12 Growth Stage Startups Selected for 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa

 

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12 Growth Stage Startups Selected for 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa

This annual flagship program brings together the best and brightest startups from across the continent, giving them the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors and industry experts

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, August 14, 2023/ -- VC4A (https://www.VC4A.com), the leading startup platform in emerging markets, is proud to announce the 12 African startups that have been selected to participate in the 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa. This annual flagship program brings together the best and brightest startups from across the continent, giving them the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors and industry experts with the objective of raising their Seed or Series A fuding rounds. The 12 startups selected for the 2023 Venture Showcase Africa are: Three ventures from Egypt, which are Rology (https://apo-opa.info/455sUUU), an AI-assisted tele-radiology platform that helps deliver accurate radiology reports on time; FreshSource (https://apo-opa.info/451X5fw), a B2B agri-supply chain platform that uses data and technology to connect producers to businesses, guarantee fair prices, and minimize food loss; and Pharmacy Marts (https://apo-opa.info/47H09zA), a B2B marketplace for pharmacies that provides a one-stop shop for products, financing, and logistics. Four startups from Nigeria namely; Vendy (https://apo-opa.info/3YvNpaP), which helps businesses accept payments from customers without internet access; Treepz (https://apo-opa.info/3OCiBQS), a car-sharing platform for Africa that aims to reduce CO2 emissions; Winich Farms (https://apo-opa.info/3qCT7ee), an application that connects food producers to informal food processors and retailers in Africa; and OmniRetail (https://apo-opa.info/3OAwu21), a B2B e-commerce platform offering supplier & retail software, to connect the informal retail ecosystem across Africa. Three startups from Kenya; Duhqa (https://apo-opa.info/3OBqdDi), a digital supply chain platform that uses AI and automation to help SMEs and manufacturers grow their businesses; MPost (https://apo-opa.info/3KDJtPu) which is a digital platform that turns mobile phone numbers into formal postal addresses, and SympliFi (https://apo-opa.info/3OTghFF), a blockchain-powered credit-as-a-service platform that provides affordable credit to MSMEs in Africa. To close the top 12 list, one startup each from Uganda and Senegal; Emata (https://apo-opa.info/3OW2PC7) is a digital lending platform on a mission to provide loans to millions of farmers in East Africa and Maad (https://apo-opa.info/3KCIizP), is an e-commerce marketplace connecting manufacturers and retailers in Francophone Africa. These high-growth ventures were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants, and represent a diverse range of industries and sectors in the Seed and Series A tracks. Each startup will receive mentorship, technical assistance and will have the opportunity to showcase their companies to an audience of investors and industry leaders in the VC4A Deal Room. "We are thrilled to unveil these exceptional startups for our upcoming VC4A Venture Showcase Africa 2023 program. Each is a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurship. These visionary teams have demonstrated remarkable potential and we eagerly anticipate the transformative journey ahead as we accelerate their growth and shape the future together," said an excited Abu Cassim, Lead of the Acceleration Team at VC4A. We thank our 2023 Africa sponsors, the African European Digital Innovation Bridge Network AEDIB|NET and Work in Progress! Alliance, for their commitment to strengthening Africa's startup ecosystem. Their support was essential to the success of this cohort selection process. For more information about the final cohort of the 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa, please visit VentureShowcase.VC4A.com. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VC4A.   Media Contact: Boyewa Abiodun-Adepoju boyewa@vc4a.com About VC4A: VC4A is an ecosystem builder that leverages its infrastructure, network, and expertise for the programs that contribute to the startup movement in emerging markets. Since 2008, the organization has designed, structured, and implemented successful entrepreneurship programs on the continent. VC4A runs an online platform featuring the world’s largest database of startups in Africa and Latin America, connecting entrepreneurs to resources, networks, and funding. Visit https://VC4A.com/ for more information. About Work in Progress! Alliance: The Work in Progress! Alliance, funded by the Dutch government, aims to enable young people from diverse backgrounds to generate sustainable living wages and create optimism about their future. As a member of the Alliance, VC4A works with partners on the acceleration of start-ups and the offering of business development services (BDS) to impact-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so they can employ more young people. About AEDIB|NET: The African European Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB|NET) is an EU/Horizon2020 project that aims to strengthen a common African European digital innovation ecosystem by supporting local digital innovation and startup Ecosystems in Africa, thereby facilitating the collaboration between European and African innovation hubs. The project has a specific focus on Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities, Digital Trade and Cleantech. SOURCE VC4A

Nigeria: A Sick Nation with a Sick President

President Umaru Yar'Adua has never been really healthy since he became the head of state of Nigeria.

