High End Tech Innovations From Africa

Here are some of the best tech-driven entrepreneurial solutions to come out of Africa recently.

Plentify Hotbot (South Africa) 

Plentify is a Cape Town-based smart energy company on a mission to make affordable and reliable clean electricity for everyone. It uses hardware, AI, and user-centric design to create smart home products; like the new HotBot, which turns your electric or solar geyser into a smart one. Using a web interface, you can set it on a timer and only ask it to provide hot water when you need it most, plus HotBot shows you your savings. You can also track your consumption with monthly reports. 

Valternative Energy (South Africa) 

This mobility solutions provider from Durban specialises in electric bikes that use battery-swapping technology, so you don’t have to waste time charging the bike. Valternative’s main goal is to fast-track South Africa’s transition to clean energy for the e-mobility sector. It’s targeting e-commerce companies with subscriptions to its e-bike fleets for on-demand services and last-mile delivery businesses. This includes access to swapping stations in the areas where it operates. The two e-bike models on offer are the V1 with up to 90km range with a speed of 55km/h; and the V1 Max, with up to 110km range and a speed of 95km/h.  

Moove (Nigeria) 

Moove, a startup focused on vehicle financing, is assisting people in buying cars using a financing model tied to their earnings. This particularly suits those working in ride-hailing, logistics, mass transit, and instant delivery services. Moove aims to enable drivers to create job opportunities for themselves and own assets, especially individuals who’ve been excluded from traditional financial services in the past. Moove is also active in other African countries like South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, and Uganda. 

KongaTV (Nigeria) 

This first-of-its-kind 24-hour buyers-and-sellers platform launched less than a year ago with the aim of offering the best deals and product prices to manufacturers, distributors, merchants, and resellers in the region. The idea is to reach a broader audience, including under-served ones. Some of the item categories on the platform are mobile phones, fashion, real estate, computing, baby and kids, kitchen and home products. Payments are handled by KongaPay, the company’s fintech arm, and transactions are facilitated through Konga Online Shopping Ltd. 

Bosso (Zambia) 

This startup is disrupting the construction industry with an e-commerce platform that delivers solutions for the building and construction sector. It's also using AI from the data it has accumulated to increase efficiencies in the industry. Bosso is now Zambia’s largest online marketplace, offering all access to affordable building materials. It’s evolved into a B2B and B2C solution to address the 60 million housing deficit in Africa and has recently raised US$400,000-plus in pre-seed funding. Bosso has onboarded over 1 000 hardware stores and 200 home builders with access to the materials.  

Africa is becoming a major innovator in the tech industry and Vodacom is one of the African companies at the forefront of offering effective tech solutions. Find some impressive IoT and other tech products at the Vodacom online shop.