South Africa has been a hive of startup activity recently and this week was no exception with Johannesburg hosting Africa’s Payments, Banking and Retail Show 2014, inviting conference and exhibition attendees to consider the role of digital in banking and payment solutions.
Tunde Kehinde, former managing director (MD) of Jumia Nigeria, has said that building a brand consumers can trust through convenience, good customers service and a positive online experience is central to success in e-commerce,
Kehinde, who resigned as Jumia Nigeria MD last month, was speaking at the ongoing Africa’s Payments, Banking and Retail Show 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He said building a successful e-commerce venture included a complete package of expertise, funding, a strong team and low prices, but building trust was the most important aspect.
He also said the size of the Nigerian market and its desire for solutions outweighs the many challenges of doing business in the country.
He said challenges include infrastructure, power, internet and a lack of talent.
“It is one thing to have an online presence, but it is a very physical business. Nigeria is a pretty big country,” he said.
South African startup TuYu is claiming to be the “pioneer” in the country’s mobile corporate reward and incentive industry, having developed an all-encompassing solution to fit a variety of needs and budgets.
TuYu’s aim is to allow its clients to receive and redeem rewards in a secure and convenient manner by using their mobile phones.
The company can run a number of different programmes, including staff rewards, incentives, one-off vouchers, airtime rewards, insurance payouts, mystery shopping payouts and expense management.
Egypt’s first technology and innovation park the GrEEK campus is offering state-of-the-art office space for startups and more established firms in the capital Cairo, with 22 firms already working from the site.
Cairo’s first tech and innovation park, the GrEEK Campus seeks to provide a proper entrepreneurial environment for Egyptian startups to thrive and grow in the country’s expanding ICT sector.
“We aim to create a home for the technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in the heart of Cairo,” said Rania AbuLaban, business development manager at the GrEEK Campus.
“A place for companies and professionals to work and interact. A place for global and regional market leaders to innovate. A place that gives entrepreneurs access to resources with domain, functional and market expertise, and the opportunity to collaborate and grow. A place for accidents of genius to happen!”
Nigeria’s Kuluya Games has introduced an SMS in-app payment option allowing players to buy items via SMS.
Lakunle Ogungbamila, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kuluya Games, told HumanIPO the integration is operator-driven.
“Basically it’s operator-driven, meaning game players can buy items with SMS. The way we have integrated it is that once a player decides to buy fuel for let’s say our Keke Game, the app asks them for permission to send an SMS on their behalf, and if they click “yes”, an SMS is sent and they are rewarded with whatever they want to buy. It allows inner purchases with SMS,” he said.
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