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New technologies in South Sudan

new technologies in South SudanTechnology increasingly offers more and more solutions to help reduce poverty across the globe. Considering South Sudan’s unpredictable climate and scarce resources, new technologies in South Sudan can provide a gateway of opportunities and security to the locals. This can be through new farming methods and equipment, schooling, banking and monetary management.

The Problems in South Sudan

South Sudan’s current climate is posing many challenges to its poverty-stricken population. The World Bank describes poverty as ‘ubiquitous’ across South Sudan, with it estimating that two-thirds of the population requires humanitarian assistance.

Estimates stated that floods are affecting up to 1 million people every year because the floods have forced many to evacuate their homes. This has had an impact on education with floods affecting 100 schools. As a result, more than 60,000 students have reduced access to education.

In the short term, people in South Sudan have had limited access to nutrition and health care. This has contributed to the fact that 60% of the population is facing malnutrition.

It is not just flooding that impacts South Sudan. Excessive drought, temperature changes and unpredictable rainfall have all damaged day-to-day life in South Sudan. Droughts have resulted in food insecurities leading to a loss of livestock and crops.

This is severely impacting the economy in South Sudan considering that 95% of the population work in sectors that rely on the climate. This includes agriculture, fishing and forestry resources.

In the 2020-2021 period the South Sudanese economy reduced by 5.4% due to lower exports of oil and agricultural output. This is having a large impact on the living conditions of individuals in South Sudan.

The Conflict in South Sudan

As a result of the unpredictable climate in South Sudan, many have had to migrate. In fact, up to 4 million people as of 2022 remain displaced due to climate-induced dangers – 1.6 million internally and 2.3 million in neighboring countries.

Migration has led to enhanced homelessness across South Sudan. This has reduced living standards and increased disease. A lack of infrastructure has led to more exposure to malnutrition, mosquitos and climate-induced diseases such as malaria and cholera.

Serious conflicts over resources in South Sudan between groups, especially in areas of extreme drought, has led to livestock raiding and exacerbated the displacement of people into concentrated areas making resource scarcity even more serious.

Furthermore, the large weaponry market that has spread throughout the territory to the failure of the South Sudanese government, fuelling the problem and resulting in wider political instability in South Sudan. Resource conflicts have increasingly become a method to gain political support and power.

UNHCR’s Efforts

To solve the issues of conflict and lack of institutional and infrastructural support in South Sudan, the resource and climate problems require mitigation and resolution. Technology could be a solution, but South Sudan has limited new technologies presently.

First, and foremost, technology can make farming more efficient and sustainable. For example, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is trying to develop sustainable and resilient infrastructure such as dikes and drainage systems to try and appease the problems in South Sudan. Moreover, UNHCR has provided flood-tolerant seeds and training for locals. To help with droughts, it has introduced new irrigation systems and set up tree nurseries to regrow forests. In Maban, five tree nurseries underwent establishment in four refugee camps. These activities are introducing new skills and opportunities for the locals, that are more resistant and malleable to the changing climatic conditions. Other technologies include high-efficiency cooking stoves, reusing agricultural waste and using solar energy to extract water from boreholes.

How the US is Helping

Next, greater investment into education and human capital development is vital for presenting more opportunities for the locals to be able to use new tech. The U.S. has provided more than $117 million to South Sudan on top of humanitarian aid. This is helping the government to invest more money into their infrastructure, allowing more to access education.

The U.N. has also been providing increased support across Africa. It is important that this continues as, alone, South Sudan does not have the fiscal capacity to create a stable socioeconomic climate.

A further key area for South Sudan is taking full advantage of technology to provide education to rural areas that otherwise do not have access. This seems to have had little traction so far but could prove to be a very advantageous development.

Lastly, introducing these new technologies and skills in South Sudan will help to address the migration problem, reducing the levels of migration and allowing the population to become more dispersed again. This will hopefully help to reduce conflict in South Sudan as well.

Looking Ahead

Behind this shift to new technologies in South Sudan in the long run, support through charity and initiatives will help to smooth the transition. For example, to help with conflicts UNHCR has started several peace initiatives in Eastern Equatoria to reduce further conflict between herders and farmers, and to incentivize the use of new technology in pastoralists’ original locations, rather than internally migrating.

