Shega Weekly – Issue 27 : xHub Addis Graduates 20 Startups And More Stories

Hello,
Welcome to this week’s edition of Shega Weekly Newsletter ( Issue # 27 ) – Here is a recap of major stories from Ethiopia’s Innovative ecosystem.
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xHub Addis Graduated 20 Startups & 137 Business Mentors

Mastercard Foundation in Partnership with JCC & xHub Addis Graduated 20 Startups & 137 business mentors for startups & SMEs.

The graduates were trained through the Center for African Leadership Studies (CALs)/xHub, and are part of the Young Africa Works(YAW) in Ethiopia program. The YAW in Ethiopia program is a partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and Jobs Creation Commission.

At the graduation, 137 mentors were certified for completing the mentorship program designed by xHub Addis.

In addition, 20 startups that were part of the YAW incubation program pitched for an audience of potential investors, strategic partners, and government officials. At the closing of the ceremony, the startups were awarded a seed funding of 3000$ each by the Mastercard Foundation and were matched with potential investors & strategic partners that will help them further their businesses.  Read More.

Huawei Launches a $2.1 M ICT Practice Center in Addis Abeba University

Huawei together with Addis Ababa University officially launched the Huawei-AAU ICT Practice Center in Addis Ababa Institute of Technology. The project is realized by Huawei with the aim of delivering a hands-on practical experience for students and professionals.

The target of the center is to train more than 2000 engineers including students and teachers to boost the talent ecosystem of Ethiopia in the coming three years. Read More.

License, Operation, and Structure Details of the Safaricom Led Consortium

On May 22, the Ethiopian government through Ethiopia Communication Authority awarded a full telecommunication license to Global Partnership for Ethiopia.

The group includes Safaricom PLC, Vodacom Group Ltd (South Africa) through its subsidiary Vodacom International Holding, Vodafone Group PLC through its subsidiary Vodafone International Operation Limited, CDC Group PLC, and Sumitomo Corporation.

We looked at some key details we know so far about the consortium that won the bid. Read More.

Ethiopian Postal Service Going Digital

The Ministry of innovation and Technology announced that the Ministry and the Ethiopian Postal Services Enterprise with the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, have agreed to modernize the Ethiopian Postal Service.

The new digitization roadmap is expected to modernize the existing services and even add new innovative service packages. Read More.

A Portuguese Fantasy Sports Startup RealFevr Expands to Ethiopia

Fantasy Technology Solutions ( Fantasy Ethiopia ) launched the RealFevr Fantasy football platform in Ethiopia in partnership with RealFevr.

Fantasy Technology Solutions is an Ethiopian-based tech entertainment company, and RealFevr is a Portuguese fantasy sports startup. This partnership offers a fantasy football experience that is built on RealFevr’s existing platform for Ethiopian users.

In April 2021 Fantasy Ethiopia launched RealFevr in Ethiopia. It is a localized version of RealFevr that offers all of the RealFevr features to the Ethiopian market. Within two months of launch, the platform has acquired 11,000 players and has more than 90,000 visits. Read More.

Ethiopia Participated in the 5th Annual Drone World Congress

Ethiopia has participated in the 5th Drone World Congress as a country of honor on the Drone World Congress 2021 that was held from May 21 – 23, 2021 in Shenzhen, China. The Drone World Congress is an annual international event that focuses on the exchanges and discussions on the application of drone (UAV) technology.

Consul General to Guangzhou Province, China, Ambassador Ewnetu Blata represented Ethiopia at the congress. The Ambassador mentioned Ethiopia’s current initiatives that utilize drone technology and how participation in the congress will boost the country’s adoption of the technology.

State Minister at the Ministry of Innovation & technology Ethiopia Ahmedin Mohammed also took part in the congress virtually to highlight the opportunity the platform presents for Ethiopia. to share its UAV experience, learn from best practices, and forge collaborations to further enhance UAV-based initiatives.

Kelal Ticketing Partners up with Nib Bank for E-Payments

Kelal Ticket Online Travel Agency has teamed with Nib International Bank to enable electronic payments for cross-country transportation, amidst a controversy with the Ministry of Revenues (MoR) over the taxation of e-ticketing.

Kelal Ticketing is an online bus ticketing technology company. According to Addis Fortune, the company is founded by Hamdi Jami and Ephrem Getachew, in March 2020 with a capital of 1.5 million Br. The digital platform was launched in September last year and Kelal started its operation in partnership with Zemen Bus. Read More.

Ethio Telecom Expands 4G Network To Three More Regions

At the end of May 2021, Ethio telecom launched 4G Network services to 12 towns in East Ethiopia in partnership with Huawei. The new towns that now have access to 4G network includes Dessie, Kombolcha, Woldia, Haik, Kemisse, Kobo & Lalibela from the North Eastern Region; Harar, Haramaya, and Aweday from Central East Region; and Dire Dawa, Chiro, and Ayisha from East Region.

The telecom says, given the reliability, high bandwidth, and high-speed features of LTE Advanced services, the company expects the newly launched network “will enable and empower our customers to digitize their services, increase productivity and improve their experiences”.

It can be remembered the Huawei-Ethio telecom partnership has launched a modular data center and TeleBirr.  Ethio Telecom’s mobile money platform has reached 2.4Million subscribers in 11 days. Read More.

Creative Hub Launched in Ethiopia

The Creative Hub Ethiopia has been established by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Federal Small and Medium Manufacturing Industries Promotion Authority (FeSMMIPA), and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

“The Hub is an envisioned platform that offers services and spaces to designers, entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers to share design knowledge, develop business skills, and spread innovation.” Read More.

Mondia Pay to Expand its Operations to Ethiopia

Following Vodacom Consortium’s win for Ethiopian telecom license, Mondia‘s CEO Simon Rahmann told The Africa Report, Mondia Pay is in joint-venture talks with the aim of entering Ethiopia. The aim is for Mondia Pay to be added to the existing license.

Mondia is a UAE-based direct career billing platform that helps content producers bill customers from their Airtime. Mondia Pay is Mondia’s digital payment entity that processes over 2.1 billion transactions monthly.

Mondia Pay partnered up with nine African nations to provide and digital payment solutions and infrastructure.  At the moment, It is working to launch solutions with telecom operators in Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso. Read More.

New Product Alert

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Opportunities 

Huawei ICT Competition Application Form

Call for Submissions: Innovating Education in Africa 2021

Register for RENEW Strategies’ Investment Seminar

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