Confidence is a precious thing in business. Having the confidence to succeed, the belief in yourself that your ideas will work and the drive to turn those ideas into reality are key traits of the high-achieving entrepreneur. But how confident can someone be when they confront new strategies for growth or realise that they are going to have to try something different to help them succeed in their role? Where can they turn to for advice and guidance? For me this is ...

Solar energy in Africa is really hip and happening. The pay-as-you-go solar energy startup from Kenya, M-Kopa, has just won the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize worth US$1.5-million. Jesse Moore, Managing Director and Co-Founder of M-Kopa Solar says that the company is soon to power over a million homes living off-the-grid: We are honoured to win the Zayed Future Energy Prize. The prize brings global attention to M-KOPA Solar’s business model, which has brought clean, affordable solar power to 150 000 homes ...

Andy Hadfield, founder of the now defunct wine rating startup Real Time Wine, has announced his newest venture: a social impact startup called forgood. The project, which has been in "stealth mode" since November 2014, allows people to volunteer their time or donate food, clothes and money to an organisation which they feel needs it or to create their own cause which would benefit from donations. According to a post on Hadfield's blog, he's stepped into the CEO role at the ...

Fresh ecommerce stats from Statista.com show that 40% of worldwide internet users have bought products or goods online via desktop, mobile, tablet or other online devices. This amounts to more than 1 billion online buyers and is projected to grow steadily. The boom in global online shopping comes off the back of innovative encryption and continuous security upgrades by leading payment gateway providers. eMarketer also estimates that business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce sales worldwide will reach US$1.92-trillion in 2016. The African region’s impressive ...

There are plenty of exciting entrepreneurs in Africa trying to kickstart education systems through affordable education, interactive games, online content and digital career discovery platforms. That level of entrepreneurship is being matched by interest from international investors. One such investor, Pearson, recently concluded its Edupreneurship Programme -- an attempt to help these startups scale effectively. Two of the continent's top edupreneurs -- Tanzanian-based, Ubongo, and Lekki Peninsula Affordable Schools from Nigeria -- were awarded by the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund ...

It was only a matter of time before Uber unleashed its East African chapter. The US$40-billion worth taxi company is finally about to show face in Kenya's Nairobi. After first touching down in Johannesburg, South Africa and then Lagos, Nigeria, the popular Uber is definitely clear about making inroads into Africa's fast-expanding cities -- and the whole world for that matter. So far, the San Francisco-based hotshot is operating in over 250 cities across the globe. That's 190 more than it had ...

When you think about Africa, foreign kids traveling to the continent to learn how to code isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Well, this didn't stop Aaron Fuchs and his team from setting up a business doing exactly that. In fact, this focus has given them an advantage. Not only does summer tech academy iXperience have the advantage of earning dollars while running a business in rands, it's also found the ability to blend a world-class educational product ...

The shutdown of Woza, Google's free website service, earlier this week was big news. Understandably so too: the service, which launched in early 2012 was designed to give businesses “the opportunity to create their own websites… and develop an online presence — for free, and in under an hour”. And, in that time, it was reportedly used to create around 40 000 websites. Now a South African startup is looking to fill the void it's left behind. VIGO, a Cape ...

Did you know that in 2014 the world hit 52% of its entrepreneurial capacity? That’s according to the Global Entrepreneurship Index, which hosted last year’s 2014 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Morocco. As this ecosystem of small businesses continues to grow and thrive, standing out from the crowd is going to become an increasingly difficult challenge. So, how can you do it? We gathered advice from some of Africa’s most innovative startups, who have either received grants from Microsoft or who have ...

In partnership with the City of Johannesburg, Resolution Circle and the University of Johannesburg, green entrepreneurs are encouraged to partake in The Green City Startup challenge. And oh boy, will they been keen to do so! Twenty applicants will be selected to receive mentorship from Resolutions Circle and the University of Johannesburg's tech incubator. An awards panel of serial entrepreneurs and distinguished researchers will select eight finalists. Each finalist will receive R250 000, to demonstrate the viability of his or her idea. ...