As a result, it becomes clear that South Sudan can reduce conflict across the country if it introduces more sustainable technology to help with the unpredictable climate. This requires the support of other countries and the cooperation of the South Sudanese government if this is to successfully reduce poverty.

– Reuben Cochrane
Photo: Flickr

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Women in Tech in Nigeria: Empowerment Through Technology

Women in TechIn 2021, women accounted for approximately 49.3% of Nigeria’s population yet only about 48% of Nigerian women aged 15 and older participated in the labor force, a rate that has dropped from about 57% in 2011. In fact, female unemployment in Nigeria has risen from about 3.7% in 2011 to 8.8% in 2021. This is why the work of organizations such as Women in Tech in Nigeria (WITIN) is so important. Women need support to gain economic independence, and encouraging female advancement in one of the fastest-growing industries could not be more fitting.

What is Women in Tech in Nigeria?

Women in Tech in Nigeria is both a nonprofit and an association, established for the purpose of empowering women girls and women through technology. It advocates for female leadership in the tech industry, equips women with digital skills, supports female entrepreneurship and campaigns for reforms that promote gender equality.

The categories of women WITIN targets include university students at any level of study in order to foster their interest in the tech industry, female graduates early in their careers, women returning to the workforce to whom WITIN provides returning programs and professionals switching from other industries to the tech industry. WITIN also caters to female entrepreneurs looking to technology for business growth, female veterans in the technology industry and rural women seeking jobs.

The organization partners with schools and educators to promote STEM subjects among girls and provides internship and volunteer opportunities to directly mentor them. Men who want to support women in technology can do so through WITIN’s #HeforShe movement. By bringing together women from different backgrounds in technology, WITIN has created a support system for women in the tech industry.

Recent Achievement

In 2022, Women in Tech in Nigeria stood as the runner-up for the WSIS Prize due to its WomenPRIDE.Africa program. WSIS refers to the World Summit on the Information Society, a U.N.-backed annual forum for those using information and communications technology (ICT) to promote sustainable development. The WomenPRIDE.Africa program promotes digital outreach to marginalized women, giving them access to the digital economy and teaching them marketable digital skills.

Notable Leadership

Martha Omoekpen Alade, the current executive director of Women in Tech in Nigeria, officially established the nonprofit association in 2009. She partnered with Google in 2011 to set up the Grassroots Women Empowerment Through ICT (GWEIT) online platform for women-run small businesses in rural Nigeria and these businesses continue to have an online presence even after the termination of the platform.

Alade led WITIN to partner with USAID and Intel in their respective initiatives, Women and the Web Alliance and She Will Connect, to empower women through technology, create entrepreneurship opportunities for young women in Nigeria and more. In 2019, Alade received the Community Impact Award at the Technology Playmaker Awards held annually by the digital tech lead Booking.com for WITINs efforts to harness technology to uplift 20,000 impoverished girls and women by 2022.

Looking Ahead

As the world grows more and more digitally interconnected, technology has evolved from a tool of economic development to one that promotes social and political development. Technology plays a critical role in the advancement of women’s rights and Women in Tech in Nigeria is one of many examples that solidifies this. It is, therefore, crucial to support advocacy efforts for gender equality and eliminate gender gaps in all industries altogether. This will be to the benefit of the communities in which empowered women live.

– Kena Irungu
Photo: WikkiCommons

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Rappi: The Colombian Unicorn that Has Given Venezuelans a Chance

Rappi: The Colombian Unicorn that Has Given Venezuelans a ChanceThe socio-economic and political crisis in Venezuela has forced millions of citizens to flee the country in pursuit of better opportunities. In fact, there are approximately 4.5 million Venezuelans abroad. Almost 1.8 million are in the neighboring country of Colombia. This migratory movement has generated a demand for blue-collar jobs. Rappi, the Colombian unicorn, has become a very important niche for migrant labor. It allows them to start over and overcome their poor economic and social condition.

Rappi is an innovative App that works as a large shopping center in which the customer gets all kinds of products. The product quickly arrives at the customer’s location. This business model requires thousands of office employees as well as shoppers and distributors. While many of the Venezuelans that enter neighboring countries only have a high school diploma, Rappi has opportunities for them. The Venezuelans can provide for their families with only a bike and a smartphone.

