Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [23/06/2020]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa needs entrepreneurship and investment to recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

This, as SA food delivery startup UCook has launched an initiative aimed at rescuing the restaurant trade.

With Covid-19 headlining news all over the world, Ventureburn has launched a regular daily roundup on the virus and how it is affecting Africa’s tech startup sector.

Ramaphosa says SA needs entrepreneurship and investment to recover from the economic fallout of Covid-19

Those with any news releases relating to Covid-19 and Africa’s tech startup sector can send these to editor@memeburn.com.

Here then is the latest on the coronavirus and African tech startups:

Difficult decisions ahead: President Cyril Ramaphosa says entrepreneurship and investment are needed for South Africa to recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Writing in his weekly newsletter yesterday he urged business to take the necessary difficult decisions needed during the pandemic, with “care and with due regard to balancing the sustainability of companies and the livelihoods of workers”.

UCook to help restaurants: SA food delivery startup UCook has launched an initiative aimed at rescuing the restaurant trade. Each week UCook  will offer a specific restaurant’s featured dish, and with each dish ordered, a portion of the revenue will go directly to the restaurant, the startup said yesterday on the launch of its UCook for Restaurants campaign. UCook will also be hosting live cook-along sessions on multi-channels each week, with the featured chef, to help those that ordered the meal to join in and cook the dish with live expert guidance.

Bus company adds logistics arm: Nigerian bus hailing company Plentywaka has launched Logistics By Plentywaka (LBP). In a direct response to the city-wide lockdown and restriction of movement, the Lagos-based business-to-consumer delivery service will provide its customers with same-day service and range of logistical vehicles from cooling vans, trucks and bikes, that can be easily selected depending on the requirements. The startup, which claims to have over 40 000 customers, was founded in September last year by Johnny Enagwolor, Onyeka Akumah, Afolabi Oluseyi and John Shaibu.

Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [22/06/2020]