maker and second largest polish maker in Zimbabwe. While other companies concentrated on urban customers, Nyaya began producing a smaller and cheaper candle for the four-fifths of Zimbabweans who live in the countryside. The company continues to provide significant employment...
From GWINN covered earlier:
Tomilola Awoniyi from Nigeria was recognised and applauded for her infant and child 'LIZVIC formula food' which includes ingredients and spices of high nutritional value.Tomilola developed this formula after the birth of her first child when she discovered that most of the available infant formula could not produce the desired effect on the growth and wellbeing of her...
Founded by alumni of Ashesi University, DreamOval's "...products include Outreach, i-Wallet, and Global Virtual Stock Exchange (GVSX). Outreach is a communications solution that enables enterprises to utilize SMS and Email for business-critical communication and relationship management(CRM)..."-Ashesi...
Fabrication in South Africa writes about the need for a "Maker" Culture:
The biggest problem with doing your own fabrication is the tools. Most of the tools such as laser cutters and mills are very expensive and the ordinary person/student doesn't have access to these tools...The aim of this blog is to discuss various options for fabrication in South Africa. I'm not talking about major...
Knowledge@Wharton reports on Global Resolve's smokeless stove system:
The group developed a system that could be deployed in rural Africa using only components and materials available in Ghana, Brad Rogers (professor at ASU) explained. The resulting system consists of four integrated subsystems:
1. Corn is milled and steeped, exposing the starches and converting them into fermentable sugars.
2....
Omatek covered earlier, raises N6bln ($51mln) in their recently concluded IPO.
A $100 Million Legacy Africa Alpha Hedge Fund Launched By INTL Consilium and First City Monument Bank.- HedgCo
Oson Chemist describes itself as "...a leader in pharmaceutical distribution and supply chain management..."
Emmanuel Banza a mechanic, describes his mill for crushing cassava leaves,a necessary food...
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mPedigree co-founded by Bright Simons emerges as tool to fight the deadly scourge of drug counterfeiting and other product reliabilty challenges: ...It refers both to a world-first technology platform that interconnects GSM mobile networks in the West African republic of Ghana to a central registry wherein pedigree information of product brands belonging to participant manufacturers are stored,...
From the TED Website:
Stanford researcher Kwabena Boahen is looking for ways to mimic the brain's supercomputing powers in silicon -- because the messy, redundant processes inside our heads actually make for a small, light, superfast......
Emmanuel Mbulu founder of Tone-a-Matic a muscle stimulator manufacturer, discusses entrepreneurship.
New Scientist profiles rugged wheelchair prototypes for the developing world.
Reuters reports that currency traders and investors are increasingly drawn to African currencies. via Cheetah Index
"Ndume Little Pick-up" a solution to waste...
From their website:
The Real IPM company (a development marketplace finalist) mass produces beneficial insects and biopesticides for use in Integrated Pest Management programmes in Kenya and beyond, providing growers with good quality, affordable biological controls...If pesticides are not used to protect crops, the grower needs to use other methods, which could be naturally occurring biological...
G. Paschal Zachary writes in the NYTimes:
While engineers in the United States lavish attention on expensive phones that boast laptoplike features, in Kenya there are 10 million low-end phones. Millions more are used elsewhere in Africa. Enhancements to such basic phones can be experimented with cheaply in Nairobi, and because designers are weaned on narrow bandwidth, they are comfortable...
Several of us from CIPE are in Ghana this week, so in their honor I dedicate my first post to chocolate. Seventy percent of the world’s cocoa comes from Western Africa, according to the World Cocoa Foundation, and Ghana is second only to Cote d’Ivoire among cocoa exporting countries. Cocoa accounts for roughly a third of Ghana’s GDP, and like most countries in Africa, Ghana’s 23 million people are largely rural (56 percent of its labor force).
Ninety-nine percent of Ghana’s cocoa farms are between two and three hectares - about the size of three football fields. Farmers typically intercrop cocoa with other goods such as corn, spices or plantains to help provide shade for young cocoa trees and food for the farmer’s family. Harvesting is...