The Presence of Venezuelans in Rappi

With only five years in the market, Rappi has seen a constant 20% growth every month. This reaches thousands across 9 countries in Latin America. This rapid increase has been directly correlated to the massive emigration of people. Today, 57% of Rappi’s distributors, or better known as rappitenderos, are Venezuelans. This is because Rappi only requires the special permit acquired with the traditional migratory process and no previous working reference.

Many studies have shown that Venezuelans in Rappi work considerably more hours and days by choice in comparison to Colombians. Rappi provides a flexible model in which distributors accommodate the hours they work according to their necessities and availability. The Venezuelan rappitenderos work around 10 to 12 hours a day, while Colombian rappitenderos work approximately 8 hours. Moreover, 97% of Venezuelans work up to 7 days a week while only 5% of Colombians work 6 days. 

Rappi has helped Venezuelans find a job in which they can provide for their families. It also has looked for other ways to help their families. Rappi has partnered with Valiu, a Colombo-Venezuelan startup. This collaboration helps the rappitenderos send money to their relatives that live in Venezuela and struggle with poverty. This partnership has created better alternatives for distributors to manage their income and help their families.

The Impact

Rappi is the first fully Colombian, and one of the most important, tech firms in Latin America. It is the perfect innovation that has eased people’s lives, changed consumption habits and helped small businesses thrive. More than anything, it has allowed thousands of Venezuelans that have been looking for a better quality of life. It has become a means to reduce poverty and close the gaps of inequality.

The startup was born with the mission to make people’s lives easier. It extended its main goal to a community that today calls for help and needs to generate extra income for their personal and professional goals. Additionally, Venezuelan migrants contribute to the national economy of Colombia. Despite challenges and migratory processes, they have found their way and Rappi has been the dominant employer for this strong workforce.

– Isabella León Graticola
Photo: Pixabay

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Made in Africa

Made in Africa
“Think global, act local” has become a popular mantra in the developed world, but it is the work of a Congolese entrepreneur that seems to truly embody the sentiment.

Inspired by what Apple is to the U.S. and Samsung is to Asia, Verone Mankou, 26, spent years fundraising to design affordable smartphone and tablet options – made in Africa, for Africa.

Mankou founded VMK in 2009 under financial constraints. The company was launched as an “establishment” that provided internet communication services, such as corporate web design.

VMK has since grown into a corporation (PLC) with reported earnings of $500,000, according to its website. Services have now expanded to include the design and retail of feature-phones, tablets, and smartphones.

The growth can be attributed to Mankou’s vision for Africa’s future and goals. The company derives its name from the Kikongo word “vambuka,” which means “wake up.”

In 2007, Mankou saw the potential for VMK when he noted that the cost of a laptop in Congo was more than $1000, a price unattainable for most Congolese.

His attempts at designing a more affordable, locally produced laptop were unfruitful, but when he turned his attention to the possibilities of tablets, his perseverance paid off.

A Congolese minister happened to read a Time article that featured Mankou’s pursuits and helped him to secure funding that launched VMK.

Criticism has followed Mankou’s success, due to the fact that VMK products have been designed in Africa, sold in Africa, but are manufactured in China. Mankou hopes to change this with the 2014 construction of a factory in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville.

The objective to create affordable products has been met. The Way-C, or “the light of the stars” in Lingala, another local language, is a small tablet that costs $300. It measures 7.4″ x 6.7″ x 0.5″ and weighs 13.4 ounces. Both Wi-Fi connectivity and 4GB of internal memory are standard features.

The Elikia (“Hope”) is VMK’s smartphone that has a price tag of $170 without a contract. It includes rear and front cameras, 512MB of RAM, a 650MHz processor, and a 3.5-inch display.

While VMK currently only sells products and services to France via the Internet and locally in Congo, 2014 will bring expansion in DRC and Cameroon. The company will also enter Niger as part of a pilot education program financed by Orange, a mobile networking company that purchased stocks in VMK.

Mankou is intent on embracing expansion at a slow pace, keeping customer experience and widespread access as the focus. With entrance to each new African country, he is intent on providing not only a sales team, but marketing and customer service teams as well.

– Zoë Dean

Sources: Wired, Smart Planet, VMK Tech
Photo: The Sierra Leone Telegraph