A Digital Generation Rises

In Ethiopia, a growing wave of youth-led coding and tech training hubs is preparing the next generation for global digital careers. The movement is bridging education gaps while sparking a local tech revolution. 

Building Skills for Tomorrow

Initiatives like Gebeya, Solve IT, and Sheba Valley offer training in coding, UI/UX design, robotics, and mobile development. Students go on to develop e-commerce apps, logistics platforms, and edtech tools. 

Reaching the Underserves

Mobile labs and partnerships with rural schools extend training beyond Addis Ababa. Some programs focus specifically on women and displaced youth, including in the tech economy. 

Startups and Solutions 

Alumni have founded platforms like Ahun App ( local travel services), Deliver Addis, and BeBlocky, a gamified coding tool for kids. Others find remote jobs with international tech firms. 

Africa’s Next Digital Powerhouse

With a young population and strong cultural worth ethic, Ethiopia’s digital rise is positioning it as a hub for global outsourcing, local solution, and tech empowerment.

Startups Beyond Silicon Cape 

While Cape Town and Johannesburg dominate headlines, a wave of tech innovation is rising from South Africa’s townships, where informal business meet mobile connectivity, hustle culture, and creative problem-solving.

Apps for Everyday Problems

Startups like KasiCart, Soweto WiFi, and eSpaza are building tools for township vendors, commuters, and students. These platforms offer digital payments, on-demand delivery, and local job matching all tailored to township realities. 

Empowering Informal Entrepreneurs

Over 2 million South Africans work in the informal economy. Township tech enables them to accept mobile money, manage inventory, and reach new customers helping micro businesses digitize and grow. 

Low-Cost Innovation with High Impact 

These startups often operate on a lean budget but achieve wide impact due to deep community understanding. Partnerships with local cooperative, churches, and youth clubs help with user adoption and trust. 

Bridging the Digital Divide

Township innovation is not just about business it’s about inclusion. By building tech that works where people live, South Africa’s townships entrepreneurs are creating a more connected and equitable economy from the bottom up. 

The E-Commerce Engine Behind the Scenes

As Kenya’s online shopping and digital services continue to sugre, logistics startups are stepping in to bridge the gap between merchants and customers. Companies like Snedy, Lori Systems, and Amitruck are transforming how goods are moved, from heavy freight to last mile parcels. 

Tracking Delivery Challenged 

Many African cities struggle with fragmented road networks, inconsistent addressing systems, and unreliable delivery services. Kenyan startups are solving these challenges using GPS routing, mobile tracking , and flexible vehicle fleets. Sendy, for instance, offers everything from boda bodas to 10-ton trucks on demand. 

Empowering Informal Drivers 

These platforms have created tens of thousands of jobs by integrating independent drivers and small transporters into digital networks. Drivers receive training, access to financing, and steady income, often double what they earned before joining 

Supporting SME Growth 

Small businesses benefit from affordable, tech-enabled logistic services that help them reach customers quickly and efficiently. For Kenya’s 500,000+ SMEs, logistics innovation is unlocking new opportunities in retail, agriculture, and even healthcare. 

Building a scalable Ecosystem

With growing investment from global VCs and partners like Google and IFC, Kenya’s logistics startups are expanding across East Africa, laying the infrastructure needed to support the next decade of digital commerce.

Desensitizing Digital Innovation 

While Accra is well known as a tech and startup hotspot, Ghana’s government and private sector are now investing in regional innovation hubs across the country. Cities like Tamale, Kumasi, and Takoradi are seeing new co-working spaces, coding schools, and inverter interest. 

Building Local Ecosystems

The Ghana Tech Lab and its network of regional partners now offer digital skills training, startup incubation, and inverter matchmaking across 16 regional capitals. The initiative aims to decentralize opportunity and reduce urban migration. 

Agritech, Fintech and E-commerce Rise

Startups in Tamale are focusing on agritech platforms, connecting farmers to weather data, markets, and mobile payments. In Kumasi, healthtech and logistics solutions are gaining ground. 

These hubs are also fostering local job creation and offering mentorship to university graduates who would otherwise face high unemployment. 

