Obolo Films

From Obolo site:

I’m another man with a movie camera, making my contribution to this world’s cinema experience. I did not grow up wanting to be a filmmaker. It just happened. I started film-making and and editing at the age of 18, then kinda left it alone for a few years, pursuing other goals. Now I’m fully submerged in it. I eat, drink, sleep and love making films. I can’t name any directors that I can honestly say “I dig their work” other than Spike Lee and Kar Wai Wong. All the others seem to mesh and blend, making some goulosh shit I ain’t trying to taste.

Obolo

Constructs LLC - African affordable housing construction

Constructs LLC

Constructs LLC is a company that synergizes architecture, urban planning, landscaping, and building technology into a single unit geared towards bringing modern architecture and building techniques to Africa.

Adlevo Capital - Mauritius based Private Equity Fund

Adleveo Capital is a Mauritius based Private Equity fund. It's main mission is to establish and capitalize on the growing demand for infrastructure and services in sub-Saharan Africa.

WAASPS - Aviation for Development in Ghana

Aviation for Development

WAASPS offers flight training, light manufacturing, maintainence, and operations of small aircraft (ultralights). WAASPS is located at Kpong airfield in Eastern Region, 50km north of Tema. Kpong Field is a private airfield.

Inviragen - Better Vaccines for a Better World

From site:

Inviragen, Inc. is committed to developing life-saving vaccines to protect against emerging infectious diseases worldwide. These vaccines will take advantage of new trends in the global vaccine marketplace including:

• Economic growth of developing countries
• New global vaccine initiatives by non-profit organizations
• A growing public awareness of the value of vaccines for existing and emerging infectious diseases
• The need for vaccines as protection against potential bioweapon threats

Investment Fund for Health from Timbuktu Chronicles

Emeka Okafor has profiled Investment Fund for Health on his blog Timbuktu Chronicles.

Investment Fund for Health in Africa

The Investment Fund for Health in Africa (IFHA) is a venture capital fund dedicated to small to medium size (equity) investments in private healthcare companies in (sub-Saharan) Africa. At IFHA, we invest in private healthcare

Kuv Capital

Kuv Capital is a small-stage venture capital firm investing in small to early-stage startup companies. Most recently, they have been looking at early stage investments on the African continent.

Maisha Film Labs

From site:

MAISHA(meaning "life" in Kiswahili) provides new screenwriters and film directors from East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda) and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) with access to the professional training and production resources necessary to articulate their visions. Maisha aims to preserve, cultivate and unleash local voices from these regions, and to become one of the first targeted programs to offer structured and accessible resources to these emerging filmmakers. MAISHA is motivated by the belief that a film which explores the truths and idiosyncrasies of the specifically local often has the power to cross over and become significantly universal.

The African Seed Trade Association - AFSTA

From Site:

The African Seed Trade Association arose out of a need to have a regional representative body for the seed industry, which could also serve to promote the development of private seed enterprises.

Objectives

• To promote the use of improved quality seed,
• To strengthen communication with African seed industries and with the world,
• To facilitate establishment of national seed trade associations in Africa,
• To provide information to members,
• To interact with regional governments and NGO's involved in seed activities in order to promote the interests of the seed industry,
• To promote activities that lead to regulatory harmonization throughout Africa to facilitate movement of seed, and
• To develop a statistical database on African seed production and trade.

Uganda: Renewable Energy-Powered Milk Coolers

William Kisaalita of the University of Georgia discusses his project to test a new milk cooling system with a pilot group of 50 small-scale farmers to keep milk fresh overnight so it can be safely transported.

African Economic Forum (AEF) - 2009

AEF 2009 will be held on Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th at Columbia University in the City of New York.

AATF - African Agricultural Technology Foundation

From site:

The African Agriculture Technology Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation designed to facilitate and promote public/private partnerships for the access and delivery of appropriate proprietary agricultural technologies for use by resource-poor smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Foundation is a one-stop-shop that provides expertise and know-how that facilitates the identification, access, development, delivery and utilisation of proprietary agricultural technologies.

The Boma Fund - fund for nomadic communities in Northern Kenya

The Boma Fund works with pastoral nomadic communities in Northern Kenya who recognize that their traditional way of life is no longer sustainable due to the change in the cycle of droughts and their increasing severity.

