Even in the face of gigantic challenges confronting the continent; Africa is known for its immense natural resources: 97% of world copper reserves, 80% of those of coltan, 57% of gold, 23% of uranium and phosphate, and many more. Many reports have also shown that her youths have undying thirst to start a business.
It is worthy to note that young people under 25 represent more than 50% of the continent’s 1.3 billion inhabitants; with the arrival of information and communication technologies (mobile, Internet, social networks) and success stories of young entrepreneurs, we are witnessing a new revolution that is set to put the African brands on the global field of play through massive involvement in business and entrepreneurship.
The future of the African economy is highly dependent on the readiness of the emerging brands to take the lead and embrace among other things; innovative models to responding to business opportunities locally and globally. Already, some emerging brands are coming up with innovative ways to doing businesses in Africa. These leading companies are finding solutions to local problems; their applications are relevant, well beyond their borders.
These are some of the companies:
54gene
Founded by Dr Abasi Ene-Obong in 2019, the one-year-old startup utilises human genetic data derived from diverse African populations, to improve medical products in the continent. So far, it has raised $4.5 million and the brand is also known for taking the first step toward creating an Africa-wide genetic biobank by partnering with more than a dozen hospitals in Nigeria to analyze the genomes of their patients.
Tongoro
Founded by Sarah Diouf in 2016, the ready-to-wear fashion label attained global recognition after being worn by Beyoncé and featuring in Vogue. The Senegalese empowers local artisans to showcase the work of African makers and tailors, whom she trains to meet international standards of production.
PiggyVest
The Nigerian online savings startup was founded in 2016 by Joshua Chibueze, Odunayo Eweniyi, and Somto Ifezue. So far, it has raised $1.1 million, PiggyVest is known for helping West African millennials invest and save for the future while rolling out features offering users an option to invest in the U.S. dollar.
Kobo360
The logistics startup was founded by Obi Uzor and Ife Oyedele in 2017. It has raised over $37 million , known for connecting African truck drivers with companies in need throughout Nigeria and beyond. The Nigerian-based company pays drivers directly to their bank accounts, eliminating the need for cash transactions and putting all the paperwork online.
Twiga Foods
Founded in 2014 by Peter Njonjo and Grant Brooke, the Kenyan business-to-business food distribution company has raised over $60 million while disrupting the agritech space. The brand is known for professionalizing East Africa’s market economy, helping urban shopkeepers source produce from small-scale Kenyan farmers and building out a fintech product that offers vendors credit to build out their businesses.
Copia Global
The Kenyan-based eCommerce company was founded in 2012 by Jonathan Lewis and Tracy Turner. It has raised $48 million and is known for allowing Kenya’s unbanked and unconnected to participate in eCommerce using a network of 5,000 community-based agents.
Tizeti
Founded by Kendall Ananyi and Ifeanyi Okonkwo, Tizeti is a Nigerian internet service provider and has raised $5.1 million. Known for providing public Wi-Fi hotspots in urban areas, Tizeti is famous for harnessing the power of the sun for an affordable 4G network.
MPost
Founded in 2016 by Abdulaziz Omar and Twahir Mohamed, the Kenyan-based startup provides a patented addressing solution turning mobile phones into formal postal addresses. Having raised $2 million so far, it is regarded for turning mobile numbers into Kenyan PO boxes.
Lumkani
A social enterprise, Lumkani seeks to address the challenge of fires in urban informal settlements and townships in South Africa. The South African company is known for bringing fire protection and insurance services to South African townships with its devices now in more than 40,000 homes.
mPedigree
Founded in 2007, mPedigree uses technology to determine the authenticity of products, especially counterfeit medicines. It was selected for using text messages to root out fake goods and also bringing traceability to seeds and other agricultural products within Africa.
Zindziswa
Right on the Nigerian soil is another innovative organization- ZINDZISWA CONCEPT LIMITED (ZCL). The ZINDZISWA brand is a strong brand, embracing innovativeness in its mode of service delivery to its teeming clientele base in the sub Saharan Africa.
Zindziswa Concept Ltd is an indigenous company with core competence in downstream petroleum products marketing, mobile toilets convenient services, logistics supports, supplies and other ancillary services.
It was incorporated as a limited liability company in Nigeria in 2006 to carry on business activities. Led by a dynamic management team, ZCL has been strategically positioned to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage to achieve its vision. This is further enabled by the depth of our experience, competence, integrity and expertise that have been proven over the years.
In a recent interview with the CEO, Mr Odukoya, he said; “our strategic plan is to build an African brand that will stand toe –to- toe with any foreign brand in all our chosen line of businesses; we strive to set a new bench mark of high quality standards in service delivery, embracing the most effective technology and continuous innovation, which has yielded a commendable results for our brand. The challenges are there, but there are lots of breakthrough opportunities for growth “.
He further stated that “Our core areas of business:
Logistics & Support
We provide transport and haulage functions to our clients, to ease the flow of their core business and increase performance. Products traded include, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO also known as Diesel), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as Natural Cooking Gas), Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO).
Marketing & Supply
This business unit is responsible for the supply and trading of petroleum products in partnership with the leading oil majors in Nigeria.
Products traded include, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO also known as Diesel), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as Natural Cooking Gas), Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO).
Mobile Toilet Services
We provide mobile Toilet for your functions. We provide and maintain Mobile Toilets for events, parties, weddings, conferences, seminars, corporate functions, private functions etc. We will help you decide what is suitable from our fleet of mobile toilet units, across a wide range of sizes and specifications.
Properties & Estates
Own a luxurious master piece that guarantees over 40% return on investment in less than a year. With 60 million naira you can own a 5 bedroom semi detached home at forthright estate, magboro Lagos state. “
Zindziswa Concept Ltd has a virile and very dynamic workforce that the management like to refer to as her strength. This is in line with the mission to recruit, retain and reward a high-performance workforce which has had a positive influence on the company’s performances over the years.
This hardworking, virile and dynamic workforce is managed and controlled by highly competent management team with lots of experience in the petroleum sector, who understand the Nigerian business terrain, the industry and also in tune with the realities of today’s market space; giving our company an edge over others in terms of productivity and service delivery to our
stakeholders and clients respectively.
ZCL has a qualified system for accessing key skills and experience to ensure that the members of staff and consultants have relevant experience relative to the job they are assigned. The company also ensures continuous professional development for its team, creating an environment that supports professionalism, integrity and innovation which lead to higher performance team.From a humble beginning, the company has grown into a fast growing brand with balance sheet size in excess of $ 3 million without any foreign funding.
It grew organization through in-depth understanding of the Nigerian business terrain, embracing the core values of integrity, relentlessness, expertise, teamwork, professionalism, excellence and competence backed with the capacity to deliver on all its promises, which is one of the missing links in today’s businesses.
Quality, competitive price and prompt delivery are the strategic thrust of THE ZINDSISWA BRAND; these have endeared this organization to everyone who has done business with them.