Zibusiso Mkhwanazi employs the ‘strategic creative firepower’ he uses in advertising to help businesses innovate and survive the current crises.



Today, he is the Group CEO of M&amp;N Brands and co-founder of Avatar, but Zibusiso Mkhwanazi’s entrepreneurial journey started in primary school, when he would sell sweets to make transport money. The sugar rush was his first taste of entrepreneurship.



Later, in high school, during the holidays, he sold ice-cream in the sweltering streets of Johannesburg’s Central Business District, sometimes rewarding himself with KFC chicken at the end of a long day.



Somewhere along the way, he discovered a love for computers that would groom him to one day start his own website development business.



“My mom didn’t have the means to take me to varsity, so she gave me R2,000 ($118). I put it in the stock market and significantly turned it into about R14,000 ($820). I used that money to start my website business at a time when creativity was not implemented in the website industry,” says Mkhwanazi.



He also bought his first suit so he could attend meetings, printed his first company profile and started buying student website samples for about R2,000 and selling the designs to corporates for about seven times that amount. All of that enabled him to commence his business in 2001 when the internet was still new for most Africans.



“We saw a gap, the internet was growing, but ICT companies were designing horrible websites because they are not designers, but we knew people who could actually design and make something look really good,” he says.



He worked with big brands and that accelerated the growth. In 2006, the company merged with Krazyboyz, a digital solutions company present in Johannesburg and Cape Town.



In 2012, Mkhwanazi co-founded Avatar with business partner Veli Ngubane to move from web design to integrated marketing.



“We were just about ideas, whether for the web, the radio, TV or print; it was about ideas that solve human problems. We were building communication according to human truth and human insight, like how the consumer wants to be spoken to,” he emphasizes.



Mkhwanazi left Krazyboyz with nothing except a few customers and since then, Avatar has grown at over 100% every year according to him. In the first year, the company turned over about R1 million ($60,000) and today, is one of South Africa&#8217;s largest black-owned and managed advertising agencies.



Like most business affected by the coronavirus, Avatar has had its share of issues and has had to adapt.



“It is very important to be there for our clients in a time of need, so we try as much to accommodate them. What we did was pivot as a business and said ‘we have strategic creative firepower that we create advertising work with, what if we could use the same firepower to help companies innovate, because coronavirus means they have to change very quickly and all of that requires innovation’,” says Mkhwanazi.



As a business, he adds, that is what they do daily, solving problems in creative ways.



“Some companies are not built around innovation, we became their center of innovative thinking to help them rethink themselves and that is how we are helping many corporate companies survive the coronavirus under ‘the new normal’. The ultimate aim is to save as many jobs as possible,” he says.

Zibusiso Mkwanazi (left) and co-founder Veli Ngubane

From Selling Candy To Tasting Success

In Lagos, savvy entrepreneurs in the beauty business face-off the Covid-19 economic crisis by glamming up their online offerings.



From always being fascinated by brushes and make-up products and their ability to enhance a person’s physical appeal, Rasheeda Adeosun, one of Nigeria’s leading make-up artists today, was close to this profession from the beginning. When she was about seven years old, her mother ran a hair-dressing salon in Lagos, where Adeosun would spend most of her time but the interest in taking up beauty as a career came much later in life when she herself became a mother, to three children.



“While I was pregnant, I was working for Lloyds in their headquarters in the United Kingdom and I fell really ill. After I had my twins, my husband said ‘your friends are always coming around asking you to do make-up so why don’t you do something like that’. Obviously being at home, I said I will give it a try,” recalls Adeosun. She posted her wedding pictures on Facebook and people began to take note of her talent.



“People were like ‘who did your make up’, and I said ‘I did it myself’. That is when business started booming. A number of bloggers, like Linda Ikeji, posted [about] me and that is when the customers started coming in.”



But the early days were a struggle. Unlike today’s standards in the beauty business – characterized by significant access to resources and industry entrepreneurs, who can provide mentorship, as well as practically no barriers to entry due to platforms like YouTube and Instagram – Adeosun had no one that would help turn her passion for make-up into a business.



“So, I used to work for nothing and sometimes I would only have £20 left but I always say to people not all free jobs are bad jobs and I did a lot of free jobs in the beginning but I always say I gained a client later,” says Adeosun.



But that was a very long time ago. Today, she is one of the most sought-after make-up artists in the UK and Nigeria, with her established brand, OTS Beauty, boasting some of Africa’s leading celebrities like Tiwa Savage, as exclusive clients. The bridal look has undergone an overhaul. New-age make-up artists like Adeosun are the reason behind it. She has perfected her signature style which comprises of natural and contemporary looks in tune with the trend and she has gained a reputation of amping up the glam quotient of brides on their big day.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47303" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2126DAE2-6F04-4487-8092-DAD55E4E00CD-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Rasheeda Adeosun of OTS Beauty</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I used to work for nothing and sometimes I would only have £20 left but I always say to people not all free jobs are bad jobs and I did a lot of free jobs in the beginning but I always say I gained a client later.&#8221;</blockquote>



This has created a huge demand for her bridal make-up services, which constitute a bulk of her revenue. In addition to this, she can charge a premium for campaigns, video shoots and photoshoots. She charges a uniform price for both celebrities and regular clients, often bringing in anywhere from £3,000-£4,000 on a good month.



But like many industries, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that entrepreneurs like Adeosun are now faced with an uncertain future as economies continue to implement physical restrictions in a desperate attempt to curb the spread of the marauding virus. Adeosun has seen her biggest cash cow all but vanish overnight. This has led her to pivot her brand to survive the new normal.



“I am now doing a lot of online stuff. Most of my following is not from the UK but rather from Nigeria and Ghana. So, doing online classes has helped. Even though it hasn’t brought in the type of money I am used to, it has helped me make ends meet. Also selling lashes online has helped me to bring in money,” says Adeosun.



There is really no business that has not faced the wrath of Covid-19 as more and more enterprises are being forced to shut their doors due to the nationwide lockdowns in place.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="682" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-682x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47304" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-600x901.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_3503.jpg 1364w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /><figcaption>Nnenna Okoye of Youtopia Beauty</figcaption></figure>



Nnenna Okoye is an Accounting and Finance graduate from the University of Kent in Canterbury in the UK and is now a beauty entrepreneur. She is the owner of Youtopia Beauty, which initially began as an online beauty shop but has over the years morphed into a physical space offering everything from beauty products to skin serums. A bad case of acne, which lasted for over eight months, was the catalyst that helped her to pivot from her nine-to-five job and enter the scary world of beauty entrepreneurship.



“At the time I thought ‘what can you do with your eyes closed’ and you know you love doing and enjoy doing it and still make money from it. And products were the only thing I knew how to do but it was scary and I didn’t know where to start from,” says Okoye.



After failing to get local products that would help her with her acne problem, she had to resort to ordering the products from abroad.



That was when she had her eureka moment. From a beauty blog, she broadened her horizons into the world of beauty distribution and created an e-commerce site where customers in Nigeria could order online. Once business took off, she began introducing her own line of branded cosmetics, the first of which was her best-selling Youskin Vitamin C Serum.



“I felt that vitamin C is the most essential product in every beauty routine especially in Africa where we have exposure to the sun and a lot of pollution. We have about eight products in our line today,” says Okoye.



The company has had to make several changes to its business model over the years. Firstly, Okoye’s dream of creating the Amazon for beauty products was short-lived due to the logistical challenges in Nigeria.



“When I started, people did not have that trust to use their cards online and they had Jumia, which had an order without paying method but they are a much bigger company so they could afford to do that but we couldn’t. So, we had to devise a method where we could also do it properly,” says Okoye.



Her Nigerian consumers wanted to see the products and have a mini consultation before purchasing and it soon became apparent that Okoye would need to open a physical space in order to attract her consumers.



And that is exactly what she did. Youtopia Beauty now had a physical address and an online presence and the move led to an influx of sales.



Since then, the company has been enjoying unprecedented growth. In addition to Youtopia Beauty and Youskin, Okoye subsequently launched the Beauty Hub, a one-stop shop catering service for all the beauty needs of the Nigerian woman. Then disaster struck. Nigeria’s Covid-19 lockdown order came into effect in March and since then, Okoye’s beauty space has remained closed.



“Since the lockdown, we have seen a total decline in people walking into the Beauty Hub which has been disastrous. I shut down completely because we couldn’t do anything due to the curfew in place in Lagos. In the middle of May, I decided not to stop selling,” says Okoye.



Luckily, her major sales came from the distribution of her products, which were still being sold in essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets that were still allowed to open their doors during the lockdown.



“Because of the pandemic, people couldn’t go out and now people who didn’t care about their skin decided that this is the time to focus on skincare. So, we are selling out on our skin products with some of our lines selling about 100 soaps a day. I have actually seen my numbers rise in the skincare products category but not the make-up line and Beauty Hub,” says Okoye.



Kwame Opoku, CEO of Reset Global and a futurist, describes the trend of increasing sales in the beauty industry during a pandemic as the ‘Lipstick Index’. “Research has shown that historically, an increase in lipstick sales occurred during difficult times like the 9/11 crisis in 2001. This was first established by Estée Lauder who saw their lipstick sales double during this period and this is used as a reliable metric to gauge consumer confidence,” says Opoku.



Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu are the owners of Good Hair, a high-end provider of quality hair products for the discerning and upwardly-mobile professional woman. The starting prices for their hair units can fetch up to a $1,000 a piece. Over the years, the brand, which the women started when they met in university over 12 years ago, has attracted the crème de la crème of society like the First Lady of Ghana and the wives of politicians.



“We saw a gap in the market. There were less than 10 people selling hair and it would sometimes take you up to a year to find a good supplier. So, the market was ready for us. Girls our age could not attain and have access to luxury hair. We always knew we wanted to be a luxury brand and fresh and we targeted young professionals, our aunties and affluent people,” says Osunde.



Their love for premium hair has been supported by their wealthy clientele over the years, which has resulted in the two diversifying their brand with a presence in the UK as well as launching the Good Hair Space in Nigeria with a beauty salon, a barbershop as well as a restaurant and bar.



Today, however, the hair market is a lot different. They have still stuck to their unflinching compromise for good quality hair but are no longer the only players in the space. Instead of only a few suppliers, there are now thousands of people selling hair. The proliferation of social media means it is easier to find suppliers from all over the world. Furthermore, cheap hair products from China provide affordable alternatives to premium hair which has created a mass market.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="682" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47307" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-600x901.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Facetune_09-07-2020-20-47-12-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /><figcaption>Kika Osunde</figcaption></figure>



“Even though the salon is closed, we are still selling hair to clients in Nigeria and the UK,” says Ikokwu. “In Nigeria, we offer a product and a service and in London, we only offer a product. So now, we focus on selling our products. We have started creating more content to increase the demand of our hair units and sales have surged during this period. We definitely fall into the lipstick index- the only thing that has changed for us is the delivery times as the post office wasn’t open six days a week anymore in the UK.”



For most entrepreneurs in the beauty space, content remains king. Providing engaging content to their followers either through tutorials and giveaways to keep online audiences engaged has become the new norm if they want to keep building brand loyalty. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to changes in every industry and for the beauty sector, these new changes will require entrepreneurs to put in more hours in front of the camera and utilize social media to remain connected to their consumers, until the world returns to a semblance of its former self.

CHI2

Nigeria’s Beauty Entrepreneurs: Making Up For Lost Business

Why companies must make gender equality a central, guiding theme, not only in their diversity and inclusion efforts and hiring practices, but in their business strategy and leadership.



Businesses that want to grow sales and market share are looking for ways to increase their pool of customers. The good news is that there is a massive market segment and resource that remains under-utilized: women.



Consumer product companies and marketers have long understood that women are the key decision-makers when it comes to household purchases. While they may have invested in understanding the purchasing behavior driving sales in their markets, often, the data they rely on doesn’t adequately capture women’s experiences and needs. Moving into the future, the companies that compete successfully will be those that build women’s participation into every level of their workplace and decision-making processes, from leadership and strategy, through product design to customer-facing roles.



This need for diversity extends to the new frontier of artificial intelligence (AI). As companies are increasingly using data to drive decision-making, we have to confront the reality that women are often excluded from both the creation of AI and the data that is being collected.



There is already strong evidence that companies that have women on boards and in senior executive roles are out-performing their competitors. Studies show that businesses with diverse leadership enjoy 21% higher revenue than their peers and are 27% more likely to have long-term value creation. These numbers are more significant at a time when revenues are being challenged due to the Covid-19 pandemic.



Women’s increased participation in the workforce also holds the prospect of greater economic growth. Women’s unequal participation costs the economies of sub-Saharan Africa an estimated $95 billion (R1.7 trillion) every year. Women also invest more than 90% of their incomes back into their families and communities, further contributing to prosperity. If women participated equally in the global economy, they could add $28 trillion to global GDP by 2025, a number to consider as we look for a global recovery from the pandemic.



In a report from the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO), almost two-thirds (65.3%) of enterprises in Africa reported that initiatives on gender diversity and equality helped enhance business outcomes, including profitability and productivity. Yet inequality, exclusion and inflexibility hold women back in many aspects of their everyday lives, including at work. The challenge: how do we design workplaces that enable women’s participation at every level?



First, are you dedicated to gender balance in the workplace?



Companies must make gender equality a central, guiding theme, not only in their diversity and inclusion efforts and hiring practices, but in their business strategy and leadership. We must be committed to reshaping the way our world is designed, coded and constructed by bringing different perspectives to the table. Decision-making marked by a diversity of perspectives and experiences is stronger and companies that create diverse teams will win.&nbsp;



This commitment must be explicit and measurable. At Mastercard, for example, we link our management goals and KPI’s to diversity and inclusivity, creating accountability. If you believe in it, make it real.



Second, do you have expertise you can develop into a learning opportunity for women?



Examine your core business and its intangible assets. Is there knowledge that you can transfer to women in your own workplace and beyond? The key is to identify pockets of expertise core to your company and place women in those areas. They will build their knowledge and, in turn, impart that knowledge as they move to increasingly senior roles. For example, we are a diversified payments technology company that operates a global network, which I characterize as the beating heart of the company. Immediately prior to joining our South African office, I worked for 18 months in our Operations and Technology Group. I believe that all of our employees should cycle through a technology role to gain knowledge of our core business. For my part, my understanding of our company is forever changed.



Beyond our company walls, we have committed to growing financial inclusion, with a goal of bringing one billion people into the global financial system by 2025. As part of these efforts, we do extensive training around digital financial literacy, 4IR technology fields and business mentorship. We have also created Girls4Tech, which is developing a strong pipeline of talent by encouraging girls to embrace STEM subjects that will prepare them for the workforce of the future.



Third, how can we re-wire the workplace to better function for women?



Having women in your workforce is one thing, but have you examined your workplace? The upheaval of lockdowns and social distancing in the last few months have made many of us rethink our idea of the ideal workplace. According to UN Global Compact, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit women disproportionately hard, as they are more likely to be in lower-paying, insecure and informal jobs. They are also more likely to be burdened with increased childcare responsibilities with schools and nurseries closed. In South Africa, two-thirds of those who lost their livelihoods are women.



How do we rebound from this? Too much of the world was not designed with women in mind, and more often than not, workplaces aren’t optimized in such a way where both men and women can be productive, contribute to success and reach their potential. Return to work programs and flexible family-friendly environments are key, as they promote and encourage women’s participation in the workforce.



The business case, economic case, and societal case for diversity in the workplace is clear. Now, we need to devise roadmaps and act to build the workplaces that meet the challenges of the future.



Because a world that works better for women creates limitless possibilities for us all. It’s a world that gives everyone the chance to unleash their potential, pursue their passions and make extraordinary things happen.



– By Suzanne Morel, Country Manager, Mastercard, South Africa

Suzanne Morel Country manager mastercard South Africa – Landscape

‘Meet The Needs Of Women In The Market By Having Women In The Workforce’

Temie Giwa-Tubosun supplies blood to hospitals and oxygen to Covid-19 patients in Nigeria. The special deliveries arrive with doses of compassion and hope.



Life cannot be interrupted, can it? Hence, Temie Giwa-Tubosun’s business clock runs 24 hours a day, all year, delivering life-saving medical products to hospitals across Nigeria. “We never close our doors. In the past four years, I don’t remember a time when we have not had our doors open; Covid or no Covid, Christmas Day or no Christmas Day,” says Giwa-Tubosun, matter-of-factly, in an interview with FORBES AFRICA. Long before Covid-19 and the reimagined focus on access to health into Africa’s remotest corners, Giwa-Tubosun had decided that if she was going to make a success of anything, it was going to be by using the power of data, technology and logistics to deliver essential medical supplies in Nigeria. In 2016, she founded LifeBank, a healthcare delivery solution that represented the culmination of her own personal journey of heartache, tenacity and commitment. The Nigerian-American started with supplying blood, and now delivers everything from oxygen to insulin for those in critical need of them. And now, also ventilators for serious Covid-19 patients. “We knew we needed to be of use to our country when the coronavirus hit. I was very worried about the access to ventilators and I was doing a lot of work around making sure ventilators are available. We called all the hospitals and put a list together to make them available to those who needed it. “Then after that, I felt like we needed to do more testing and we partnered with other agencies and pushed for the first mass-testing drive through testing centers in Nigeria. We have done two and we are working on doing two more,” says the LifeBank CEO. Her latest venture is an oxygen delivery service called AirBank for Covid-19 victims. According to Giwa-Tubosun, about 40% of Covid-19 patients need oxygen and only 5% need ventilators. “The reason people don’t talk about oxygen is because in the West, access to oxygen is not a problem so there has not been a focus on it, but in Nigeria, access to oxygen is a major problem so we thought we need to make sure oxygen is available to [everyone] across the country. So, we then started what we called AirBank and started delivering oxygen to isolation centers across the country.” Born and raised in Nigeria, in her formative years, Giwa-Tubosun shifted to the United States (US) with her five siblings when her mother won the US visa lottery, allowing the family to escape a life of poverty in Nigeria. “It was a nice childhood but things got bad when my parents stopped getting paid as teachers and we got really poor,” recalls Giwa-Tubosun. Her new life in the US, the land of dreams, gave her purpose. After obtaining a Masters in Public Administration from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Giwa-Tubosun joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in Switzerland, where she worked on health financing, before moving on to a firm in Minnesota back in the US where she was responsible for health systems and technologies. Then came a fellowship with Global Health Corps, a non-profit organization founded by Barbara Bush, the daughter of former US president George W Bush. Here, Giwa-Tubosun was part of a group of young leaders in global health for about a year before joining the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Uganda, where she worked on health supply chains before moving to Nigeria, to get married. After a stint working in healthcare with Lagos State as an operations manager, she decided to give motherhood a try. “I went back to Minnesota to have my child but it was a very difficult pregnancy. I had a lot of complications; he was born very early and I was on bed-rest for a while and it was through this period that I started thinking more about my health.” And the health of other mothers like her. After doing some research around maternal health, she found that the number one cause of maternal death was postpartum hemorrhage, a condition in which a woman bleeds heavily after giving birth. “It is a very big problem and has the highest [incidence] of maternal death. Other causes of maternal death take about five hours but this one is very quick,” says Giwa-Tubosun. “The data is that eight out of 10 women who have postpartum hemorrhage in Africa could be saved with access to blood.” LifeBank uses a supply chain system that can make cost-effective deliveries of critical supplies round the clock in every village, town and city across the country. “We have saved over 5,000 people. And you will see little cards on the walls [in our office with] the names of the persons we saved and the date we saved their lives, so this impact is one of the most important things for me,” says Giwa-Tubosun, who recently was also adjudged sub-Saharan Africa winner of the 2020 edition of the Cartier Women’s Initiative. But she has no time to rest on her laurels. She says she continues to seek ways to reach out to those who do not have easy access to good healthcare services. “It’s been incredibly gratifying to do this work,” says Giwa-Tubosun. Indeed, her words matter, at a time when passion and compassion must surely overtake commerce.

