A Cameroonian app, Koree, won the 6th edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge. Koree stood out among more than 1,490 fintechs in the competition. 

Founded and headed by Magalie Gauze-Sanga, Koree aims to solve the small change issue in Francophone Africa. Right behind the Cameroonian app were Makuta (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Flexpay (Kenya), second and third, respectively. The three were picked out of eight finalists. Koree, Makuta, and Flexpay won $50,000, $10,000, and $5,000, respectively.

Why Koree?

In detail, Koree allows its users to get their small change, on their mobile phones, from sellers who have partnered with the startup. The solution deals with the issue of small change scarcity in Francophone Africa. In addition, Koree has a cashback system that allows its users to recover some money on their purchases. The money goes to a digital fidelity card available on the app. The money saved can then be used to make purchases later, from partner shops. This offers users more flexibility and bolsters financial inclusion.

A first for Cameroon, francophone Africa, and women

This is the first time a Francophone startup has won the award, the first time for Cameroon, and, most importantly, it is the first time a woman has won the prize. 

Magalie Gauze-Sanga, Koree’s founder, graduated from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and EM Lyon. She has two Master’s degrees – International Economics and Management. 

Gauze-Sanga started her career as Regional Head of Financial Services at JumiaPay for West Africa, before joining the African Women in Fintech & Payments network. She was also COO at Julaya and Head of Payments at Anka, before founding Koree.

"I'm very happy to have won this challenge", said the Cameroonian, whose application had been rejected the year before. "We applied last year, but alas, being still in the initial phase with only a few months of existence, we weren't very successful, which blocked our way to selection. We've come back much stronger for this edition", she added.

Next step: Côte d’Ivoire

Koree plans to deploy in Côte d'Ivoire by the end of this year. The startup intends to take advantage of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) which the country will host. 

At present, the app has about 11,000 users and 40 partnering shops. This year, the fintech has recorded 40,000 transactions in Douala, according to its founder and CEO. Recently, Koree raised €20,000 from the Cameroon Angels Network (CAN), to finance its growth.

Regarding the Ecobank Fintech Challenge, the event’s goal is to foster innovation in the African fintech sector. The contest’s finalists join Ecobank’s Fintech Fellowship program, which allows them to secure deals and enter business partnerships with the Ecobank Group.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

In Togo, the health authorities started distributing long-lasting impregnated mosquito nets (LLINs) last Saturday, October 7. The campaign, the fifth of its kind, will end on October 18. A total of 6,547,600 LLINs will be distributed, door to door.

The new campaign aims to reduce deaths by malaria, according to Wotobe Kokou, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health. "One thing is to have the mosquito net, but the end goal is to avoid getting sick," the official declared. 

Citing the 2019 World Malaria Report, the Ministry of Health stated that malaria’s incidence in the country regressed by more than 25% between 2015 and 2018, while mortality fell by over 8%.

Specific malaria mortality fell from 0.3‰ in 2011 to 0.12‰ in 2018. Lethality, meanwhile, fell from 3.1% in 2011 to 2.4% in 2018 in adults and from 6.5% to 3.5% in children under 5 over the same period.

It is worth noting that a few days before the campaign was launched, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved a second malaria vaccine for children.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo and three other West African countries will share €200 million which they will receive as part of the second phase of Agence Française de Développement's (AFD) Choose Africa initiative. According to the AFD, the money will target the informal sector, as well as SMEs and startups. It will run from 2024 to 2027. 

The funds should serve in setting up public mechanisms to support entrepreneurship, with grants and sovereign loans. Overall, the program aims to support 22,500 African startups, and micro, small, and medium-size businesses (MSMEs), both formal and informal. They will receive loans and online training.

At the same time, Proparco, a member of the AFD Group, will be responsible for implementing support to the African private sector, while Bpifrance will support French and African companies looking to expand their activities in Africa. 

The Choose Africa 2 initiative comes after a successful first phase, Choose Africa 1, launched in 2018 in Ouagadougou by French President Emmanuel Macron. Under the former phase, the AFD invested  €3 billion –loans, capital investments, and technical support–in 26,000 African startups, and MSMEs (which account for some 60% of formal employment and 40% of the national GDP in Africa). 

The project was announced last May in Togo, by AFD representatives.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Ecobank Togo just opened, through the Sephis Foundation, a CFA1 billion credit line for Togolese businesswomen. The investment aims to boost female leadership in the country, where over 32% of businesses set up last year were set up by women. 

The financing agreement was signed on October 4, by the lender’s managing director, Souleymane Touré, and Sefora Kodjo, president of the SEPHIS Foundation. The facility, it is worth noting, will only benefit women who meet the criteria of the bank’s “Ellever” program, an initiative that supports businesswomen. 