CRB Africa - African credit ratings

From site:

Credit Reference Bureau Limited (CRB) is an information solutions company. It uses the power of information to assist its subscribers to target prospective customers, manage existing trade relationships and identify opportunities for profitable growth.

CRB also provides factual credit, identity and location information to businesses – for example banks, credit card companies, finance institutions and commercial enterprise.- to assist them in making accurate and responsible decisions when companies or individuals apply for cash or goods and services on credit. CRB also helps creditors guard against fraud, which is a growing and serious problem that ultimately affects all consumers.

CC Africa - African Ecotourism

CC Africa is one of Africa’s leading ecotourism company, committed to providing world-class experiences for discerning travellers, and to ongoing investment in sustainable conservation development and community empowerment.

The own and operate 40 different properties in East and Central Africa.

Africa in Demand - African television show

About African in Demand

From Site:

Africa In Demand™ the Televsion show was launched in June 2008 along with the Internet distribution network. Produced by Co Host Bisi Fagbohun along with Mavis Kubi bring issues ranging from entertainment, the arts, culture and current affairs affecting Africans on the continent and diaspora.

Q drum - easy transportation of H2O

From site:

The Q Drum is a durable, donut shaped plastic container which when full holds 50 litres of water. Its uniqueness lies in the design of the longitudinal shaft or central hole, through which a rope is tied, to pull or roll the drum along all terrain types. Due to the low-density polyethylene it is made from, it is also practically indestructible and has no removable handles or other metal attachments that could detract from its intended purpose if lost or broken.

The rope can be repaired on the spot or easily replaced by a leather thong, woven plant substance or any other appropriate material. In many rural areas around the world, even a hammer and nail are scarce commodities.

African Partners Medical - APM

From site:

Africa Partners Medical (APM) is a group of American and African doctors, nurses and other health care professionals committed to improving medical care in Africa. The faculty of Africa Partners Medical includes physicians and nurses from Mayo Clinic, Scott and White Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Stanford University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, among others, who volunteer their time. Since 2000, APM has brought an annual medical education program to a total of more than 900 physicians, residents, nurses and emergency medical technicians in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

Highland Tea Company

About Highland Tea Company

The Highland Tea Company, LLC was founded by Watiri and Wanja Michuki, Kenyan mother and daughter, to wholesale and retail Kenyan specialty teas.

Watiri is a member of the small-scale farming community that collectively grows most of Kenya’s tea. She planted the first seedlings on her beautiful 30-acre tea garden (pictured below), which she affectionately called ‘Karurumo’- meaning 'Little Treasure' in the Kikuyu language. In 1991, she incorporated The Highland Tea Company in Kenya with a mission to grow and distribute only the finest premium teas and, in the process, provide her children with a solid education.

East Africa Capital Partners - EACP

East Africa Capital Partners (EACP) is a technology, media and telecommunications sector focus venture capital fund Manager investing in the greater Eastern Africa region.

Tanzania Tourist Board - TTB

Take a look at Tanzania's Tourist Board tourism website. Very insightful for those interested in a vacation that involves wildlife and adventurous safari's.

From the site:

Tanzania captures the very essence of the African continent, and distills it into one country, an African Eden of natural riches and cultural wealth. Our country has inspired Hemingway and Livingstone, proudly given the word 'safari' to the global travel!

Museke - African music site

Museke seeks to have the largest online collection of African music. The site has a variety of different sounds from all over the continent.

From the site:

The Museke project seeks to be the biggest database of African music lyrics and information. It also seeks to encourage discussion and accountability for African music in ways that would benefit society positively. It also involves the use of African languages on the internet to encourage more African language content. This will help us pay attention to the evolution of our culture from an entertainment and literary perspective, while marketing our music, culture in an attractive way.

The project would also allow people who regard Africa as their cultural neighbourhood to get a firm grip on their culture as well as others who will be interested in understanding it. The project combines the best of global technology, the will to market Africa and the love for its ingenious and changing genres of music (culture).

General Electric - Improving Healthcare in Africa and Beyond

GE's signature program in Africa aims to improve healthcare delivery for some of the world's most vulnerable populations by providing valuable expertise and equipment.

