African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Heifer International and Generation Africa are announcing Pitch AgriHack 2022. An agritech competition focused on accelerating entrepreneurial growth and job creation in the agriculture sector. By identifying youth-led businesses with technological solutions to food security challenges and awarding them with cash grants, media visibility and investor exposure. It will award up to $45K in cash prizes to youth technology innovators in Africa’s agriculture and food sectors.
The open competition part of Pitch AgriHack 2022 will support businesses that are driving innovation in agriculture across three categories Early-stage, Mature/Growth-stage, and Women-led. Prizes will be awarded to six winners totalling US$45,000. A fourth invite-only category known as the AYuTe Africa Challenge, sponsored by Heifer International, will award up to $1.5 million in grants to scalable ventures that are already generating measurable impact for Africa’s smallholder farmers.
The Pitch AgriHack 2022 finals will see the top 12 applicants face off in a business pitching contest at the African Green Revolution Forum Summit (AGRF) in September. Finalists will participate in the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, where over 800 companies, 15 government delegations and 150 public and private investors will convene to generate exciting new opportunities.
Applications for Pitch AgriHack are open from 20 June to 29 July 2022 at genafrica.org/pitchagrihack. It is open to African founders or co-founders, aged 18-40 of technology-based and digital services businesses in the agriculture sector. The Top 12 applicants will be selected by an expert jury, followed by an award ceremony where three category winners and three runners-up will receive cash grants to grow their businesses.
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TECNO mobile is announcing its latest premium smartphones with four new devices in the Camon 19 series. They are TECNO Camon 19, Camon 19 Neo, Camon 19 Pro and Camon 19 Pro 5G. The company will however make other variants available for other markets. To mark the launch it held a global event in New York City as it seeks to break into new markets and produce high-end devices.
With the Camon 19 Series, TECNO is focusing on improvements to the body design, performance and camera. Introducing new innovations starting with an ultraslim 0.98mm thin bezel that gives you more screen space. It also introduces a dual-ring triple-camera layout design and RGBW camera sensor + Glass technology. Which promises brilliant portrait photography in challenging low-light and nighttime conditions. TECNO says it will make Android 13 beta available on its latest CAMON 19 Pro 5G.
The company is also introducing TECNO Wallet, a payment wallet and finance app built for its devices and integrated into the CAMON 19 series of phones. TECNO Wallet will allow users to make easy and secure payments for a range of services including money transfers, airtime, data, bills, and shopping.
Pricing for the TECNO Camon 19 will vary by region and they will become available in markets by late June. The 8GB+256GB Camon 19 Pro will retail at $280. The 8GB+256GB Camon 19 Pro 5G will retail at $320. Check out the full device specifications and country-specific prices of the new TECNO Camon 19 Series below. The devices are available at TECNO accredited shops at the following prices:
In Ghana: CAMON 19 (128+4 GB)- GHS 1,490, CAMON 19 (128+6 GB)- GHS 1,699, CAMON 19 Pro (256+8 GB) – GHS 2,250 and CAMON 19 Pro 5G (256+8GB) – GHS 2,715.
Prices in Kenya: Camon 19 (128+4 GB) – Ksh 23,499, Camon 19 Pro (256+8 GB) – Ksh 33,799 and Camon 19 Pro 5G (256+8 GB) – Ksh 41,599.
Camon 19 Prices in Nigeria: Camon 19 (128+6 GB) – NGN 125,000, Camon 19 Pro (256+8 GB) – NGN 166,000 and Camon 19 Pro 5G (256+8 GB) -NGN 198,500.
TECNO Camon 19 Series Device Specs
TECNO Camon 19 specifications
OS – Android 12, HIOS 8.6
Display – 6.8-inch (1080×2460), FHD Display
Dimensions – 166.63 x 74.37 x 8.30 mm
Processor – MediaTek Helio G85 Octa-Core
RAM – 4/6GB
Storage – 128GB
Front Selfie camera – 16MP w/ dual flash
Rear Main camera – 64MP + 2MP + AI Cam, Quad Flash
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Microsoft is promising its commitment to working with both the private and public sectors to accelerate digital transformation in African agriculture in order to increase food security for the continent.
Speaking during a virtual roundtable panel discussion on the topic, Microsoft Kenya Acting Country Manager Kunle Awosika said the organisation is committed to continuing investing in agritech on the continent, with the goal of developing agritech that enables data-driven, precise and connected farming that optimises yields, boosts farm productivity and increases profitability.