According to Souleymane Touré, “the Sephis Foundation…is committed to implementing workshops for beneficiaries of the “Ellever” program, and to evaluate them toward their selection,” to receive part of the new financing. 

 “This collaboration with Ecobank Togo will be a real financial support that will enable us to strengthen our actions, to better assist women entrepreneurs in a more effective financial inclusion,” said, for her part, Sefora Kodjo. 

Ecobank and the Sephis Foundation are not new partners. In 2021, they inked a similar agreement in Côte d’Ivoire, where the foundation is also active (in addition to 4 other countries).

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Presidents of Togo and Kazakhstan, Faure Gnassingbe and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had a phone call yesterday, October 3. The two leaders talked about deepening their cooperation, in sectors like trade, investments, transport, logistics, and agriculture.

Le Président de la République, @FEGnassingbe a eu entretien téléphonique avec son homologue de la République du Kazakhstan, @TokayevKZ, ce 03 octobre 2023 sur les enjeux et défis du renforcement de la coopération bilatérale et des sujets d’ordre continental et international.

Les… pic.twitter.com/WvHmonslWA

— Présidence Togolaise/Togolese Presidency (@PresidenceTg) October 3, 2023

Gnassingbe and his counterpart discussed issues concerning the African continent and current international affairs. They lauded the relationship between Lomé and Astana.

This relationship will be 10 years old next year and its anniversary will be an occasion to mark a new step in the win-win cooperation, especially as the Central Asian country has a highly diversified economy (oil, uranium, potassium, cereals, textiles, livestock, among others), and Togo is in the process of attracting foreign investors.

As part of the U.S. food aid program, over 200 schools in Togo will get support to feed students. Deployed on the ground by Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the initiative targets nearly 155,000 students (154,675), providing them with daily meals, for five years.

Over the period, the U.S. will ship more than 5,000 tonnes of vegetable oil, peas, rice, and cornmeal to Togo. Local products will be added to this. The support is valued at $33 million (about CFA20 billion).

In detail, it is the US State Department of Agriculture, through its McGovern-Dole International Food Program for Child Education and Nutrition, that will provide the resources.

The new program adds to others like the school canteens program, which is backed by the World Bank Group and has profited over 95,000 students in 2021.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo's updated score on the World Bank's CPIA 2023 report could enable the country to secure more funds from the Bank. This is according to Fily Sissoko, Resident Representative of the lender in Togo.

"This is an extremely important score because it also allows us to mobilize even more resources," said Fily Sissoko. Moreover, "This score far exceeds the World Bank's IDA country average worldwide. Togo's 2022 increase is the biggest increase of all the countries listed."

Out of 39 African countries evaluated in the report, Togo ranked among the top five, with a score of 3.7 points, up from 3.0 in 2016. 

"Togo is positioned with this extremely important score, very well, on themes such as economic management, structural policies, and social inclusion policies. There are still efforts to be made and we hope that Togo will be able to continue working to, why not, reach a score of 4, which is very close to that of emerging Asian countries," Sissoko added.

Future progress areas

Areas where the country could make further progress include budget management and transparency.

"We will continue to work with you in the area of public finance reforms, social protection, budget management, and transparency so that you can therefore continue to improve the CPIA score and mobilize even more resources", the World Bank representative declared.

It is worth emphasizing that Togo’s improvements in recent years, as confirmed by the World Bank's CPIA reports, allowed the West African nation to secure over $1.13 billion from the Bretton Woods institution.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Enselme Gouthon is the new president of the International Coffee Organization (ICO). The Togolese was appointed last Friday, September 29, during the 5th World Coffee Conference in India.

With 40 years of experience in the coffee industry, Gouthon takes the place of Max Massimiliano Fabian. Some of the challenges that the ICO’s new president will face include ensuring the sector’s sustainability, stabilizing the global prices market, climate change adaptation, and technological innovation. The Togolese will also focus on improving economic conditions in developing countries, which are an essential link in the coffee production chain.

On the sidelines of the conference, Enselme Gouthon was also honored by the Indian authorities and the Coffee Board of India, in recognition of his commitment to developing the production and consumption of African and world coffee and supporting farmers' incomes. In addition to being ICO’s president, Gouthon also heads the Robusta Coffee Agency of Africa and Madagascar (ACRAM) and is Secretary General of the Coordination Committee for the coffee and cocoa sectors (CCFCC) in Togo.

Organized by the ICO and the Indian Ministry of Trade, this year’s World Coffee conference gathered 2,600 delegates from 80 countries. 

The ICO is the leading intergovernmental organization in the coffee sector. It facilitates dialogue between exporting and importing countries. Its members make up 98% of the world’s coffee production and take in over 67% of world coffee consumption.
Fiacre E. Kakpo