Nigeria: A Sick Nation with a Sick President


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

A silver spooned young Nigerian al-Qaeda suicide bomber failed in his desperate mission to bomb an American plane from Amsterdam to Detroit and the news made headlines all over the world, but not a word from the President of Nigeria. Why? They said he was ill and recuperating at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, but the hospital cannot be named. His vice president spoke on his behalf, but Nigerians felt disappointed. Then the US quickly added Nigeria on their list of terrorist countries to worsen the critical state of the most populous nation in Africa. They thought the shocking news was bad enough for their ailing President to be jolted to react, but there was no word again.

The condition of the president must be terrible that he could not even speak on the international political embarrassment of Nigeria in a state of emergency. He must be in coma or could he be dead?

Both the educated and uneducated have been commenting and speculating on what has gone from bad to worse with their president and his government. Rumours of his death have been spread on the Internet. But the rumours have been debunked by his press sectary and the office of the President played a BBC Interview of him addressing Nigerians that he would soon be back once his doctors declare him healthy enough to return back to work. But many Nigerians called it a hoax.

This is not the first time that spurious speculations and rumours of his deteriorating health and death have been circulated. An online political rumour website once published a fake report that President Umaru Yar’Adua was dead until the man resurfaced alive and continued his presidential responsibilities with full support of the political contractors in his cabinet, shareholders in the corridors of power and their beneficiaries.

A president that has failed to improve the deplorable living conditions of the majority of Nigerians who are living on less that one dollar per capita income in a country rated as one of the most corrupt and among the poorest in the world. They have little or no confidence in their sick president and corrupt government. But spurious speculations and rumours are the stock-in-trade of tabloids and should not be taken seriously.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

A sick political system has given Nigerians a sick President of Nigeria.

This is the simple diagnosis of the present political crisis and the only cure is not the replacement of the sick President by another sick product of the same sick ruling party, but the total quarantine of the sick political system.

Nigerians do not need any mass rally or whatever hullabaloo over the hide and seek game that the ruling party is playing with the critical state of the President of Nigeria, who was never really elected in the first place, but was appointed by rigging the last Presidential election in 2007.

Corruption is very contagious. Corruption makes people sick and that is why most Nigerians are sick.

Making noise online and offline will not frighten these devils, because they do not care about what makes Nigerians sick. In fact, the sicker Nigerians become, the better, happier and richer they would be. What makes normal humans sick is what makes these abnormal people well. Their government is a government of corrupt people by corrupt people and for corrupt people. If you are not corrupt, you cannot be in their government. Being well fitted in the costume of corruption is the de rigueur of the ruling party of Nigeria. So, it is not only the President of Nigeria that is sick, but the whole political leadership of the country. They are all sick.

It is not an easy task to find incorruptible Nigerians, except those who were born last night. It is an oddity to be honest in Nigeria. So, it is not always wise to join the majority of Nigerians pointing accusing fingers at the corrupt political contractors, corrupt workers in private business and the religious hypocrites, because most of them are not holier than those they are accusing of corruption. A thief is a thief, from the one who stole one naira to the one who stole one billion naira.

You wonder if there is anyone who has not been entangled in the tentacles of corruption in Nigeria through their common extended family system. Therefore, directly or indirectly everyone could be implicated. Nigerians should stop pointing accusing fingers and start making amends from the person gazing at the mirror...

At the national level, the ruling political party should be sacked, because this is the cankerworm of corruption that is destroying Nigeria. And if this cankerworm is not destroyed, it would eat up the whole country.


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Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 253

26 Dec 2009 01:54 Africa/Lagos

Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 253

ATLANTA, Dec. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today issued a statement regarding the incident onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 bound for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport from Amsterdam.


"Upon approach to Detroit, a passenger caused a disturbance onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. The passenger was subdued immediately and the crew requested that law enforcement meet the flight upon arrival. The flight, operated by Northwest using an Airbus 330-300 aircraft with 278 passengers onboard, landed safely. The passenger was taken into custody and questioned by law enforcement authorities. Delta is cooperating fully with authorities and additional questions should be directed to law enforcement officials who are leading the investigation."


Source: Delta Air Lines

CONTACT: Corporate Communications, Delta Air Lines, +1-404-715-2554


Web Site: Delta Air Lines

Breaking News: Nigerian UK Student Caught Trying to Blow Up US Bound Plane

Yahoo News reported that a Nigerian UK student has been caught as he attempted to detonate a powdery substance on a US plane from Amsterdam as it was about to land at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport with 278 people on board.

The student, Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, an engineering student at University College London, has been identified as an al Qaida suspect.

"We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," said an official of the US government.

More details.