Backed by Public and Private Funds

The initiative is funded through partnerships with the Mastercard Foundation, the Ghana Digital Centers Project, and GIZ. In 2025, over $5 million was invested in regional startup development. 

A Vision of Distributed Innovation

By promoting tech ecosystems beyond the capital, Ghana is building a more balanced digital economy, and giving young innovators in all corners of the country a reason to stay, create, and thrive.

Fintech That Works for Everyone

PalmPay, a mobile money platform launched in Nigeria in 2019, is quickly becoming one of the continent’s fastest growing fintechs. With its user-friendly app, cashback rewards, and agent network, PalmPay is reshaping digital finance for millions of Nigerians. 

Explosive User Growth 

By mid 2025, PalmPay has over 30 million requested users, up from just 5 million in 2021. Its daily transaction volumes surpass $200 million, and the platform is especially popular among youth and informal workers. 

Rewarding the Everyday User 

PalmPay’s app offers instant transfers, bill payments, airtime top-ups, and merchant payments. Cashback incentives and amplified savings tools help retain users and promote financial literacy. 

Its widespread network of over 500,000 agents allows users to deposit and withdraw cash even in remote areas. 

Strong Backing and Ambition 

PalmPay is backed by Transsion Holdings (maker of Tecno, Infinix, and Itel phones) and Chinese investors including NetEase. Its integration into low-cost smartphones has made it widely accessible, even to first-time digital users. 

Expanding Across Africa

The platform has expanded into Ghana and is eyeing markets into Francophone West Africa. With scale, simplicity, and trust, PalmPay is well on its way to becoming a dominant player in Africa's mobile money race.

East Africa’s Telecom Titan 

Kenya’s telecom giant Safricom has reached a new milestone: surpassing KES 388 billion (approx. $3 billion) in annual revenue, making it the first company in East Africa to cross this threshold. With services spanning telecommunications, digital finance, health tech, and enterprise solutions, Safricom remains a regional powerhouse. 

M-Pesa: The Cashless Engine 

A key contributor to this success is M-Pesa, the mobile money platform that revolutionized digital finance in Africa. In 2024, M-Pesa transactions exceeded KES 1.4 trillion ($11 billion) monthly, with over 60 million active users across Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

M-Pesa now includes business banking tools, merchant payment systems, and cross-border transfer capabilities. 

Diversification Pays Off 

Beyond mobile money, Safricom has invested in health tech (M-TIBA), agriculture (DigiFarm), and enterprise cloud services. Its Ethiopian operations, launched in 2022, have already gained over 6 million subscribers and continue to grow. 

Impact Beyond Profits

Safricom has also played a key role in job creation and digital inclusion. Through its foundations and innovation hubs, it supports education, startups, and women-led enterprises. 

Setting the Bar for African Telecoms

With continued investment in 5G, fintech, and cross-border infrastructure, Safricom is not only Kenya’s most valuable company, it’s a blueprint for integrated digital growth in emerging markets. 

Mobility with a Mission 

Founded in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove is a Nigerian mobility fintech company providing vehicle financing for ride hailing, logistics, and delivery drivers. It operates in over 13 cities across Africa and beyond, including Lagos, Accra, Cape Town, and Dubai. 

Turning Drivers into Owners 

Moove finances vehicles for Uber and Bolt drivers with flexible repayments plans tied to earnings. Drivers can access cars, tuk-tuks, or electric bikes without upfront capital making asset ownership achievable. 

Powered by Real Time Analytics

Moove’s proprietary scoring system uses alternative data ( such as trip volume and earrings) to assess creditworthiness. The result? Over 25,000 drivers financed to date, with 60% having never had access to formal credit before. 

A Global Funding Magnet 

In 2024, Moove secured a $100 million Series B round led by Mubadala, Left Lane Capital, and AfricInvest. The funding is helping it expand into new verticals like delivery and electric vehicle fleets. 

Driving Financial Inclusion on Wheels

By reimagining vehicle financing, Moove empowers Africa’s gig workers and accelerates mobility access while supporting green transport transitions in emerging markets.