African SMMEs expected to prosper thanks to MultiChoice Accelerator Program

Small and medium-sized companies (SMMEs) are proving to be the engines of economic growth and job creation throughout the African continent at a time when unemployment issues and economic instability are on the rise.

MultiChoice created the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator program to teach 29 enterprises across 9 African countries in essential entrepreneurial skills in recognition of the crucial role that SMMEs play in the continent.

An experienced panel has chosen 11 of the most promising small enterprises for the program’s second leg, where they will present to potential foreign investors in Dubai.

“There’s no denying the impact African SMMEs have on job creation and economic growth,” says Fhulufhelo Badugela, MultiChoice Africa CEO. “Through the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, our vision is to take that impact and multiply it beyond what our start-up founders ever believed possible. I have no doubt these small businesses will be able to take everything they’ve learned so far to unlock transformative business funding.”

The MultiChoice Group created the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator program, which is a component of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund. It was developed in collaboration with the Dubai-based business incubator Companies Creating Change (C3), technical partner EOH, and Galelo Africa to serve as a platform for the growth of start-up companies from all over Africa.

The program focuses on small enterprises and startups in the technology areas of health tech, agritech, fintech, edutech, the circular economy, and creative industries.

“The quality of the submissions this year was high. It confirms our view that Africa has enormous potential. The specific focus on tech industries allows us to showcase the innovation of Africa to the world, but also enables these businesses to develop tech solutions to real societal problems,” continues Badugela.

Public and commercial sector partners in each nation nominated companies or entrepreneurs for the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program’s inaugural phase. From there, 29 of the start-ups began a rigorous virtual training program in Johannesburg in December 2022.

The eleven start-ups participated in a special boot camp in Lusaka, Zambia to gain additional insight into how to craft their narrative for foreign investors and to become “pitch ready” before to their major presentations.

During this year’s MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program, a panel of investors has selected 11 start-ups to hear their business concepts. They are:

1. Tupuca from Angola

Tupuca is an on-demand quick-commerce platform and logistical aggregator of uber-like drivers that allows users to order from multiple vendors and service providers ranging from restaurants, grocery stores, small retailers and courier services.

2. Taskmoby from Ethiopia

Taskmoby is the first digital marketplace in Ethiopia that connects customers with qualified home services providers (e.g. plumbers, cleaners, electricians), leveraging a mobile application, SMS/USSD solutions and a dedicated call center.

3. StarNews Mobile from Ivory Coast

StarNews Mobile is a pan-African media-tech company whose mission is to give financial freedom to African creators from the distribution and monetization of their digital content globally.

4. Tendo from Ghana

Tendo is a social commerce platform that enables anyone to sell online with zero capital.

5. Zuri Health from Kenya

Zuri Health is a virtual hospital (Super Health App) providing affordable and accessible healthcare services to patients across Sub-Saharan Africa via mobile app, website, WhatsApp bot and SMS service.

Through the app, patients can chat and consult with doctors, buy medication from pharmacies, book labs and diagnostic tests and even have a doctor visit them at home.

6. Dojah Inc and Crop2Cash from Nigeria

Dojah Inc is an end-to-end Identity verification and compliance framework to strengthen confidence, credibility, and compliance across digital businesses.

Crop2Cash

At Crop2Cash, we have built a digital financial service that allows smallholder farmers anywhere in Nigeria to open a bank account on their feature phones in under 2 minutes, with no internet required.

7. MaTontine from Senegal

MaTontine is a digital financial services platform.

It digitise traditional, African savings groups to provide access to financial services for financially excluded women in Africa.

8. Botlhale AI and Gradesmatch South Africa

Botlhale AI builds Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for African languages. Developers and organisations can integrate any of these tools into their solutions through its APIs.

Gradesmatch helps students (and families) to transition from education to economic opportunity by making the journey as simple as possible.

The company builds the core enabling infrastructure that simplifies the journey from education to economic opportunity.

9. Mighty Finance Solution from Zambia

Mighty Finance Solution provides SMEs in emerging markets with seamless credit and financial solutions using artificial intelligence. The company leverages proprietary credit rating algorithm to pave the way for a unique lending experience and transforming lives through the provision of simple, quick and affordable loans.