“We understand that these important issues will not be solved by one company, but through partnerships with the private sector and our partners in government for maximum impact and benefit to the farmers of Africa,” he said.
Speaking at the same forum, ATO Coordinator, Agriculture Transformation Office, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Thule Lenneiye, said: “Through partnerships such as the one with Microsoft, we can offer our smallholder farmers valuable services that help them modernize and digitize age-old farming practices, increasing productivity and boosting food security for our communities and country.”
One way in which agritech changes the face of agriculture is through democratising information. In partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Microsoft is investing in the Kenyan National Agriculture Platform as a key initiative to drive digitalization in agriculture. As part of this investment, a developer team based in Kenya has developed an Agri chatbot, which provides extension and advisory services to smallholder farmers using either feature phones or smartphones, via SMS, WhatsApp and Telegram.
The AgriBot provides a key platform that farmers can use to access all the relevant information from the Ministry of Agriculture and other government institutions, as well as services from the private sector. These services are invaluable to the over 400,000 farmers already on the platform who would otherwise not have access to such a resource.
Olatomiwa Williams, Microsoft Country Manager Nigeria and Ghana speaking at the forum said the organization is working with stakeholders to identify and develop sustainable and inclusive digital solutions for agro-products and services that seamlessly connect farmers, customers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem. Importantly to improve the economic situation of farmers in Nigeria.
Microsoft also recently announced that it is extending its partnership with the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The initial collaboration between the two organizations started in 2019 when Microsoft and AGRA co-created the AgriBot as a digital solution for localized extension and advisory services for smallholder farmers.
The new phase of the relationship will promote digital innovation and technology as an enabler to connect the agriculture ecosystems, sustainably integrating stakeholders in the service of strategic value chains.
“Our partnership with AGRA forms part of Microsoft’s ongoing investment in agritech across the continent as we support digital transformation in the sector. We’re excited to continue building locally relevant technology solutions that address the local farmers’ needs and deliver meaningful impact,” added Kunle.
On his part, John Macharia, AGRA Kenya Country Manager, said: “At AGRA, we realized early on that digital innovation is critical in advancing food security and poverty eradication in Africa. Our partnership with Microsoft will directly support governments, SMEs and farmers, by bringing the digital tools needed to build resilient food systems.”
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Dell is announcing the XPS 13 (9315) laptop, its 2022 refresh of the popular Dell XPS series. The new XPS 13 the company says is its thinnest and lightest 13-inch XPS. It offers high premium performance with the latest 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors which makes multitasking easy. It also promises up to 12 hours of long battery life. The reimagined XPS 13 dell says is light, thin and compact and wants it to be your ultimate on-the-go companion. This companion comes in Sky and Umber colors and starts selling at $999 with the basic configurations.
The 2022 Dell XPS 13 is crafted from CNC machined aluminum and glass with an interior tone-to-tone matched to the exterior. It is thin at 13.9mm and weighs 1.17 kilograms. The 13.4-inch laptop comes with a 4-sided infinityEdge display which has a screen-to-body ratio of 93.9%. It promises a stunning display with improved clarity, precise detail and vivid color that will give you a theatre experience. The laptop is also configurable with a 4K+ display.
The 2022 XPS 13 is powered with the newest 12th Generation Intel processors up to i7 at 12W. It also features up to 1TB SSD storage and up to 32GB of memory.
Built with a smaller motherboard, Dell makes room for a large battery which uses express charge to deliver up to 80% in under an hour charge. Read on to find out more about the full device specifications and configurations.
Dell XPS 13 (9315) 2022 laptop full specifications
Dimensions
Height: 13.99 mm (0.55”) Width: 295.4mm (11.63”) Depth: 199.4mm (7.85”)
12th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-1230U (12MB Cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 10 cores)
12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1250U (12MB Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 10 cores)
Graphic
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Connectivity
Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E 1675 (AX211) (2×2) Bluetooth 5.2
Color
Sky, Umber
Memory
8GB, 16GB, 32 GB LPDDR5-5200 POP Dual Channel (onboard memory)
Storage
256GB, 512GB, 1TB PCIe 4 x2 SSD
Camera
720p HD webcam
Audio
Studio quality tuning with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro and Waves Nx® 3D audio Stereo
Battery
51WHr battery (built-in), 45W AC adapter, (USB Type-C™)
Authentication
IR Camera, Fingerprint Power Key
Ports
2x Thunderbolt™ 4 (USB Type-C™) with DisplayPort and Power Delivery 1 USB-C to USB-A v3.0 adapter ships standard 1USB-C to 3.5mm headset adapter (optional)
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Running a business is indeed a hectic one but some top essential tools can help lighten the load.