CF046609

Banking On Life: Commerce With Compassion

The newly-established delivery app industry in Tanzania is serving up old business in a new format, diversifying the e-commerce market and driving consumer behavior beyond Covid-19.



When Zadok Prescott first started the home delivery application, Piki Tanzania, he only thought of it as a supplement to restaurant dining. However, when Tanzania also fell victim to the Covid-19 crisis in March, Piki, which was still new and the only established app of its kind in the country, soon became the only way some restaurants were doling out their services.



“I think a lot of people took that decision to stay at home and avoid contact. So, we suddenly realized how important we were becoming,” says Prescott, also former CEO of Jumia Tanzania.



At the end of November 2019, Jumia, Africa’s leading online retailer known as the ‘Amazon of Africa’, had shut its e-commerce operations in Tanzania in a review of its portfolio.



However, ironically, since the beginning of 2020, in the very market that Jumia exited, multiple e-commerce platforms suddenly sprung up, from food and grocery delivery apps to ‘online malls’ that sell commercial goods, besieging a market still relatively new to online shopping and dining.



With Covid-19, the role these platforms played in the lives of local businesses changed almost overnight.



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For Levant, a fine dining restaurant offering Middle Eastern cuisine in upscale Dar es Salaam, delivery was not the path they wanted to take, but had to.



“When Covid-19 hit, our sales were 90% lower. Our plan was to give an experience, it’s not only the food you eat… [but] we realized people were afraid, so we had to focus on delivery… take-away was most of our sales,” says Hussein T Hamadi, the owner of Levant, which started delivering through Piki when the pandemic hit and even started its own delivery service.



Although this is the path Levant opted, Hamadi does not see delivery and e-commerce playing a significant role in his business with restaurants now reopening in full swing in the country.



Piki surely has an advantage in the country with its reliable infrastructure and experience, but the commissions are not reasonable in Hamadi’s opinion, since his own delivery service costs him much less.



He would rather people came into his restaurant because this is part of the service he wants to offer.



In addition to that, Hamadi is opening yet another restaurant, with a more delivery-friendly menu and where he hopes e-commerce may be more feasible.



On the other hand, Central Park Café, an American-style café and children’s park and venue that also works with Piki, does not see any way in which businesses, going forward, can avoid e-commerce.



“During these times, people rely on [Piki]… it’s basically a lot of the weight lifted off us for the pressure because it is a very tough market and things are very unpredictable here,” says Sidiqua Versi, co-owner of the café.



The fact that the liability for deliveries is also no longer her problem is an advantage, she adds.



Versi agrees the delivery and commission fees are not reasonable for all, and individual delivery is far more financially sustainable, but an app like Piki is reliable and she would rather keep working with them to use their customer base and keep her service timely and efficient.



However, she has noticed customers opting for cheaper options and more players foraying into the market with unique business models.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" data-id="47148" data-full-url="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM.jpeg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=47148" class="wp-image-47148" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM-600x400.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.32-PM.jpeg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li></ul></figure>



New players, renewed approaches



Duka.direct is an online grocery delivery service that runs on a platform created by Selcom Tanzania, a digital payment system developer that also saw a very quick change in consumer behavior when Covid-19 gripped the country.



“The adoption was a lot faster than we had anticipated and we even had to accelerate deployment quite rapidly,” says Sameer Hirji, Executive Director of Selcom. It is planning to expand to a range of services to include restaurant food delivery, as well as connecting to businesses selling electronics, pharmaceuticals and other items, eventually throughout the region. However, its approach is not only controlling the supply of products, but in the long run, seeing itself as more than just being a customer experience and service provider.



“We’re thinking like a financial services business, but using consumer goods and services… We want to hopefully one day make e-commerce extremely mainstream and as a result, for the common man, who previously couldn’t afford maybe cheese, because it was marked up at like 30% at a supermarket, to be able to access those premium products and consume them more readily and rapidly,” he says.



He hopes to eventually pilot using Selcom’s widely-used payment agents to act as sales and pickup points, as well as introduce lending on the apps to allow customers to buy goods by borrowing from banks Selcom has relationships with.



“At least initially, [duka.direct] can be a standalone business [not making much profit]. But it needs to be part of something bigger that can feed it, and then continuously grow it…



“I think raising awareness and giving back value is where we see the market going,” he adds.



The biggest problem Hirji’s platform did face during the time was running out of space and local suppliers who were not able to keep up with the demand.



“That right image in the market matters in terms of what the delivery, the last mile, looks like… [and] to a great extent the optics it presents in the market in terms of brand and professionalism,” says Hirji.



However, there are players in the market like Inalipa, a platform that mimics an ‘online mall’ with a variety of local shops and brands, ranging from Instagram businesses to large retailers, that has internalized all operations.



“I’m sure our competitors, because of our model, have much higher volumes than us. But the experience that the customer gets with us is something that stands out… We’re able to control the entire customer experience. And I think for us, that’s the big differentiator,” says Nadeem Juma, chairman of AIM group, which developed and runs Inalipa.



Inalipa also takes a slightly different approach by aggregating retail suppliers and leveraging their brands. While Juma says it was initially not easy to bring them on, Covid-19 forced Inalipa to be able to tell them a story of how this would impact their business positively.



“Trading is actually what the bulk of Tanzanian business is built on… it’s really old business in a new format. And that’s the way we look at it… We aren’t trying to change the culture or the way a consumer purchases traditionally; we are enabling that same experience on a digital platform,” he adds.



&nbsp;But even with trying to maximize customer satisfaction, Juma found that the number one question among customers who went through the process of putting items in their cart was that they weren’t sure if they could trust the platform.



“Right now, we’re realizing that people are the early adopters, starting off with very small basket sizes and now those basket sizes are growing.”



Duka.direct provides store credit and uses marketing to build credibility and confidence and Inalipa uses customer service calls to encourage people to go through with purchases.



“What [Covid-19] showed us is there’s enough space in the market for different players as long as they’re very focused on what they’re trying to achieve and not trying to do a little bit of everything,” says Juma.



The direct contact and understanding of the local market is a large advantage to players in the market, according to Prescott, and is what differentiates them.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" data-id="47152" data-full-url="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM.jpeg" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/economy/2020/08/19/tanzanias-recent-app-boom-a-new-market-for-e-commerce/attachment/whatsapp-image-2020-07-06-at-2-50-37-pm/" class="wp-image-47152" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM-600x400.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-06-at-2.50.37-PM.jpeg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li></ul></figure>



Looking into the future



Both Hirji and Juma acknowledge that the global valuation-driven approach to e-commerce, which was Jumia’s too, is not necessarily the approach that can work in Tanzania.



“I don’t believe that that is the appropriate way to go about e-commerce because you really cannot raise money at that scale continuously to be sustainable. You have to make it a profitable business… You need to identify what are the levers, one of the things that you want to drive, and then map that out over a period of time” says Juma.



Being in the digital space does allow you to pivot faster, according to Hirji.



And this can be especially useful in navigating the regulatory landscape in Tanzania because of the penetration of mobile money, in Juma’s opinion.



“It’s a highly regulated space. So you need to be aware of what you can and can’t do. And sometimes that can be what could slow you down… But I think it also allows you to contribute to the actual country’s growth as well.”



However, Tanzania is still a difficult market, with about 60% market share in terms of smartphones in the country and utilization under 20%, and if the penetration is further discounted by the number of people who will actually swap their traditional practices for an e-commerce experience, then that drops even more, says Hirji.



Such data is available, but not in much detail about e-commerce, mostly because of how the market has diversified only recently in the country.



Juma believes there is a greater good if everyone is a bit more open and transparent in sharing their experience of this business, as Inalipa’s data collection has shown customer sets that he didn’t know existed.



While Prescott acknowledges Jumia did educate the Tanzanian market on the e-commerce experience, there is a long way to go in terms of how consumer behavior will change or adapt in the country to prove sustainable beyond e-commerce being a critical service in the time of Covid-19.



