E-mobility in Africa must be expedited – Alp Tilev

E-mobility in Africa must be expedited – Alp Tilev

Co-Founder and CTO of Ampersand, Alp Tilev, says the transition to e-mobility in Africa must be expedited. He shares more on why there is an opportunity to drive the adoption of electrically powered motorcycles that produce less pollution in Africa. Talking about the financial and environmental advantages of electric motorcycles for drivers and the environment.

Co-Founder and CTO of Ampersand, Alp Tilev

Historically, Asia has been the birthplace of motorcycles. China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are the world’s four largest motorcycle markets. The continent is home to roughly 58% of all motorcycles in the world.

Africa is quickly catching up. According to a report by AMEND and the FIA Foundation, motorcycle usage in Africa has increased from less than 5 million in 2010 to an estimated 27 million in 2022. Because of Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit, 80% of the continent’s motorcycles are used for commercial purposes such as taxis or delivery services.

Although Africa’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is negligible at under four percent, these petrol-powered two-wheelers contribute a significant amount of carbon emissions. As Africa joins the rest of the world in the drive to reduce pollution, there is an opportunity to drive the adoption of electrically powered motorcycles that produce less pollution.  

Electric motorcycles are hardly a new concept, but they are relatively new to Africa where they are starting to gain momentum by firmly making their way into the cultural and economic zeitgeist while inching the continent’s travelers towards a lower carbon future.

Ampersand e-mobility in Africa using electric motorcycles

Adoption of electric motorcycles in Africa has its challenges, the issue of charging batteries being one. Given that a significant proportion of motorcycles on African roads are used for commercial purposes, riders rarely have time to wait for their batteries to charge.

However, there are innovative solutions that can be deployed to address the challenge, and technology is rapidly advancing, providing opportunities for innovators to create long-term solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges.

On the back of this, we created Ampersand, an electric motorcycle and transportation energy solutions provider that allows riders to stay on the road while their batteries charge. To make this possible, we built a network of charging stations where riders can swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones in only 2 minutes, saving them over $500 per year by reducing downtime.

Furthermore, each battery has a range of 60-90 km and needs to be replaced less frequently than drivers typically refuel with petrol. This solution not only saves drivers money but also ensures that they have a constant source of power, making electric motorcycles a more viable transportation option.

As the business grew from the initial 20 drivers to the current 800+ vehicles in Kigali and Nairobi, one of the challenges we encountered was keeping track of the batteries and their condition. With hundreds of drivers swapping out batteries every day, being able to track them and ensure they are in good condition is critical to our ability to support more drivers. Consequently, we built AmperOps, an adaptive cloud solution built on Microsoft’s Azure platform that allows the collection of over 15,000 data points and the execution of multiple transactions per second. The system also enables seamless management of battery packs through customizable parameters such as state of health analysis and geofenced alarms for increased security.

Furthermore, the system includes smart maintenance systems that automatically notify the team of required battery or vehicle repairs before they occur. With this level of customization and real-time response, we can gain a thorough understanding of the performance of each swap station, driver, and battery.

In the long run, the advantages of electric motorcycles extend beyond financial savings for drivers and environmental advantages. As Africa continues to industrialize, so will the capacity for designing, building, and assembling motorcycle components. This demonstrates an opportunity for green job growth throughout the value chain, from design to delivery and maintenance. Given that Ampersand users travel over 1.9 million kilometers per month, there is a clear opportunity for electric motorcycles to impact Africa’s transportation industry and for electric motorcycles to become the sustainable lifeblood of public transport systems In fact, we have set an ambitious goal of electrifying all motorcycles in East Africa by 2030, and earlier in Rwanda by 2027.

Without a doubt, electric motorcycles have the potential to be a viable mode of transportation for millions of Africans. Technology will drive change by enabling innovators to create solutions to niche challenges in the adoption of e-mobility. With the right investment, Africa’s transportation industry could be transformed while also creating job opportunities, reducing pollution, and saving drivers money.

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Microsoft, Liquid Cloud to support African businesses with cloud services

Microsoft, Liquid Cloud to support African businesses with cloud services

Microsoft is announcing a partnership with Liquid Cloud through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO) to provide cloud services to businesses across the continent. Liquid Cloud and the Microsoft ATO will collaborate to deliver resilient cloud in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to meet regulatory and data residency requirements, address low latency workloads, strengthen resilience, and enable business continuity.

The hybrid cloud environment extends Azure capabilities enabling customers to create cloud-native applications faster with Azure platform and data services such as App Service, Functions, Logic Apps, Azure SQL Managed Instance, PostgreSQL database, and Azure machine learning. As a result, customers will be able to innovate anywhere and use the Azure platform to bring new solutions to life that solves today’s challenges, while creating the future.

Liquid Cloud Telecom

We witnessed an accelerated adoption of cloud technologies in Africa, and businesses are now reaping the benefits of their investment. Our customers are increasingly moving to hybrid work culture, meaning the demand for cloud-based services will only grow. Our partnership will enable us to build comprehensive and edge-based cloud capabilities that meet customer regulatory requirements and ensure that they deliver value to their customers,” said David Behr, CEO of Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security.

On his part, Wael El kabbany, General Manager, Africa Regional Cluster, Microsoft said: “Critical infrastructure enablers are needed to provide access to the cloud to accelerate digital transformation and the adoption of digital technologies. Working with Liquid Cloud, access to the local cloud will be available to more organizations and highly regulated industries across the continent. In addition, the hybrid cloud provides in-country resources that address data residency, latency, and storage requirements,

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Futurize launches university Innovation challenge in partnership with Microsoft, AstraZeneca

Futurize launches university Innovation challenge in partnership with Microsoft, AstraZeneca

Futurize is launching its first annual Fuel Africa Innovation Program from March 17 to 25, 2022. In partnership with AstraZeneca, through the A.Catalyst Network, and Microsoft and co-funded by Bristol Myers Squibb and Famfa Oil. To equip young entrepreneurs with the resources to build high-potential venture ideas and contribute to sustainable development globally.

