Namaste,
Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend! It's also the ideal time to bill that tech bro or sis.
This type of weekend only occurs once a month. If you miss it this month, you'll have to wait until the next. I'm sure you don't want to wait. Just kidding. No, I'm not.
By the way, today is Children's Day in Nigeria. It's an excellent opportunity to fulfil that promise to take them out or buy that ice cream. 😉 I mean, make a child happy today.
This weekend, I'm also following my advice and billing you. Just kidding. I still don’t know what I’ll do this weekend, but I know it will be fun.
Enjoy your weekend however you can. You know I'm always concerned with your overall health and wellbeing. Take care of yourself during this short break!!!
So today, I'm going to talk about two stories:
- Jumia's partnership with CGAP
- Products for people with disabilities
Jumia's partnership with CGAP
It goes without saying that Jumia is one of the dominant players in the African eCommerce market. In Nigeria, the company made $33 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, with a $14.6 million increase in the first quarter of 2022.
Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria recently granted it a Payment Service Solution Provider (PSSP) licence.
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The licence will enable it to process payments for Nigerian third-party businesses. This development pits it directly against Paystack, Flutterwave, eTranzact, and Remita.
It also provides an additional revenue stream when the company desperately needs to increase revenue.
Interestingly, the company is testing a healthtech play through a partnership with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
This collaboration will provide users with access to doctors for a $1 monthly subscription fee.
Well, Chimgozirim thinks it's a fantastic move that will allow Jumia to leverage its existing customer base and infrastructure.
I do not think we have enough doctors in this country, though. I mean, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one doctor for every 600 people in a country.
However, in a country with one doctor for every 5,000 people, the WHO's recommendation appears a long way off.
Further, the Nigerian Medical Association reports that only 35,000 of the 72,000 registered doctors are practising in Nigeria.
In his article, Chimgozirim discusses what the collaboration could mean for healthtech startups. You can find it here: Dear healthtech startups, Jumia is coming for your bread!
Kenya's digital products for people with disabilities
According to a report, approximately 40% of Africa's population is disabled, including 10-15% of school-age children. This implies that there are over 300 million people with disabilities in Africa.
Even though people with disabilities are often referred to as the world's largest minority, in Africa, they face exclusion, discrimination, and barriers to exercising their fundamental rights and participating in development.
However, Kenya, an African country, is changing the narrative.
How? Kenya has developed a standard for digital accessibility for people with disabilities.
This means that people with disabilities, and older people who are largely disconnected from most e-government services and business-owned digital platforms, will be connected, supported, and empowered by digital products to increase their digital inclusion.
How? It will be accomplished by providing computer assistive technology to the blind and visually impaired. Also, public and private sector digital products and services (like websites and mobile applications) will be more accessible and usable by all Kenyan citizens.
This follows the announcement by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) of a partnership with inABLE to develop a national information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility standard.
This is similar to EnableMe Kenya, an online platform, aimed at providing community-oriented technological support and increasing digital inclusion for people with disabilities.
According to Bernard Njiraini, KEBS Managing Director, "To accommodate all people in the society, inclusive design and universal design principles should be integrated into digital products and services."
What I'm reading and watching
- Google Drive adding cut, copy, and paste shortcuts to greatly speed up file management
- Twitter investors sue Elon Musk over acquisition shenanigans
- The surprising habits of original thinkers
- Why This Atheist Scientist Became a Believing Christian
- Jordan Peterson on the meaning of life for men
- What Is Hinduism??
- Autism and Intelligence: Is there a relationship?
- Dentists Debunk 15 More Teeth Myths | Debunked
Opportunities
- The African Leadership Group and Udacity are offering 5,000 scholarships to African citizens who want to advance their careers in tech. by learning new digital skills. Scholarship recipients will enrol in one of the following Udacity Nanodegree programmes: Data Analyst, Full-Stack Web Developer, or Cloud Developer. Apply here.
- Grant Master has announced the start of its second Creative Writers Fellowship cohort. The Fellowship for Creative Writers will take place virtually from July 4th to August 26th, 2022. Apply here.
- MOBI Automation, a startup that uses Web3 technologies to solve business problems, is looking for a Chief Technology Officer, UI & UX Designer, Senior Frontend Developer, and Creative Designer. Send your resume here.
- Do you breathe crypto or are you simply crypto-curious? Apply for the Coinbase Community Ambassador Program (CAP) — Summer 2022 here.
Have an amazing weekend!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