“It’s certainly beyond just your traditional corner store saying, ‘I want to go digital because everyone else is going online’. I think there’s a roadmap that’s a lot more sophisticated than just a Shopify storefront,” says Hirji.&nbsp;



– By Inaara Gangji

WhatsApp Image 2020-07-06 at 2.50.39 PM

Tanzania’s Recent App Boom: A New Market For E-Commerce

In many ways, Covid-19 has been Africa’s ‘light bulb’ moment. As an example, a roundup of the new wave of pandemic-inspired innovations being tried and tested in the marketplace in hilly Rwanda.



As countries relentlessly dip into their depleting arsenal to creatively respond to the raging pandemic as also deploy new ideas to tackle it, in many ways, Covid-19 has been Africa’s ‘light bulb’ moment.



The new wave of innovations on the continent has seen governments, universities, corporates and small business rally together to come up with rejigged solutions and find effective ways to combat the crisis. In Rwanda, the ‘land of a thousand hills’ known for its tech startups and encouragement of new enterprise, a raft of new ideas are emerging, from clever face masks to ventilator machines, and food delivery apps to contact tracing apps and robots. We examine a few:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="400" height="400" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42376" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1.jpg 400w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Clare-bio-pic-1-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /><figcaption>CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Clare Akamanzi</figcaption></figure>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;We have seen many exciting innovative responses from Rwandan entrepreneurs that have clearly demonstrated their great capacity to adapt and innovate for emerging situations.&#8221; &#8212; Clare Akamanzi, CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB)</blockquote>



Drones as loudspeakers?



With 30 employees and operating in six different countries in Africa, Eric Rutayisire’s drone company, Charis UAS, has worked on a number of projects in Rwanda, including spraying pesticides using drones on sites to quell mosquito breeding and malaria.



However, some of these projects came to a screeching halt when Covid-19 struck.



“Certain projects that were meant to kick off had to be stopped and we lost some revenue,” Rutayisire tells FORBES AFRICA.



The CEO says that he and his team had to quickly come up with an innovative way of joining the fight against the pandemic. They saw an opportunity to improve communication systems during the country’s total lockdown period.



“We identified gaps in the way information regarding the disease and the restriction guidelines was being passed to the community. The police would drive around in vehicles with loudspeakers communicating to people. So we approached them with the idea of using drones,” Rutayisire says.



The police quickly bought into the idea seeing as it would help limit human contact whilst also reach more people.



For this, the drones had to be slightly modified.



“We fitted the drones with megaphones and built a communication system that linked them to the police walkie-talkies, enabling them to broadcast messages from wherever they were.”



Three to four drones would be dispatched daily to various far-flung districts in Rwanda, with each drone operated by a team of two people.



Did the company make any profit for this new venture? “Our goal was not to make profits but to support the Rwandan government in the fight against this pandemic. Our company got increased visibility, but that was not our main goal,” says Rutayisire.



The use of drone technology in the fight against the coronavirus is not unique to Rwanda. Countries such as China used drones for crowd control whilst Australia developed a ‘pandemic drone’ to remotely detect and monitor individuals with infectious respiratory conditions.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47050" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FABLAB-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Face shields as virus-busters



Never before has a commodity risen from ‘obscurity’ to becoming one of the world’s most coveted items of clothing. Face masks have instantly gone from exception to norm, and is the facial armor in the fight against Covid-19.



When the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Rwanda and it became apparent that masks would be essential in curtailing the spread, local garment manufacturing companies, and even neighborhood tailors, rose to the occasion to produce an array of masks to meet the rising demand.



Fabrication Laboratory, commonly known as FabLab Rwanda, which helps young innovators in the country turn their ideas into products, specifically in the hardware and electronics domain, saw an opportunity to produce a different kind of personal protective equipment – face shields.



According to FabLab’s General Manager, Danny Bizimana, his team decided to take a route that no one else in the country had taken before.



“There were too many textile companies in the country producing the face masks, so we decided to do the face shields because we knew that Rwanda ships them from China and they would soon be in short supply,” Bizimana explains.



Luckily for FabLab, the materials to manufacture the face shields are locally available.



“We chose simple, locally-available material to ensure that the production of the face shields can be sustained even through long periods of border closures.”&nbsp;



The company has been producing 500 face shields per day but with the re-opening of the economy, this number has risen.



“Our main clients were doctors, surgeons and dentists. However, now that the hospitality industry is operational, we are now supplying the face shields to hotels and have increased our production capacity to 700 units per day,” Bizimana says.



FabLab initially produced the face shield as its contribution to the national fight against the pandemic, but as demand for the product has been steadily growing, the company is now making profit. The mask economy is here to stay, with a study from Stanford University indicating that they are a crucial step in reopening the economy and can help ensure public safety in a post-Covid world.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47051" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VENTILATOR-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Locally-made ventilators



With the Covid-19 pandemic causing an unimaginable strain on health systems, one particular medical equipment has been in short supply – the ventilator machine.



The machine helps critically-ill patients who cannot breathe on their own, and is literally the difference between life and death for Covid-19 patients with acute respiratory complications.



So dire was the shortage that in Italy, which was Europe’s center of the Covid-19 outbreak, doctors were forced to make the difficult decision about who uses the ventilator machines and who doesn’t, even as Covid-19 patients flooded hospitals.



Rwanda, like most other African countries, only has a few of these life-saving machines, which are imported and cost anywhere from $25,000 and $50,000 apiece.



It is against this backdrop that biomedical engineers at the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College Kigali (IPRC) resolved to make them. According to IPRC Kigali Principal Engineer Diogène Mulindahabi, the biomedical engineers partnered with doctors at some of the local hospitals to develop a prototype.



“Within eight days, the team developed a prototype called Rwanda Emergency Ventilator (REV001) using locally-available materials. The machine they made met the minimum requirements for a patient ventilator,” says Mulindahabi.



The team of engineers also developed a second portable emergency ventilator prototype (REV002), which can be used in an ambulance.



“Since these are sensitive equipment to be used on the human body, we have to ensure they meet the required standards. We cannot afford to make mistakes. So the prototypes are going through a rigorous certification process,” says Mulindahabi.



The team at IPRC Kigali knocked on several doors in search of funds and managed to receive $20,000, which will be used to finalize the second version of the prototype. The institution is however still open to receiving more support that would go a long way in the mass production of the ventilators. But what will the final product cost once it hits the market?



Between $4,000 and $5,000.



“The country will save millions of dollars and have a locally manufactured product that works just as well as the imported ones. We also hope to take this product to other countries in the region,” says Mulindahabi.



Rwanda is not the only African country to have manufactured its own ventilators.



A team of students from Kenyatta University in Kenya also devised a ventilator machine that has met the standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).



Ghana and Uganda have also joined their African counterparts in taking the lead to produce home-grown ventilators.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47052" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/F98A4732-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Blue-eyed caregivers 



In an age of social distancing, robots are now increasingly being used as frontline health workers in hospitals across the globe.



A study published in Science Robotics states: “Robots have the potential to be deployed for disinfection, delivering medications and food, measuring vital signs, and assisting border controls. As epidemics escalate, the potential roles of robotics are becoming increasingly clear.”



In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the Rwandan government acquired and deployed five smart anti-epidemic robots for use in two Covid-19 treatment centers and at the Kigali International Airport.



The blue-eyed robots, acquired through ZoraBots Africa Ltd, have Rwandan names such as Ikizere (hope), Ingabo (shield), Urumuri (light) and Akazuba (sun) that depict the country’s spirit and values.



The mobile robots also feature functions such as facial recognition, temperature screening, the ability to monitor patient status as well as save medical records.



According to Benjamin Karenzi, CEO of Zorabots Africa, the information collected by the robots can be used to inform policy-makers in case of future pandemics.



“The robots are able to capture and store all manner of data and this data can be used by decision-makers even in the future in case such a crisis reoccurs,” Karenzi said during an interview with CNBC Africa.



The pandemic has surely brought forth the crucial role of robotic technology and its power to safeguard and improve human lives. The fourth industrial revolution is surely here.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="885" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-885x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47053" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-885x1024.jpg 885w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-300x347.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-600x695.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-259x300.jpg 259w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2-768x889.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JEAN-HUBERT-2.jpg 933w" sizes="(max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px" /><figcaption>Jean Hubert&#8217;s company specializes in mobile applications</figcaption></figure>



Contact tracing app



After the partial lifting of the lockdown, restaurants, hotels and businesses such as salons in Rwanda were instructed by the government to record the basic details of their clients such as names and phone numbers. This information would then be used to trace those who might have come in contact with infected patients.



This sparked an idea in Nkurayija Ishimwe Jean Hubert, Founder and CEO of Favouriapps Ltd, a software development company specializing in mobile applications, for a digital solution.



“The idea to record the data was noble but the method used was archaic. I saw an opportunity to create a digital application that would store the data,” says Hubert.



It took him five working days to come up with the app, complete with safety features to ensure the data was safe from hackers.



The next step was to get the right people to look in his direction. He took to Twitter.



Much to his delight, Rwanda&#8217;s Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Musoni, replied to his tweet asking him to send his ideas on email.



