Africa has been privileged to harbor some of the top innovative companies in the world. We have managed to create a ‘Silicon Valley’ for ourselves here in Africa, this, mostly is due to an increase in the number of elite Africans with brighter and innovative minds.
The following are the top 10 Innovative companies in Africa
1. Andela
The company identifies high-potential young people in Africa then trains and mentors them to work as full-time developers, then integrates them remotely for companies like Microsoft, IBM, Facebook etc. Andela is based in New York City, with additional offices in Africa.
Recruiting from headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya, Andela has received more than 50,000 applications from developers, and has so far accepted 260, an acceptance ratio the company brags makes it more selective than Harvard. In 2016 alone, the company placed more than 100 people with more than 60 partner companies. Fees paid by these companies go back into the organization to support its training programs. In 2016, Andela recruited all-female classes in Lagos and Nairobi, and women now make up 23% of Andela’s developers in the two cities combined.
In 2016, Andela raised $24 million in a Series B round led by GoogleVentures and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the social investment fund started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
2. MFS Africa
MFS Africa founded by Dare Okoudjou from Benin connects mobile money systems to each other and to money transfer organizations, banks and other financial institutions, enabling money remittances TO and FROM mobile money accounts.
The company provides accessible, affordable, inclusive alternatives for remittance/money transfers, micro-lending, micro-insurance, micro-savings, and payments
3. Gro intelligence
Gro Intelligence, Inc. provides agricultural data to drive higher productivity and access to capital. The company gathers, aggregates, and processes data using proprietary algorithms to unlock insights into weather patterns, trade flows, pricing dynamics, and production. It produces decipher data through computational and visualization tools that enable financial institutions, corporations, and the public sector to make more informed decisions.
4. Wilderness Safaris
Founded in Botswana in 1983, Wilderness Safaris is widely acclaimed as the continent’s foremost ecotourism operator. The company offers private access to 2.5 million hectares (over six million acres) of Africa’s finest wildlife and wilderness areas through some 50 luxury camps and safaris across eight African countries: Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda (2017), Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company’s wildlife, marine and cultural safaris in remote, pristine wilderness destinations are specialized, educational, explorative and fun.
5. IROKO
IROKO is one of Nigeria’s largest internet and entertainment companies. The company was founded by Jason Njoku.
The Headquarters of Iroko is based in London United Kingdom. Its web platform, Iroko TV, provides paid-for Nigerian films on demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie steaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles.
6. WeFarm
WeFarm is a free peer-to-peer service that enables farmers to share information via SMS, without the internet and without having to leave their farm. Farmers can ask questions on farming and receive crowd-sourced answers from other farmers around the world in minutes.
Relying mostly on print and radio advertising, WeFarm has acquired 141,000 users who have collectively asked some 210,000 questions and contributed more than 292,000 answers on topics ranging from controlling blossom end rot in tomatoes and the importance of pruning coffee plants, to the best ways to prepare farmland during dry season and the economics of raising rabbits.
7. SafeMotos
Founded by 24 year old Kenyan Peter Kariuki and 28-year old Barret Nash from Vancouver, SafeMotos has been billed as Africa’s answer to Uber – but it’s so much more than that. The app is designed to reduce the shocking level of preventable deaths on the continent’s roads. It encourages safer driving and ensures that responsible drivers are rewarded with a stable income by helping them stand out in a crowded marketplace.
The pair have positioned themselves at the heart of a growing community of ambitious tech entrepreneurs, coders and developers, helping to establish Kigali as the “test kitchen for tech disruption in Africa” and transform the continent’s relationship with the rest of the world.
8. Podozi
Podozi is a beauty tech startup solving the problem of finding “right fit” beauty products for people of color. It is the first African online store focused only for women with color.
Podozi was started in Nigeria in 2015. Currently the site has built up an inventory of 4,000-plus makeup, skin care, and hair products from international brands such as Maybelline, Sebamed U.S., Black Opal, and Oriflame, as well as emerging African beauty brands. The site’s technology allows shoppers to create a profile and then get targeted recommendations based on their complexion, skin type, and hair texture.
9. Njorku
Founded by Mambe Churchill Nanje with headquarters based in Cameroon, Njorku is a technology based platform for career and recruitment services in Africa.
It is the emerging job search engine for Africa, with thousands of unique visitors per month and growing steadily month-on-month. Njorku is localized in 9 African countries and counting.
Launched in March 2011, Njorku has given job seekers free and unlimited access to hundreds of thousands of jobs from company websites and job boards across Africa.
10. Zuvaa
Zuvaa is an e-commerce site founded by Kelechi Anyadiegwu.
Kelechi started Zuvaa with a simple idea that there was an unmet demand among people living outside Africa for authentic African styles.
Launched in May 2014, the company currently features some 75 designers from Africa and North America, and rang up $2.3 million in sales of clothing and accessories in 2016.