Dambisa Moyo, Author Of Dead Aid

Dambisa Moyo is a Global Economist at Goldman Sachs in London. She previously worked at the World Bank in Washington DC. A native of Zambia, Southern Africa, Dambisa holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University and a Masters from Harvard.

Dambisa's new book, Dead Aid illustrates how some aid to Africa has decapitated Africa's growth.

SOVEC - Social Venture Capital

From their site:

SOVEC is an investment fund set up by Dutch entrepreneurs, to invest in small and medium sized companies (SMEs) in Africa.

SOVEC therefore supports local entrepreneurs by investing capital and committing its own network of entrepreneurs who are prepared to invest their time, energy, expertise and business contacts. This helps entrepreneurs in Africa to build their businesses and create job opportunities.

Kenya - Lwala Community Alliance

Witness a remarkable journey of two brothers who used their medical education, wisdom and intellect to build a hospital for their village in Kenya. Journey was made possible by the same village that they are helping...simply remarkable story of giving back to one's community.

Senegal - Locally Produced Biofuel Outboard Motor

Saidou Ba of Mission Goorgoorlu speaks of his winning project which aims at improving living standards of 40 agricultural and fishing communities in Senegal by introducing affordable transportation to deliver their produce, using traditional vessels powered by locally produced biofuel.

Sheabutter Cottage - organic creams and oils from Fair Trade

Sheabutter cottage markets and sells fair trade creams and cosmetics deriving from SheaButter, Palm Oil and other essential organic ingredients.

FARA - Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

FARA is the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, an umbrella organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. FARA complements the innovative activities of national, international and sub-regional research institutions to deliver more responsive and effective services to its stakeholders. It plays advocacy and coordination roles for agricultural research for development, while the national agricultural research systems (NARSs), advanced research institutions (ARIs) and international agricultural research centers (IARCs) develop improved technologies along the research-to-development continuum in their respective countries and coverage areas.

Nigeria: Off-Grid Lighting from Animal Manure

Dr. Joseph Adelegan of Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research talks about his project to stop pollution and mitigate greenhouse gas emission in order to improve the ecosystem and human health.

SEEDA Supporting Entrepreneurs & Enterprise Development in Africa

SEEDA (Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development in Africa) programme is harnessing the resources of the African diaspora, to work with grassroots entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and create jobs.

Kofi Ababio & Sons Limited - Ghana conglomerate

Kofi Ababio & Sons Limited is a mid-size conglomerate based in Ghana serving the West African Market. Among the products they make are; powder soap, bleach and household products.

From their site:

Kofi Ababio and Sons is a family owned business which started operation some 50 years ago, since 1975 we have tested and tried different shades of products and services in the area of manufacturing and logistics provision.

From our simple beginnings to our present position as a supplier of complete household detergents, hair, farm and block products, we have always remained focused on key objectives—designing our products and adapting our businesses to serve the changing needs of our customers. Our rich history and strength lies in our innovation, honesty, integrity and concern for our customers.

Sustainable Agriculture - African film about farming for the environment

This film is of a farmer in the rift valley of Kenya, farmer is doing small things on his farm to be environmentally friendly and to benefit his crops.

Solving Africa - Book project about African entrepreneurship

Junior Kanu is among a new breed of African pioneers called the Cheetah Generation. His book project, Solving Africa is aiming to research African entrepreneuship at it's finest. His journey will be thousands of miles through cities, countries and universities to find great stories you and I don't hear much about from the media.

More on Solving Africa

Because it’s hard to love a place you don’t know, I am proposing a trip to seven African cities to get to know, and hopefully, fall in love with, some of the people and places my education in Nigeria failed to address. The final outcome will be a book that I’ve tentatively titled Solving Africa. Part memoir, part travel log and part political commentary, the book will be the voice of young Africans’ dreams for their homeland and an attempt at a new way of telling Africa’s story.

Internet revolution in Africa

Great article on Africa's internet growth prospects. The SAT 3 cable and soon to be built Eassy Cable, will hopefully lower costs of connecting and conducting commerce on the continent.

From Global Advances

Bandwith to Africa is expected to grow dramatically as the continent is gaining internet connectivity faster than any other region in the world.