Hubert says he is now in talks with the ICT ministry. If approved, the app can be used at banks, supermarkets, restaurants and commercial buildings to digitally record the data of every person that comes through the doors.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="759" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--759x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-47054" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--759x1024.jpeg 759w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--300x405.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--600x809.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--222x300.jpeg 222w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI--768x1036.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/JAMES-NJUGI-.jpeg 780w" sizes="(max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px" /><figcaption>James Njugi&#8217;s Kikao was birthed out of the need to provide simple and affordable solutions.</figcaption></figure>



Ed-tech platform



Like many other industries, the education sector has not been spared by the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.



School compounds, which were abuzz with activity in January this year, stand deserted with an eerie silence. Others have been turned into Covid-19 quarantine centers even&nbsp; as learners, from primary school to universities, remain home.



Thankfully, there are now a number of free or low-cost, user-friendly digital communication tools that allow for a range of remote learning solutions.



Launched in Kenya in May this year, ed-tech platform Kikao, which is Swahili for ‘an important meeting’, is slowly gaining traction.



According to James Njugi, Co-founder, Manager, Partnerships and Strategy at Kikao, the platform was birthed out of the need to provide solutions that were simple and affordable.



“We did not want to reinvent the wheel, but just wanted to create a platform that was easy to use and would give the clients, whether six-year-olds or university students, a pleasant learning experience,&#8221; Njugi tells FORBES AFRICA.



So far, Kikao is being used by university students in Kenya, three civil service entities as well as Kenya’s National Defence College.



On the future of e-learning with schools slowly re-opening, Njugi says: “We cannot go back to how things used to be pre-Covid. The pace of learning has increased and knowledge is quickly increasing and learners, young and old alike, have been exposed to the numerous possibilities [of] ed-tech. E-learning should not be side-stepped in the post-Covid world, instead, it should complement the conventional learning methods.”



When all is said and done, how can this wave of innovation be sustained in the post-Covid world?



Robert Ochieng, CEO and Co-founder, Abojani Investment, Kenya, who is an expert on financial markets, innovation and technology, says that innovations need to leave the labs and hit the markets.



“An idea that has not been tested in the market remains just that: an idea. we need to focus on testing the innovations in the marketplace and making sales, that way, innovators will be encouraged to do more as they see their inventions put to good use,” says Ochieng.



He is also of the opinion that governments should increase their budget allocation for science, technology and innovation.



“African governments should increase funding for research and development to at least 1% of their national budgets and target to grow this to 3% over time. There is a direct correlation between investment in research and development at national level and the growth of GDP. This kind of vibrancy has seen the rise of tech innovation in countries like Israel,” Ochieng concludes.



– By Tesi Kaven

DRONE 2

What’s New And Exciting In The Land Of A Thousand Ideas

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;The more congruent the business is to who you are as an individual and what you value, the deeper your capacity to persevere and outlast.<cite>-Rapelang Rabana, South African Technology Entrepreneur</cite></blockquote>

Quote 1

Quote Of The Day

Edith Cooper, who spent more than 20 years as an executive at Goldman Sachs, knows what it’s like to stand out in a workplace. Being one of few people of color in a sea of white faces over the course of her career hasn’t been easy. But rather than dwell on this reality, Cooper, who now sits on the boards of Etsy and Slack, has championed her differences. That’s what helped her rise through the ranks at the bank to eventually head its human resources department, an accomplishment she says was a result of her ability to connect with people of all backgrounds.



That quality would continue to work to her advantage: As Goldman Sachs evolved, so did its staff. Diversity was reflected not only in employees’ skin colors and genders, but also in their ages and geographical origins. Cooper was awakened to the fact that if the company was going to thrive, it would need to create an environment wherein its multifaceted staff could feel comfortable embracing their differences and, in turn, learn from them.&nbsp;



“If you can figure out an environment where people can thrive together, it’s powerful,” Cooper says. But it’s a process that takes time, especially if newer, more inexperienced employees aren’t equipped with the proper skills to navigate this balance between professionalism and open expression. 



That is in part what inspired Cooper’s new startup,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.withmedley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Medley</a>, which she launched with her daughter Jordan Taylor, a former chief of staff at Mic and Harvard Business School Baker Scholar, to provide a community in which young professionals can gain the skills they need to bring their most authentic selves to work without fear. In light of the heightened tension surrounding ongoing racial injustice that’s inevitably seeping into workplace communication, it’s an ideal time to learn this skill.



Taylor has also had her fair share of experiences being the “only one in the room,” but as an emerging leader, rather than an established executive like her mother. Graduating in the top 5% of her class and being one the first 20 Black students to be named a Baker Scholar meant she was constantly figuring out how to relate to peers in predominantly white spaces. She figured it out, but Medley is a platform she wishes had been around when she was finding her voice among people whose backgrounds were much different than hers.



Medley groups young professionals in their 20s and 30s with other like-minded members whose workplace values, concerns and priorities align. The professionals that make up these eight-person groups differ, however, in terms of gender and ethnic background, which Cooper and Taylor hope will translate to increased empathy that members can apply within their respective workplaces.



“This idea of people being able to bring their true selves to work and to be able to talk through what that looks like is at the core of what Medley is offering,” says Cooper.



In addition to full access to workshops, panels and conversations led by experts across industries, members commit to a 90-minute virtual meeting each month, facilitated by a Medley-certified coach and focused on addressing and reflecting on ongoing experiences in their personal and professional lives. Cooper credits Medley’s robust network of coaches to the guidance she gained from Merche Del Valle, former global head of coaching at Goldman Sachs and a certified lifestyle, nutrition and wellness coach.



Merging personal wellness and professional development in group discussions is a priority. “You can’t just look at your career in a vacuum,” says Taylor. “In order to meet your potential, the ability to have a more holistic approach is incredibly important.”



To ensure that people of all socioeconomic backgrounds have the ability to join the community, Medley offers a sliding scale fee ranging from $50 to $250, depending on the financial situation of prospective members. Cooper and Taylor are also in conversations with companies interested in partnering with Medley to give their staff reimbursement for membership.&nbsp;



With the help of investors including Away cofounder Jen Rubio, dtx company founder and CEO Tim Armstrong and MIC cofounder and former CEO Chris Altchek, who contributed more than $1 million to the project, Medley was ready to launch in May 2020 as an in-person membership hub in New York City. Shelter-in-place mandates halted the launch, but also presented an opportunity for Medley to instead be virtual and incorporate international members. The more springing corporate workers that can benefit from the community’s aim to build the next generation of confident, communicative professionals the better, the mother-daughter team notes.



“Medley gives people an opportunity to be a better human in relation to the people they work with and quite frankly in society,” Taylor says.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briannegarrett/">Brianne Garrett</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/leadership">Leadership</a>

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The Mother-Daughter Duo Behind A New Inclusive Community Teaching Budding Professionals How To Better Engage At Work

With a deadly virus still lurking in the streets and tougher times ahead, traders in South Africa’s colorful townships desperately look to resuscitate their businesses with creative offerings online. 



It’s almost two months into lockdown in South Africa and the country’s townships, once bustling hubs of trade, are slowly bracing themselves, with every ounce of willpower left in them, for the unprecedented reality that is ‘the new normal’.



For many, the national shutdown and closed shutters have meant lost jobs, stalled incomes and empty pockets, not to mention a deadly virus stalking them in every street and alley. The small entrepreneurs here – the lifeblood of any economy – now on their last pennies, are still hopeful their re-evaluated strategies and revamped resilience will see them through this fearful nightmare, as the restrictions ease and the townships will slowly crawl back to life again.



Behind the respectful veneer of the lockdown, some of the smaller traders hustle on illegally, under the radar, dodging police patrols and armed surveillance. They have no choice but to stick to their street-smart ways, to survive and feed their families.&nbsp;



In the township of Soweto, bigger, popular establishments such as The Box Shop on Vilakazi Street – the historic stretch home to Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the country’s former President Nelson Mandela – are looking to the future with great uncertainty, and have been forced to devise alternative digital strategies as lifelines for the present.



Sifiso Moyo founded The Box Shop, a lifestyle and retail outlet with his business partner, Bernard Msimango, and today, the street it’s located on, which attracted thousands of local and international tourists every day prior to the pandemic, is eerily quiet.



It will be a while until planes of international visitors land again, so the duo have chosen to go to them – online.



“For The Box Shop, we built hype around online and have taken the entire offering that existed in our physical infrastructure into a digital platform and that has made us into an innovation space, giving us access to a global audience. We are beginning to see our products being sold in places like Switzerland and the United Kingdom and we now have started harnessing partnerships,” says Moyo.



The website was launched in May, but the bigger vision for the entity was to start as a retail outlet and work backwards into the manufacturing space.



Moyo says the coronavirus taught them two things – to adapt digitally, and to work in the value chain.



The shop now also makes face masks, sold to public hospitals and NGOs.



A short drive from Vilakazi Street is a restaurant named Sancho, selling African cuisine and founded by Thato Mothopeng, a serial entrepreneur who also founded the popular annual Soweto Camp Festival.



Mothopeng is one of the few entrepreneurs in the tourism sector without a formal degree or training, but has had a roaring business nevertheless and is quite well-known in the circuit.



Mothopeng says all SMMEs are at a standstill because business thrives on human contact. But business also needs to be flexible, he adds.



“There are opportunities in the harshest environments. I am using this time to review my strategies. I am also not panicking because the country is managing the crisis; this is an opportunity for SMMEs to reflect because our people are sober now.”&nbsp;



He had to let go of a few employees and is working remotely.