Tejay Pharmaceuticals specializes in sterile small volume injectables,Opthalmic solutions and oral preparations.The company manufactures sterile pyrogen free injectables and oral...
East and Southern Africa Dairy Association reports:
Shambani Graduate Dairy has been a blessing to the farmers in Morogoro municipality. Shambani graduates started off with one milk supplier, processing capacity of 30 litres. Today the plant receives milk from over 200 suppliers and has a capacity to process 750 litres of milk dairy and produces up to three different products. Pasteurized...
BetumiBlog reports on Culinary Entrepreneurship in Ghana:
What delights me and my senses is some of the emerging “made in Ghana” foods featuring Ghanaian products. A sampling is included here. There's Takai, a liqueur “made from natural cocoa and coffee blended with other natural aromas” produced and bottled in Ghana by Gihoc Distilleries. The name “Takai” comes from a traditional dance and...
Mwangi of Displaced African has a conversation with David Kobia creator of Mashada and co-founder of the award winning...
"...Bioman Energy manufactures a range of innovative biodiesel processing units which enable the self production of Biodiesel..." John Pistorius of Bioman in a related subject emphasised the concurrent potential of bioplastics,Green Flavour writes:
In South Africa, the bioplastics industry could potentially revitalize a struggling agricultural industry as more and more farmers are finding it...
From the TED website:
Adam Grosser talks about a project to build a refrigerator that works without electricity -- to bring the vital tool to villages and clinics......
"...The Kisangani Smith Group has developed two types of efficient biomass stove which can be hand-made by local smiths. One stove replaces the widespread use of charcoal in towns: it burns sawdust (readily available as a waste in the Njombe region of Tanzania) or agricultural residues. The other stove is an improved wood-burner, targeted at rural areas..."-Ashden Awards
via African...
Rob Katz at Next Billion highlights a provocative take on how Appropriate Technology is derived :Sriram Thodla is a dual-degree student at the Institute of Design // Indian Institute of Technology. When not studying for his Masters in Design or MBA, he writes a great blog appropriately titled Musings About Innovation and Design. A recent post argues that design FOR the base of the pyramid is...
TED fellow Erik Hersman reports at Afrigadget:
Gikomba is a part of Nairobi that is well known for metal working. I had been meaning to come this way for a while, and today afforded me the perfect opportunity to drop down into Gikomba and see what kind of enterprising activities Kenyans were up to...I ran into a George Odhiambo, a bulk fabricator of everything from wheelbarrows to chisels. The...
Afrepren reports:
Audu Guga has fabricated a motorized briquette machine capable of turning agricultural and wood waste into useful materials for the production of energy. The presentation was made at the monthly seminar organized by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council of Nigeria (RMRDC). The machine will meet the energy needs of targeted population, mitigating the hazards of...
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From CheckBiotech:
Ugandan scientists have received a grant of $94000 (sh160m) to conduct a regional study to produce bio-fuel out of cassava...“The project will concentrate on producing cassava varieties for bio-ethanol and for nutritional use in high quantity,” said Dr. Yona Baguma, molecular biologist at the Namulonge-based Institute. “Bio-ethanol will combine starch and alcohol, while...
BioCrops a biotech company founded by Geofrey Arinaitwe is in the process of establishing a pioneering in-vitro crop plantlet production line. The intent is for the business to "produce pests and disease free planting materials of valued and crops" such as bananas, passion and citrus...
“Summer of Solutions” – I first heard these words from my friend Ashley Trull, from across the table in the Clark University dining hall in late April, over plates piled high with mediocre vegan cafeteria food. Summer of Solutions sounded like an amazing program, designed by and for students, working on exciting, real projects for community-based solutions to climate change. She eagerly described to me the project descriptions she had seen on the website and promised to forward the email she had received with the application info attached. But she didn’t need to forward the email. By the end of the meal, it was decided.
“We’re going!” I said, so adamantly and with such force and intention that I surprised even myself, grabbing Ashley’s hand in excitement as we rose from...
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