Africa’s online population now exceeds 50 million, according to an estimate published by Internet World Stats, an internet research and statistics website. This marks a 1000% increase since 2000 and continued exponential growth is expected. Although this figure only represents a 5.3% internet penetration rate on the African continent, compared with nearly 25% worldwide, the actual number of internet users may be six to eight times larger due to the growth of internet cafes and various other multi-person access points.

Nigeria Travel and tourism board - NTDC

Nigeria's travel board has a new site devoted to market the country's tourism sector.

Here is some info from their site:

Besides the many natural features of Nigeria, the cultural assets of the nation are of universal recognition. The richness and diversity of the Nigerian culture is a manifestation of the socio-cultural differences of the over 250 ethnic groups that inhabit the land for ages.

Megaseeds Project for Madagascar - Andriankoto Ratozamanana

The mission of MEGASEEDS™ is to protect Madagascar’s natural resources, add value to agriculture, and produce food for today and generations to come. They strive to conserve, renew, and rejuvenate forests.

Unveiling the TED Fellows program

How it works: four steps

1. Candidates apply to attend one conference in either Long Beach or Oxford. Individuals can apply directly or be nominated by others. We'll also directly recruit potential Fellows and invite them to apply. Applications for TEDGlobal 2009 will open February 23, 2009. Email fellows@ted.com to be reminded when applications open. Please include your name, title, organization, email address, and country.

2. We'll choose 25 people to attend each conference as Fellows (50 per year).

3. In 2010, after the 2009 conferences, we'll choose 20 from 50 of the previous year's participants for the three-year TED Senior Fellows Program, bringing them to five additional conferences (for a total of six).

4. We'll recruit 50 new Fellows each year, resulting in 20 Senior Fellows each following year. By 2012, we'll have 50 TED Fellows annually (split between Long Beach and Oxford) and 60 concurrent Senior Fellows.

TEDIndia

At TEDIndia in Mysore in November 2009, we'll replicate our successful TEDAfrica 2007 program by bringing 100 Fellows together from around the subcontinent and beyond. Working with the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, we plan to establish a follow-up network and Fellows meeting. Complete program details are forthcoming.

To participate, contact fellows@ted.com or call Logan at the TED office in New York at +1 212 346 9333.

Fellows

Benefits to Fellows

• Attendance to one TED or TEDGlobal Conference with all expenses paid (conference, travel, room and board)
• Participation in Fellows pre-conference activities
• Private social networking on TED.com
• Potential to speak on the TED Fellows or TED University stage
• Potential to have that talk posted on TED.com

Responsibilities of Fellows

• Full attendance and participation at the Conference
• Submission of a post-conference report
• Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog

Green tech and internet in Benin

The Songhaï Center was founded in the mid-'80s by Father Godfrey Nzamujo, a Dominican priest and Nigerian native, on a few acres of swampland granted by Benin's former president. What began as an experiment in small-scale sustainable development to fight poverty has since become a popular institution, and a symbol of Africa's potential for self-determination and prosperity.

Africa Rice Center - WARDA

Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is an autonomous intergovernmental research association of African member states. It is also one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Its mission is to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security in Africa, through research, development and partnership activities aimed at increasing the productivity and profitability of the rice sector in ways that ensure the sustainability of the farming environment.

Lister Hospital - Accra, Ghana

About Lister Hospital

Lister Hospital and Fertility Centre is a fully equipped ultra modern 25 bed medical centre providing extensive general and specialist healthcare and diagnostic services to residents, visiting business people as well as holiday makers.

Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium

Kenya is getting serious with wind power, here is some info on Lake Turkan wind power outfit.

From site:

Lake Turkana Wind Power consortium (LTWP) is poised to provide 300 MW of clean power to Kenya's national electricity grid by taking advantage of a unique wind resource in Northwest Kenya near Lake Turkana. Using the latest wind turbine technology LTWP can provide reliable and continuous clean power to satisfy up to 30% of Kenya's current total installed power.

Ivorian company builds tropically tolerant buses for African market

Courtesy of BBC

BBC is reporting that Sorta, the engineering arm of the national transport company of Ivory Coast is building tropically tolerant buses for the African market. Sorta plans on building up to 300 a year, this is good for getting people employed and spreading the Ivorian brand around the continent. This is a great story of African ingenuity, building and selling to the home-grown market.