Further in the township of Soweto, Thembeka Nkosi, the founder of Le Salon, has also developed her own coping mechanisms.



Her shop is shut, but people still seek her grooming advice. As per South Africa’s Level 4 lockdown restrictions, salons and beauty parlors are not allowed to operate.



“This [lockdown] is very stressful, more especially now because other businesses are operating. I still can’t make money, I still have to stay at home and not work,” rues Nkosi.



In addition to getting to spend more time with her five-year-old son, she has recently started sharing her haircare tutorials on social media.



“Now that shops are open to buy hair products, I send video clips to my clients and that brings me joy, knowing that I am still useful to them; even though it’s not making me any money yet, at least I am interacting with my clients,” she says, looking at the bright side.



Ronewa Creations is yet another small business in these parts.



Founded by Lesego Seloane and Dinah Kgeledi, the business offers landscaping services, garden maintenance and water harvesting solutions, and employs seven full-time workers. None of these services are allowed in the current phase of lockdown.



“Now that our province is still on Level 4, it is really difficult to focus because when we were working out our plans, there was so much uncertainty and we didn’t know how they could actually be implemented,” says Seloane.



She is grateful the duo have been active on social media, running a garden makeover campaign and offering landscaping designs for free.



“We are using a three-dimensional technology that revamps the look of gardens to give people an idea of how their gardens could potentially look like in the end.”



Despite the challenges, the two keep sane by spending time with family.



“If the business fails, I fail. If I don’t come out of my down moment quick, then I will fail and the entire organization fails,” says Seloane.



You can detect the determination in her voice to overcome this period, come what may.



Like many around her staring fear in the face, she has no other choice.

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Empty Roads, Occupied Minds

In this exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA, successful Dubai-based Emirati businesswoman, author and artist, Sheikha Hend Faisal Al Qassimi, shares some interesting insights on fashion, the future, and feminism in a shared world.



Sheikha Hend Faisal Al Qassimi wears many hats, as an artist, architect, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She currently serves as the CEO of Paris London New York Events &amp; Publishing (PLNY), that includes a magazine and a fashion house.



She runs Velvet Magazine, a luxury lifestyle publication in the Gulf founded in 2010 that showcases the diversity of the region home to several nationalities from around the world. 



In this recent FORBES AFRICA interview, Hend, as she would want us to call her, speaks about the future of publishing, investing in intelligent content, and learning to be a part of the disruption around you.



As an entrepreneur too and the designer behind House of Hend, a luxury ready-to-wear line that showcases exquisite abayas, evening gowns and contemporary wear, her designs have been showcased in fashion shows across the world.



The Middle East is known for retail, but not typically, as a fashion hub in the same league as Paris, New York or Milan. Yet, she has changed the narrative of fashion in the region. “I have approached the world of fashion with what the customer wants,” says Hend. In this interview, she also extols African fashion talent and dwells on her own sartorial plans for the African continent.



In September, in Downtown Dubai, she is scheduled to open The Flower Café. Also an artist using creative expression meaningfully, she says it’s important to be &#8220;a role model of realism&#8221;.



She is also the author of The Black Book of Arabia, described as a collection of true stories from the Arab community offering a real glimpse into the lives of men and women across the Gulf Cooperation Council region.



In this interview, she also expounds on her home, Sharjah, one of the seven emirates in the UAE and the region’s educational hub. “A number of successful entrepreneurs have started in this culturally-rich emirate that’s home to 30 museums,” she concludes.&nbsp;

Sheikha Hend

From The Arab World To Africa

Ghana and Nigeria brace for the economic nightmare ahead, even as the region’s billionaires, entrepreneurs and innovators chip in for the fight against Covid-19.



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The Labadi Beach Hotel, set amidst landscaped tropical gardens in the heart of Accra, is unusually quiet on the Tuesday morning FORBES AFRICA visits in mid-March. The usual bustle of the morning breakfast buffet frequented by the city’s elite has all but disappeared, and in its place, an air of uncertainty about the future of one of Accra’s longest-running hotels, at least in the interim.



You cannnot enter without going through the new mandatory protocols in place: hand-sanitizers, individual temperature screenings and metal detectors.



“Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting outside guests and the hotel will be closing until further notice,” says the bartender. The usually-packed lobby has only two in-house guests already scheduled to leave the hotel.



Ghana’s thriving hospitality industry was one of the first victims of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, once President Nana Akufo-Addo banned mass gatherings and ordered the closure of airports. Hotels in the Greater Accra region closed down, sending thousands of workers home, and leaving management to contend with the challenge of paying salaries and taxes sans customers.



It’s in stark contrast to 2019, when Ghana’s international PR campaign, The Year of Return 2019, brought in an additional 237,000 visitors representing an estimated $1.9 billion into the economy, according to Barbara Oteng Gyasi, Ghana’s Minister of Tourism. Most of the money was spent on the hospitality sector with the average spend per tourist estimated to be around $2,590.



And now, with the slow demise of the hospitality sector, a host of ancillary services are also feeling the pinch. Rashad McCrorey is the founder of Africa Cross Culture, a travel company that helps African-Americans reconnect to their roots by visiting countries on the African continent. He was one of those seduced by Ghana’s call to reconnect with the continent on the 400th anniversary of slaves landing in the United States, and so he arrived in Ghana with the goal of promoting his tourism business.



Ghana imposed a lockdown on movement in its two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi, from March 30, and effected a travel ban on people traveling from countries overseas with cases of Covid-19. In addition, the United States (US) State Department advised its citizens to return home immediately or face staying abroad for an indefinite period. “I was shocked. My initial thoughts were fear and panic. I was seeing all the development in the US, and New York has the highest amount of cases. The National Guard and US army had been deployed in the streets and my home was basically ground zero for the deadly virus,” says McCrorey.



After weighing his options, he made the decision to stay on in Ghana instead of returning home.



“At the time, ticket prices surged from $500 to about $6,000 and I was scared of exposing myself more to the virus. Also, going back meant that I risked spending the pre-paid money of my customers and that was also not ideal,” says McCrorey.



Gregory Lamptey, the founder of Black Cab, a logistics company providing transportation services to customers and businesses in Accra, is facing a similar conundrum. “Business has all but stopped since the lockdown in Ghana last week. I do not think we will be able to make it to the end of the year and I have had to start looking at other alternatives to make ends meet,” he rues.



In Ghana, there were 4,700 confirmed cases with 22 deaths as of May 12. Ghana has undertaken 160,501 tests since the outbreak as of this date, a figure the president lauded as the highest per million people than any other country in Africa.



But as elsewhere on the continent, it’s the workers in the informal sector that are most at risk.



“They face a very difficult choice: keep going to work and risk contracting or spreading the virus, or stay at home and risk their family starving,” observes Nana Kwame Bediako, the founder of Kwarleyz Group, an umbrella company which encompasses Wonda World Estates and Petronia City Development that has designed and developed over 500 residential and retail units in Ghana. The company is currently negotiating to pledge one of its premier properties, Number 1 Oxford Street, five-star luxury serviced apartments, as a quarantine location, isolation center, temporary hospital or safe place for nurses, doctors and other medical personnel should the need arise.



“This is the most challenging economic downturn globally,” says Franklin Cudjoe, President of Imani-Africa, a leading think-tank in Ghana. “This is going to affect businesses all over the world in a much more significant way than ever before.”



This was perhaps the rationale behind Ghana easing its lockdown restrictions in less than a month to allow people to return to work. There is, however, still a ban on public gatherings and a national requirement for face masks to be worn by everyone.



But Kwame Ofori, a financial analyst with the Ghana Stock Exchange, is currently on the fence on how the Ghanaian economy will recover.



“Everything depends on how long this period lasts, but if it goes on for a long time, it’s going to be a big financial and economic crisis for Ghana. Most businesses in Ghana cannot realistically afford a lockdown,” avers Ofori.



It is within this context that Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Minister of Finance, said in a Financial Times interview that Africa has reached a “break the glass moment”.



Through a partnership between the ministers of finance and economic planning on March 30, a series of strategies were outlined, which includes fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic including the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme. Consequently, the government estimates of the immediate impact of Covid-19 is a decline in GDP growth from a projected 6.8% to 2.6%.



Along the pristine coastline of the Labadi Beach, sits a five-storey apartment complex boasting beautiful ocean views, underground parking for tenants, a gymnasium, two restaurants and a supermarket. The developer, Kofi Appiah, is a British-Ghanaian architect who relocated to Ghana two years ago.



“I started building and selling a couple of years ago in Ghana and things were great. Right now, we cannot even get anyone to come and look at our developments. I have had to lay off the entire sales team and we are now depending on social media to attract buyers,” says Appiah.



“Buyers need to imagine themselves living in the apartments and this is very difficult to imagine with just videos and pictures on Instagram. I don’t imagine we are going to be selling any of these units at least for the next six months.”



About 40 minutes from Ghana, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is also battening down the hatches. With plunging oil prices caused by the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and the novel coronavirus outbreak, Nigeria is in a much more precarious economic position.



Nigerian stocks have gone through weeks of losses with the fall in oil prices from $57 to $30 per barrel subsequently leading to an increase in external debt and a depreciating currency. This year, Nigeria’s budget stood at $37 billion based on oil prices staying at $57 per barrel. With the sharp decline in these prices, Nigeria cannot currently fund its budget.



