Built in Africa focuses on entrepreneurs, startups and technologies that are affecting the continent and empowering African people. Non-profits are important and harnessing the power of a community to power a business is key in building ecosystems. Empowering Africa's youth and training them with the right tools for the 21st century is also important. In this, the third installment of our “Built in Africa” series, we feature Olivia Mukam, a self-professed "solutioneur" from Cameroon, her community and youth-driven NGO and for-profit ...

In an effort to paint a picture of what the demand and expectations in South Africa's job world might look like for developers, local developer Eshaam Rabaney recently created this awesome infographic titled The State of Developer Recruitment 2014. The global economy is gearing more and more towards an information-based network where the demand for skills is crucial for job creation and growth. According to a study done by the World Economic Forum, The Global Information Technology Report 2013, South ...

What’s the difference between being happy and feeling alive? Let me tell you. Being happy involves feelings of joy, contentment and euphoria while often excluding, ignoring or suppressing negative feelings. Feeling alive is knowing that every day brings challenges that you either will or will not overcome. Feeling alive isn’t restricted to joy. It involves pain, fear, anger, confusion, frustration, happiness, euphoria, triumph, accomplishment, failure, success, remorse, resentment and everything in between. That’s how most entrepreneurs I know would probably define what ...

Africa Internet Holding (AIH) recently announced the launch of Lendico in South Africa -- a digital alternative to banks that enables investors to directly fund the loans of private individuals. Using a peer-to-peer model, the platform introduces social lending that promises borrowers cheap finance while investors get great return on investment. Under the umbrella of German startup incubator Rocket Internet, the service is NCR-approved and has so far launched in Germany (December 2013) followed by Spain, Poland, Austria and now ...

ICT management company Integr8 recently announced that it has invested in the future of South Africa’s ICT sector by making available its new internship program to fifteen young candidates. The South African government's National ICT Plan aims to address the skills shortage that is estimated to be 27%. Most of the demand comes from the specialised sectors such as technology and is where Intrgr8 hopes to ultimately contribute. This latest move, the company says, highlights its commitment to skills development ...

For the South African government to achieve its goal of creating five million jobs over ten years, the SME sector would need to grow by a staggering 40%. Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Finance, emphasised the importance of SMEs in achieving this goal by stating that “about 70% of private employment is in firms with fewer than 50 workers”. This supports what we have always known about the SME sector: it has a critical role in supporting economic and social ...

Seedstars World has recently announced that it's gearing up to continue its global startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes in 2014. Earlier this year, we saw the 20 regional startup finalists (five of them from Africa) of SeedStars World 2013. Hailing from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro and Seoul to Lagos, these businesses pitched their innovative ideas to a global audience in Geneva, Switzerland in February. Seedstars World will hit the road in April. The organisers will head to ...

As Nigeria's middle class continues to grow, the demand for luxury and consumer shopping is only set to increase. Online shopping has started to take off in the country thanks to key players like Konga and Jumia, but getting consumer products from overseas countries like the UK and US has remained difficult for the population, until now. A startup called MallForAfrica connects online shoppers in Nigeria to international e-tailers in the UK, Europe and the US and takes care of the ...

Big match temperament is a prerequisite for entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur you have to make big decisions on a daily basis that impact various aspects of your company. ‘Going with your gut’ is great for intuitive leadership and direction for your business, but when it comes to financial decision-making when steering your business, making sure that you have thoroughly thought through all the implications of a big decision greatly increases your chances of it being the right one. Putting money into the ...

We know that China's ecommerce market is set to see US$274.5 billion in spending in 2014, but how much of that will be done from mobile devices? The answer is, by the best estimates, US$51.62 billion spent via mobile commerce this year. That's nearly double the mcommerce tally in 2013. Now that smartphones account for over 80% of China's new phone sales, it's inevitable that the m-commerce sector is growing faster than the ecommerce industry itself. It's time for all ecommerce ...