Read a snippet from BBC

The engineering arm of the national transport company, Sotra, decided it could save money and create a bus better suited to African conditions.

"We want the transfer of technology in Africa, and we want to build our own buses with our own specification," says Sotra's director Mamadou Coulibaly.

Read More

AABS - Association of African Business Schools

From AABS site:

To promote excellence in business and management education in Africa by supporting graduate business schools through capacity building, collaboration and quality improvement.

By training current and future leaders in their home markets, business schools in Africa play a critical role in laying the groundwork for private sector development. Its programmes build effective business schools in order to improve the practice of management in African organisations and to enhance the relevance and contribution of business schools to policy debate on African development research and policy development. AABS demonstrates our members’ commitment to increase significantly the contribution that business schools make to the economic and general development in the African continent.

Winafrique Technologies Limited

From Their Site

Winafrique Technologies Ltd. was incorporated in Kenya in 2002 as an integrated renewable energy resource company. Winafrique Technologies Ltd. has since then provided renewable energy solutions to Government, institutions, and public and private companies.

The alternative energy solutions provided deliver reliable renewable power that is environmentally benign and reduces reliance on fossil based power generation.. These solutions have been successfully applied in schools (remote ICT based), telecommunications base stations, water desalination, and other remote locations. In addition Winafrique Technologies Ltd. provide specialist solutions for situations where grid power is available and or unreliable.

The main solution categories at Winafrique are:

• Hybrid Remote Alternative Power Systems.
• Wind Power Solutions.
• Solar Power Solutions.
• Water Pumping Solutions.
• Power Enhancing Solutions.
• Energy Storage Solutions.

Afric Xpress - Mobile solutions provider for African markets

From their site:

Afric Xpress (AX) is a solution provider for mobile phone-based and other electronic transaction services for African communities in the continent and abroad. The company’s mission is to foster electronic–based markets in Africa by turning mobile phones and computers into commercial platforms with the ultimate goal of empowering our customers with security, speed, and convenience. We serve our international customers with online services available on our website while the primary channel for our customer in the continent is the mobile phone. 

We also provide mobile banking solutions in partnership with the telecom providers and various banks. Our current target for these services is the local Ghanaian population with cell phone connectivity and a local bank account. These mobile phone services are solely for local use and country specific. They are not available online and do not require any credit card processing. For more information about this service, visit www.txtnpay.net 

DMT Mobile Toilets

DMT mobile toilets was founded in 1992 . DMT is a pioneer mobile toilet company in Nigeria and at present the only manufacturer in the West African sub-region.

DMT at inception manufactured wagon toilets locally, but in 1999 the company complemented its locally produced wagon toilets with about 30 plastic portable toilets imported from the United Kingdom . 

ALC - African Laser Centre

About ALC

The mission of the ALC is to enable African nations to collaborate with each other and to play a major role internationally in utilising light to advance science and technology, thereby contributing to the strengthening of their economies, their global competitiveness, education and welfare of their people. This co-operation will take place in the spirit of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Union.

The African Laser Centre, a virtual centre of excellence focusing on laser research in Africa, was established in 2002 to provide a platform through which Africa can pool its resources to become globally competitive. The Centre is an open, non-exclusive partnership aimed at stimulating innovative research and technology development in the field of lasers and laser applications.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa - AGRA

About AGRA

AGRA is a dynamic, African-led partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programs develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural “value chain”—from seeds, soil health, and water to markets and agricultural education. AGRA is chaired by Kofi A. Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. AGRA, with initial support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Accra, Ghana.

Magadi Soda Company - Kenya ash manufacturer

From their site:

The Magadi Soda Company is one of Africa's largest soda ash manufacturers and employs over 450 people in Kenya. The company recovers trona from one of the purest surface deposits in the base of the Rift Valley and converts it into sodium carbonate (soda ash). 

The operations at Lake Magadi are situated 120kms south west of Nairobi. Product is transported by rail to the Port of Mombasa for onward shipping to the markets. 

Soda ash is an essential constituent in the manufacture of glass and important in the production of detergents and industrial chemicals. Over 95% of the company product is exported to its principal markets of South East Asia, Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Middle East.