“Nigeria might very well be in trouble here. Even though Parliament recently granted President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for $22.7 billion in foreign borrowing, the significant fall in global oil prices will erode any boost from this stimulus. Many analysts are of the opinion that the Nigerian naira has deteriorated markedly and remains set for a sharp fall this year if current conditions persist,” says Ofori.



One of the major side-effects of this in the country is a US dollar shortage that is creeping up with the informal dollar dealers on the black market. Nigeria’s official exchange rate which is fixed by the central bank, has stayed at around N360 to the dollar since the country emerged out of recession in 2017. Today, the rate is N445.



“Everyone is currently hunting for dollars and we don’t have any more. Even the agents we get them from are not releasing the dollars because they believe the rates will go even higher so this is becoming a big problem,” says Audu, a black-market agent.



The coronavirus is simply adding insult to injury for Nigeria’s economic woes. As of May 12, there are over 5,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Nigeria. The country issued a nationwide lockdown between March and April but similar to Ghana, has eased restrictions on movement to enable its 200 million population to return to work while practising social distancing.



Billionaire Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, announced a donation of essential medical supplies to help fight the pandemic. Along with making global headlines, his actions have also galvanized other private businesses and Nigeria’s most successful entrepreneurs to utilize their assets and funds for social good amid the devastating outbreak.



Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holding and United Bank for Africa (UBA), announced N5 billion ($12.8 million), through the UBA foundation, to kick-start a comprehensive pan-African response to the fight against the coronavirus. The donation is aimed at providing significant support to Nigeria and other African countries through the provision of critical care facilities and materials.



“I believe we all have a part to play in this global crisis and I hope that this is the time the private sector and government work together to help the most vulnerable people to battle the virus. We need to act fast and we commend the work the government is already doing to ensure we stem the spread of this global pandemic,” says Elumelu.



For African countries, this virus is expected to overwhelm an already insufficient healthcare system and reverse the economic growth that many countries have been experiencing in recent years. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has revised Africa’s growth, falling from 3.2% to 2%.



“We need to deal with the human crisis first before we can begin to address the economic impact of the virus on us. I am confident we will pull through this crisis just like we have in several other adverse situations that have come before,” says Oscar Onyema, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.



Nigeria’s richest woman, Folorunso Alakija, is also stepping in to help fight the pandemic. Through her Famfa Oil, one of the leading indigenous exploration and oil production companies in Nigeria, she has pledged N1 billion ($2.56 million) to support Nigeria’s fight against Covid-19.



“These are truly difficult times for us. As the world rallies to deal with the health security, economic and social implications of the coronavirus, it is clear we feel the effects more deeply than most of the developed world. Managing a crisis of this magnitude means that the strength of our response will determine our ability to weather the storm but I believe with God, nothing is impossible,” says Alakija.



“Millions of Nigerians are under 30 and live from hand-to-mouth and quite frankly, cannot afford a lockdown. They depend on going out each day to earn a living on the streets as well as buying food from crowded markets. If this lockdown continues, there could be a mass unrest which could further cripple Nigeria,” says Idrisu Bello, a Nigerian economist.



President Buhari in an address in March ordered financial intervention schemes to be rolled out for the most vulnerable.



“This represents about 10,695,360 individuals in 35 states across the country as the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians,” says Bello.



The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has also pledged N200 million ($516,000) to support the current effort of the Nigerian government to fight the disease.



Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and CEO of ADF, says the donation is part of the foundation’s cardinal objective of partnering with governments to combat the disease.



“The Dangote Foundation has been at the forefront of helping Nigerians fight against diseases and providing economic development for Nigeria. At this very difficult time, we are committed to providing the much-needed support to help the government provide help to millions of vulnerable Nigerians,” says Youssoufou.



As corona cases continue to rise, Nigeria, along with other African countries, has also shut its airports and air travel.



The International Air Transport Association (IATA)&nbsp; estimates that around 330,000 jobs and $1.2 billion are at stake in Ethiopia’s economy, around 190,000 jobs and $3.8 billion in South Africa’s economy, around 138,000 jobs and $1.1 billion to Kenya’s economy and 91,000 jobs in Nigeria with $650 million lost.



Then there is the worrying problem of medical care.



Lagos-based air ambulance and offshore medical solutions contractor Flying Doctors Nigeria, founded and run by entrepreneur Ola Brown, is calling this a true pandemic.



“Africa has to be cautious because of the challenges we have in our healthcare. There are significant deficits and a huge lack of medical and financial resources which means we face an unprecedented time ahead,” says Brown.



However, in spite of the insurmountable challenges, a number of local entrepreneurs are providing innovative solutions to help the government in its fight against the disease.



Accra-based company DTRT Apparel is gearing up to manufacture a range of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to supply Africa and the rest of the world. DTRT supplies products to major US and EU-based brands via a global network spanning three continents. The company employs over 2,000 people in West Africa, procures textiles from Asia and exports primarily to the EU and US markets.



“Now is the time for companies all over Africa to work together for the greater good of the continent. We want to do our part to ensure we are contributing to the fight against this pandemic by providing resources to the healthcare system,” says Salma Salifu, Managing Director of DTRT.



In Nigeria, Bamigbose Adams, a furniture-maker, has begun turning old metal drums into custom hand-washing basins to be sold in Lagos.



Around 157 million Nigerians lack access to proper hand-washing facilities, according to a 2018 report by WaterAid Nigeria and Adams saw this as an opportunity to innovate to survive.



“Business has been slow for a while so I was looking at different ways of making money to feed my family. I got the idea to use the drum from my local area where some people use them to store water. I created the first drum and it worked and then the publicity began to create a demand,” says Adams.



His main clients are local businesses that want a temporary solution to help combat the spread of the virus.



As governments rally to find solutions to help their economies, it is very clear that the way we live and do business will not be the same. Ever again.

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Fast Virus. Slow Growth: Ghana And Nigeria Brace For The Economic Nightmare Ahead

When Jay Wilkinson, founder and CEO of marketing, printing and website-development company Firespring, was 15 years old, he attended a leadership summer camp with his high school’s student council. While there, he learned about Stephen Grellet, a Quaker missionary whose words would change his life forever: “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” It was this quote that motivated him to become an entrepreneur.



Since launching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.firespring.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Firespring</a>&nbsp;in 1992, Wilkinson has worked with clients in 50 states and 14 countries, growing his staff to 180 and revenue to $25 million in 2019. That’s not to say the Lincoln, Nebraska-based business hasn’t seen its fair share of struggles: In 2002, Wilkinson was fired as CEO by the investor-led board of directors after refusing to lay off employees amid the economic downturn that followed 9/11. But four months later, with the help of family and friends, he bought out the venture capitalists, and within two years, the business was profitable again. “We climbed out of it, and we survived,” Wilkinson says. “The culture that we have today was forged in the fire when we were just trying to save the company.”



That tenacity has proven essential in the current economic environment, not to mention it’s propelled Firespring onto <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2020/05/12/forbes-small-giants-25-companies-that-believe-smaller-is-better/">Forbes’ annual Small Giants list</a>. The 25 companies that make up the 2020 list all value greatness over fast growth and are weathering the coronavirus crisis in their own way. 



While much of corporate America has been affected by Covid-19, small businesses have been especially hard-hit, with 31% stopping operations as a result of the crisis, according to Facebook’s State of Small Business&nbsp;<a href="https://dataforgood.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SMBReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>. And in the marketing and advertising world, where global ad budgets are expected to drop 36% in the first half of the year and eight in ten marketers have delayed campaigns as a result of the pandemic, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2020/05/13/Survey-Covid-19-global-response-April-2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;from the World Federation of Advertisers, many businesses are struggling to stay afloat.&nbsp;



Firespring has seen an increase in demand for its quick activation marketing programs, such as creating digital fundraising campaigns, as well as virtual strategy sessions, of which it has done more than 200 over the past couple of months. It has also worked with clients to adjust their campaigns so that they are reflective of the times. “We’re very mindful of making sure that we are messaging everything with the Covid-19 restrictions in place so that we don’t come across as being tone-deaf and that our clients don’t, as well,” Wilkinson says. “It’s going to be critical for marketers moving forward and out of the pandemic to understand how different things are going to be, in terms of the way people connect with brands.”



The firm primarily serves purpose-driven organizations and nonprofits, which Wilkinson says are uniquely positioned to navigate the changing marketing landscape, as they always keep clients at the center of their work. But the pandemic has disrupted many nonprofits’ fundraising events, hurting them financially. In an effort to help its nonprofit clients during this challenging time, Firespring partnered with GivingTuesday, a nonprofit known for its advocacy of its namesake charitable holiday for the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The initiative, called Giving Tuesday Now, raised $3 million for nonprofits over the course of May. 



In Birmingham, Michigan, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://brogan.com/" target="_blank">Brogan &amp; Partners</a>, another full-service marketing agency and 2020 Small Giant, has been supporting its surrounding community by working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to produce an ad spot promoting the wearing of face masks to flatten the coronavirus curve. Thanks to the ad and accompanying hashtag—<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/zrj5CzpqjMfOKMQ9t4BY6m" target="_blank">#MiMaskChallenge</a>—Brogan &amp; Partners was able to get the word out to more than five million Michiganders, including celebrities such as musicianKid Rock. “I don’t want to make money off of Covid-19. That’s not my business,” says Ellyn Davidson, owner and CEO of Brogan &amp; Partners. “I want to help and be part of the solution. As much as possible, we want to give back.”