Futurize Fuel Africa Innovation Program 2022

Fuel Africa 2022 will bring together students and alumni of 12 universities across 7 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges in healthcare. Through a virtual entrepreneurship bootcamp and innovation hackathon competition.

Coding or healthcare experiences are not a requirement to participate in the program. Participants will receive mentorship and hands-on training to build solutions for early-stage business ventures. It is currently focusing on solutions that provide access to healthcare as well as the screening, early diagnosis and optimal management of Non-Communicable Diseases. Winners will get investment money and opportunities to advance their careers.

Participating universities include Amref International University (AMIU), African Leadership University (ALU), Covenant University, JFN Institute of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ibadan, University of Ghana, University of Lagos, University of Nigeria, University of Capetown, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and the University of Nairobi.

Microsoft, through the Africa Transformation Office, is committed to supporting education transformation across Africa with access to learning tools, resources and technology. We look forward to seeing what innovative solutions to pressing concerns these bright minds will develop during the program.”

Yacine Barro Bourgault, Enablement Lead, Africa Transformation Office at Microsoft.

Click to learn more about the Futurize Fuel Africa 2022 Health Innovation challenge and how to participate.

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130K users enrol in the Coding for Employment digital skills program

130K users enrol in the Coding for Employment digital skills program

coding for employment microsoft africa AfDB

The African Development Bank, AfDB, is announcing the enrolment of 130,000 users in its Coding for Employment digital skills program. The digital skills training platform was launched in December 2019 in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and Microsoft.

The milestone comes as it works to equip African youth with information and communication technology, entrepreneurship and soft-skills training to compete in a digital economy. The program’s online platforms offer in-demand technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing for free. It is accessible on mobile devices, even in low internet connectivity settings and has an affordable, easy-to-navigate, secured and private interface. As well as in physical centers of excellence in underserved communities across Africa.

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in lockdowns and school closures across the continent, the Coding for Employment platforms experienced dramatic increases in the number of users. During a one-week period in September 2020, registrations skyrocketed by 38.5%. Through the Bank’s partnership with the Government of Nigeria and Microsoft to launch the Digital Nigeria eLearning platform during the pandemic, it has hit a combined total of 130,000 students. Registered students are achieving a course completion rate of more than 80%.

To win the battle against poverty in Africa, we must equip our youth with digital skills that empower them for the jobs of the future,” said Martha Phiri, Director of the Bank’s Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department.

Students who took the online courses in the wake of Covid-19 in Africa said learning or honing digital skills helped them advance their careers.

During the lockdown period, I taught myself Microsoft Excel, using the platform. Participating in the training not only smoothed my rough Excel skills but also gave me the platform to network and push myself,” said program graduate Hajara Ayuba in Nigeria.

Thanks to the program, I met one of the major criteria – data fluency and MS Excel skills – at my present NYSC place of primary assignment in Borno State Board of Internal Revenue Service. I was later retained in the job,” Ayuba added.

The online training program started in tandem with the opening planned upgrade of physical Coding for Employment-branded Centers of Excellence piloted in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. The Bank aims to scale up to 130 centers across the continent in a decade.”

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning as a necessity. Coding for Employment swiftly leveraged its online digital skills platform to continue to offer a gateway for African youth to become more digitally capable,” said Hendrina Chalwe Doroba, the Bank’s Division Manager for Education and Skills Development.

Following the pilot program, Coding for Employment online courses are now available in 45 countries. Some 300 beneficiaries, like Shaawanatu Shuaibu, linked Coding for Employment to getting jobs. Shuaibu a Coding for Employment program graduate from the Gombe State Center of Excellence in Nigeria, said the course had broadened her understanding of content writing.

“I was able to organize the content of my CV, which secured me a call for an interview at Jaiz Bank Plc. My performance at the interview and fluency in communication got me posted to the Customer Service Unit of the Bank,” she added.

The initiative aims to create over 9 million jobs and reach 32 million youth and women across Africa and is part of the AfDB’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Initiative.

Click here to learn more about the African Development Bank Coding for Employment program.

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Rwanda Coding Academy gets grant boost to develop world-class programmers

Rwanda Coding Academy gets grant boost to develop world-class programmers

Rwanda Coding Academy software training

Rwanda Coding Academy will receive one hundred and fifty thousand US Dollars in a new grant agreement between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Ministry of ICT and Innovation in Rwanda.

The grant fund is sponsored by the Rockefeller Trust Fund and administered by AfDB. It will go into financing on-job training for teachers. As well as equipping the school with the equipment to facilitate an ultra-modern innovation center.

The academy is a special model school set up by the Rwandan government to develop technology talent. That will drive the booming innovation-driven digital economy in Rwanda. The academy trains students in software development, embedded systems programming and Cyber-Security.

The Rwanda Coding Academy is part of our broader vision to grow a local pool of highly talented Pan-African workforce in science, technology and innovation“, shares Paula Ingabire, Minister for ICT and Innovation.

Nnenna Nwabufo, Acting Director General for the African Development Bank’s Eastern Region notes “this proof-of-concept has profound implications on how the education sector can adopt an effective response to the persistent skills mismatches in the labour market, not only in Rwandan but in Africa at large.”

The coding Academy is a 3-year program opened to high school graduates.
It has an intake of sixty students per year, recruiting 30 sets of boys and girls for each year to encourage gender diversity.

It is currently piloting in Nyabihu District in the Western province of Rwanda with plans to scale the academy in each province. That will onboard about three hundred students each year.

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