You might have a better idea as you are currently doing so. In order to ensure the growth of your business, you must ensure that your business is not getting stuck in terms of proper communication, productivity, project tracking, client handling, or anything.
You always must ensure that you are adopting whatever process or technology you can in order to make the process smoother, simpler, faster, and obviously more efficient.
There are some tools designed for conducting particular tasks. You can get them and implement them in your business software to ensure the growth of your business. The most interesting part is that you can get them for free from here.
Top Essential Tools You Need To Grow Your Business
Now, we will talk about the tools that you need for the proper growth of your business.
Time Tracking Software
When you are running a business, you might notice that everything revolves around time management.
From evaluating time being spent on creating products, running projects, or completing everyday tasks, everything reflects the efficiency and productivity levels of our company.
Here a time tracking tool will assist you in analyzing your employees’ efficiency, removing redundancies, and improving the company’s process.
Here are some of the best time tracking software.
Time Doctor.
Toggle Track.
Clockify.
Tick.
QuickBooks Time.
CRM Solution
Business is all about maintaining a healthy and fruitful relationship with clients. And often, handling all those customer details gets overwhelming. Here, a customer relationship management or CRM tool can really help you with organizing customer profiles more thoroughly.
After collecting customer data, with the help of CRM software, you will be able to easily update them. All your team will have access to that data with a single platform.
Here are some of the top CRM tools you can use in 2022.
When you are thinking about covering those extra miles and also want to give your customers more information, blogging is a great way of doing so.
This way, you will be able to tell your target audience that you want to put more effort into developing communication through information sharing. Also, when you are running a blog, social media platforms can work really well.
With the help of social media platforms and blogging solutions, you will be able to reach different levels of marketing.
Planning And Scheduling Software
Planning and scheduling software is another essential tool for your business growth. This will help you to stay organized and efficient. The best part is that these types of tools work simply great with CRM tools.
When you are getting tools, it will be best to decide the features beforehand, as per your business requirements. Also, you should always have an option for upgrading your license.
Here are some top names of planning and scheduling tools for your business.
When you have a proper streamlined process for your employee communication, your business will automatically grow more. For daily communications, all those messaging platforms, such as
These can work really well. The efficiency and capability of all these tools are not only limited to communication but also extended up to sharing files, scheduling voice and audio calls, employee groups, and a lot more things.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
We believe after going through this article; you will now be able to figure out what tools you need to grow your business. Still, in case you have any doubts, you can reach us anytime. We will try to come up with a solution as soon as possible.
Till then, here are some questions with answers which might help you.
Q1: What Is The Most Useful Business Tool?
Here is a list of essential tools that you require for your business.
Email marketing tools.
Communication tools.
Human resource tools.
Accounting tools.
Project and task management tools.
Q2: What Can I Use To Make My Business Grow?
Growing a business always needs time and energy; still, here are some things that will make your work a little easier.
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GreenHouse Capital is announcing that 13 pre-series A startups will be joining the Microsoft Scale-up Accelerator program. They will get access to technology, skilling programs and an opportunity to co-sell with Microsoft. As well as support from Microsoft engineering and product teams for co-innovation opportunities. The startups are from Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania and feature six male and seven female founders.
The scale-up accelerator program is a partnership program between GreenHouse Capital and Microsoft. It seeks to provide startups with technology infrastructure, technical skills, and funding to enable them rapidly launch in new markets.
In March this year, Microsoft announced new initiatives under its Africa Transformation Office (ATO) to accelerate the growth of startups in Africa and fast-track investment in Africa’s startup ecosystem. By supporting African startups with $500 million in potential funding. It also plans to accelerate the growth of 10,000 African startups over the next five years by partnering with accelerators, tech hubs and incubators across Africa, such as GreenHouse Capital, to achieve this.
The six weeks acceleration program will see the startups participate in 12 instructor-led sessions, 10 workshops and three-panel discussions. It will also feature a demo day session that will bring global investors to meet the start-up founders. Sessions are tailored to help the startup’s scale raise subsequent funding rounds.
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