An hour south, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jim Hume, founder and principal of 2020 Small Giant marketing advertising agency&nbsp;<a href="https://phiregroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Phire Group</a>, has also been working with clients to craft their coronavirus messaging. He believes the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of trends such as authentic storytelling. “True authenticity includes vulnerability and putting yourself out there and just becoming more human as a brand,” Hume says. “Everything that we do has to be pointed toward making companies, organizations and brands more human, more accessible, more real.”



That authenticity, he says, is important in every aspect of Phire Group’s business, including how it communicates with clients. “It’s an important time to reach out to customers to let them know you’re there for them, but also to just be transparent with what’s happening,” Hume says. “Just let them know that you’re doing fine, you hope they’re doing fine, and you’re there for them.”

Businesspeople at big creative agency

How 3 Small Businesses Are Navigating Covid-19 In The Marketing Industry

The Nigerian entrepreneur and banker, a former FORBES AFRICA cover star, has founded a think tank to catalyze his country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.



It was not until February that Atedo Peterside, Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank and Chairman of Anap Jets and Anap Foundation, began to take the global coronavirus pandemic seriously. Until then, he had received several reports from his Vice President at the Anap Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to promoting good governance in Nigeria, but like many others, believed this was a foreign issue that would not make its way to Africa.



He is of the view that Nigeria should have acted sooner in its Covid-19 response.



“This is a race against time. If Nigeria had stopped international flights coming into the country maybe two weeks earlier than we did, it would have been 520 people who would not have entered the country,” says Peterside.



“There is a saying that when Nigeria sneezes, the rest of Africa catches a cold and this is true. With falling oil prices coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be lucky if we have anything close to the 2008 financial meltdown,” says Franklin Cudjoe, founder of the IMANI Center for Policy and Education.



To curb the spread of Covid-19, the Nigerian government imposed lockdowns and curfews but the restrictions were short-lived as it put pressure on many of the country’s 200 million inhabitants, who were struggling to survive.



“I think it is important to emphasize that a complete lockdown is not sustainable in Nigeria. I believe we are dealing with a marathon and not sprint. If it is a marathon, a complete lockdown is not sustainable because people will not cooperate after a while. They will die of hunger,” says Peterside.



According to him, the science suggests that the fight against the coronavirus may last between 15 to 18 months and the only way to control the spread is by ramping up testing.



“The Covid-19 fight in Nigeria is a campaign to get people to change their behavior and you cannot achieve that in one day or one week. It is something that has to be sustained. There is a reason why the governor of New York is on TV every day. In most of the countries where this has been successful, there has been effective communication and it is not enough to just come out to threaten people with a full lockdown,” says Peterside.



That need to change behavior and provide a solution that will help contain the spread of the virus is one of the reasons behind the Anap Foundation Covid-19 Think Tank.



“We established the Anap Foundation Covid-19 Think Tank on the 22 of March 2020, as a catalyst to help Nigeria respond to the coronavirus disease. The Think Tank is comprised of 18 members drawn from across the six geopolitical zones and the diaspora (US and Germany),” says Peterside.



Collectively, the Think Tank has a wealth of expertise in medicine and logistics amongst other areas of specialization that Peterside hopes will aid the government’s fight in testing and best practices to tackle the pandemic.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;The Covid-19 fight in Nigeria is a campaign to get people to change their behavior and you cannot achieve that in one day or one week. It is something that has to be sustained.&#8221;</blockquote>



“Lagos cannot feed itself so you can never have a complete lockdown. The reason why a complete lockdown worked in China is because the Chinese government can deliver everybody’s needs to their door. If you cannot do this, then we can’t have a complete lockdown. This means we need Think Tanks like these to come up with other innovative solutions that are specific to our individual needs,” says Peterside.



One of the areas where the Think Tank is hoping to make an impact is to act as a mediator between the government and private sector to resolve certain key issues that will aid in its fight against the pandemic.



“We entered this battle without having enough doctors and yet it seemed as if our doctors were rejecting offers of health from Chinese doctors. We have one of the lowest doctor-to-patients ratio for any large country in the world. Italy, a country with a very large doctor-to-patient ratio, still took doctors from Cuba and China to help in its fight and Nigeria must also accept help if it is given to us,” avers Peterside.



A key goal for the Think Tank is to advocate the adoption of all health measures and behaviors necessary to ensure that Nigeria keeps the infection rate down, a feat that may prove difficult given the many infrastructural and health challenges facing many countries in Africa.

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Atedo Peterside On Covid-19: ‘Nigeria Must Also Accept Help If It Is Given To Us’

One man working alone at night using notebook during quarantine

Covid-19: The Ultimate Disruptor

REE Automotive thinks the way to get electric vehicles into the mainstream is to flatten things out–by using a skateboard platform that integrates the battery, motors and driving controls into a flush floor and allows for independent steering of wheels. And while this tech startup’s concept is radical, it’s finding support from traditional automotive partners.



The latest to sign on is Tokyo-based KYB Corp., one of the world’s biggest makers of shock absorbers. The companies said today they’ve formed a partnership to develop suspension capabilities for electric vehicles that will be built off of Tel Aviv-based REE’s platform. Financial details of the arrangement, the first EV project for KYB, weren’t disclosed. REE emerged from stealth mode in 2019 and is also working with Toyota-affiliated truckmaker Hino, Mitsubishi Corp. and FiatChrysler.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-797x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45572" width="194" height="249" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-797x1024.jpg 797w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-300x386.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-600x771.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-233x300.jpg 233w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1-768x987.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/960x0-1-1.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px" /><figcaption>CEO and cofounder Daniel Barel REE AUTOMOTIVE</figcaption></figure></div>



KYB is “excited to partner with REE Automotive and share its revolutionary EV vision by engineering a suspension subsystem that supports the needs of tomorrow’s mobility ecosystem,” Kazunori Masumoto, KYB’s general manager of engineering, said in a statement. 



For more than a decade, many companies have touted the benefits of standardized, flat undercarriages that could support multiple vehicle types, from sedans and crossovers to vans and commercial trucks, to dramatically eliminate costs to create individual platforms for each. Most recently, electric truck startup&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2019/12/23/electric-truckmaker-rivian-backed-by-amazon-ford-raises-whopping--13-billion/#3a2ca1031847">Rivian</a>, automotive tech firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/02/11/hyundai-adds-electric-vehicle-skateboard-project-with-la-startup-canoo-to-its-87-billion-mobility-push/#139d4beb1017">Canoo</a>&nbsp;and the U.K.’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/01/29/ups-jumps-into-the-future-with-plan-to-buy-10000-electric-vans-and-a-waymo-self-driving-delivery-pilot/#735e17105aa5">Arrival</a>&nbsp;have promoted flat platforms for a range of battery-powered vehicles, but REE cofounder and CEO Daniel Barel says his company takes the approach even farther.&nbsp;



“They’re great, but they are not skateboards. Only the middle is a skateboard,” Barel tells Forbes. The difference is how much battery REE’s design can accommodate and the complete integration of drive controls into the floor, he says. “We hold the most batteries per footprint than anybody else in the industry.&#8221; 



Barel says his company, which is not building complete vehicles, intends to have its technology on the road in 2021. One possible version was shown in October at the Tokyo Motor Show by Hino, with its <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.hino.co.jp/tokyomotorshow2019/en/booth/" target="_blank">FlatFormer electric concept vehicle</a> riding on an REE-based platform. The Japanese truckmaker showed variations of the concept modified to serve as delivery trucks, food service and sanitation vehicles, mobile offices and salons and even agricultural and sanitation trucks, with different tops riding on the platform.



“KYB’s technology will play a crucial role in the rapid development of our next-generation EV architecture, which reinvents the electric vehicle with a completely flat, scalable and fully modular platform, ready to carry the future of e-mobility,” Barel said.



Along with lowering development costs, electric vehicles using REE’s technology will be lighter and considerably more compact. “We’re not only 33% lighter, but we’re almost 70% smaller in footprint” relative to Tesla Model 3, with the same interior volume, Barel claims. The business plan would rely mainly on supplying its design to different companies, ranging from auto and truck manufacturers to delivery and logistics companies, that he declined to identify.&nbsp;



To date, REE has raised “about $100 million” from investors and automotive partners, Barel said, without elaborating. That’s more than double the $40.2 million the company had raised through its Series C round in 2018, according to Crunchbase. Additional fundraising is planned for 2020, though he didn’t provide details.&nbsp;



If REE or other startups can bring viable platforms to market, demand could be strong, says Gartner&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/gartner" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IT</a>&nbsp;transportation tech analyst Mike Ramsey. “There&#8217;s a lot of reasons to think that this would be super appealing. You&#8217;ve opened up the world of automakers very large, potentially, you know, with this platform approach,” he said. “But it does still require a lot of additional work–the crash testing, the assembly system and everything needed to support it.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Whether REE’s approach works in the real world remains to be seen, but it’s an approach that could help speed the slow shift away from conventional internal combustion engine designs if it helps make EVs easier to build and much cheaper. Barel sees flat platforms as doing just that.&nbsp;



“To keep on building vehicles the same way we’ve been doing it for a hundred years doesn&#8217;t make a lot of sense.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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</div></figure>



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/">Alan Ohnsman</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/transportation">Transportation</a>

Tag: Entrepreneurs

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