Africa50 and Oikocredit lead equity investment in Ghanaian fintech Zeepay to support Africa expansion; The investment will support the expansion of Zeepay’s cross-border remittances and mobile financial services business across Africa and the Caribbean; The investment was made by Africa50, Oikocredit, Injaro Ghana Venture Capital Fund (IGVCF) and Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund (www.Verdant-Cap.com), with a follow-on investment from Investisseurs&Partenaires (I&P).

Ghanaian fintech company Zeepay Ghana Ltd announced the completion of an equity investment by pan-African investment firms Africa50, Oikocredit, Injaro, Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund, and I&P. The funds will go towards expanding Zeepay’s operations in Africa and the Caribbean.  

Zeepay is a fast-growing payment infrastructure company with a footprint in more than 20 countries globally. Since its inception in 2014, Zeepay has specialised in facilitating the instant settlement of remittances into mobile money wallets in Africa and the Caribbean on behalf of leading international money transfer organizations (IMTOs). Last year, the Company settled over 10 million remittance transactions worth over $ 3 billion in value. 

The company’s vision is to promote financial inclusion and transform cross-border payments, particularly in low-income countries. This equity investment will support Zeepay in expanding its geographical footprint and in deepening its offering to IMTOs as well as senders and recipients of remittances.  

Andrew Takyi-Appiah, the Founder&CEO of Zeepay Ghana Ltd, commented: “We would like to thank all our stakeholders, including our customers, shareholders, and staff, for all the support in bringing this round to a close. The raise will greatly assist us in completing our ongoing expansion drive into the rest of Africa. Our short to medium plan is to expand our mobile money reach into a minimum of 10 countries within the next two years, leveraging remittances in partnership with MoneyGram, and we are delighted to see this vision come through.” 

“Africa50 is delighted to be partnering with Zeepay to support its leading role in the digital payments infrastructure space on the African continent and beyond. Foreign currency inflows from remittances are the lifeline for many African economies with sizable diaspora populations, especially in the current economic environment. Zeepay provides a local, affordable, secure, and convenient money transfer solution for the industrious African diaspora to support their loved ones,” said Raza Hasnani, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Investments at Africa50.  

Oikocredit is delighted to partner with Zeepay as we grow our global portfolio of impactful fintechs. Remittances are essential to financial inclusion for many households in Zeepay’s countries of operation, and its digital wallets help overcome challenges around transparency, cost,  convenience, speed and safety for both senders and receivers of funds. We are pleased to partner with a fast-growing African business led by a capable team and look forward to supporting its growth,” said Samuel Kibiri, Equity Officer for Africa at Oikocredit.  

”I&P’s follow-on investment in Zeepay demonstrates our conviction in the success and prospects of the business. We are proud to have partnered with a highly capable promoter and management team in delivering impressive financial and social returns over the past two years with our initial investment. We are excited to be joined by new like-minded investors and remain fully committed to supporting Zeepay to attain its goal of becoming a leading pan-African mobile financial services business impacting the lives of millions of underserved users across Africa and the Caribbean,” said Sebastien Boyé, Co-CEO of I&P.   

“The Injaro team is honoured to partner with the Zeepay team, which Andrew Takyi-Appiah, a dynamic and visionary young Ghanaian entrepreneur, leads. We look forward to working together to achieve the ambitious goal of creating a successful Ghanaian multinational and a market leader in the fintech space. It is especially gratifying to finance Zeepay with Ghanaian capital as this ensures that profits from this investment flow back into the local economy to trigger a virtuous cycle of economic development. We believe that this investment represents an important first step in building linkages between Ghana’s pension funds and exceptional local businesses, which are important drivers of Ghana’s economic growth”, remarked Jerry Parkes, Managing Director of Injaro Investment Advisors Limited.  

Kwabena Appenteng, Director at Verdant Capital, said, “Zeepay offers investors like Verdant an attractive combination of hard currency earnings through its remittance-to-the-wallet business and growth opportunities across the continent. Testament to the strength of the management team at Zeepay:  the business reached profitability earlier in its lifecycle than other fintechs and has maintained strong profitability while growing and diversifying its footprint and revenue base. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Verdant Capital.

Investing in gender data is a viable strategy to accelerate progress for all. As the curtain falls on celebrations to mark International Women’s Day 2024 (IWD2024), this is the resounding message from media experts, public finance officials, statisticians, and development experts in African and Arab States.

With only six years to go to Agenda 2030, the end of Women’s Month should spur even more concerted action for accelerated progress. Investing in gender data is an important way to do this.

According to experts, investing in gender data calls for increased focus on the strategic and consistent use of data that is already available to improve the lives of women and girls. This brings to the fore the pressing need for increased knowledge on how to use this data more effectively to propel policy change and the need for sustained political will and stronger and wider collaborations.

At the start of March, more than 130 gender, media, and finance experts from Africa and the Arab States lent their voices to a pre-IWD2024 roundtable discussion dubbed Gender Data: A Secure Investment for Accelerated Progress.

In a departure from the norm, global-facing media practitioners were front and center as discussants on the use of gender data as a driver of progress. This was alongside technical experts from Morocco, Uganda, Senegal, Rwanda, and Cameroon who used relevant country experiences to lead reflections on gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) and the move to a care economy.

“The media plays a critical role in amplifying and elaborating gaps,” said John-Allan Namu, CNN award-winning investigative journalist and Founding CEO of Africa Uncensored, Africa’s only indigenous dedicated investigative journalism media house.

“This is not only crucial for raising public awareness, but for also holding leaders accountable and driving gender-responsive policy change,” said Namu.

Christine Mungai, an Al-Jazeera and CNN journalist based in Kenya who is also a 2018 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and Lead Curator at Baraza Media Lab has observed an interesting trend with young journalists in particular increasingly investing in gender data for data storytelling.

“By using health-related gender data and gender-based violence (GBV) data, for example on femicide in Kenya, the media is playing a pivotal role in drawing attention to neglected areas of society and exposing gender gaps that urgently need data, policy, and other interventions,” said Mungai.

Hinged on the IWD2024 theme Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress the roundtable teased out persisting challenges in the use of gender data.

“Gender data gaps present a significant challenge in Africa, just as they do globally,” said Pamela Nabukhonzo, Statistics Specialist at the UN Economic for Africa (ECA) Africa Statistics Center.

“These gaps in gender mean that women may be overlooked in policies, decision-making, and development initiatives,” said Nabukhonzo.

Despite remarkable progress, many governments still lack laws and regulations that effectively govern the production and dissemination of gender data and statistics. Many national statistical offices (NSOs) still face technical and financial constraints in using and sometimes even producing adequate and timely data.

Gender data financing is also elusive with the infamous “Three C’s” of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflicts exacerbating financing gaps by shifting spending, budgeting, and government priorities to the detriment of investment in gender data.

“Although the official development assistance for gender equality has increased every year since 2015, funding for gender data and statistics has fallen by 55 percent compared to the average between 2017 and 2019,”  said Krista Jones Baptista, Executive Director at Data 2X, a global gender data alliance.

“This is three times higher than the drop in funding for statistics as a whole,” said Baptista.

However, it is not all doom and gloom.

Countries such as Rwanda, are investing in women by using gender data in the private sector to help companies support gender equality at the workplace and establish more women-friendly workspaces. This is helping to increase women’s productivity and the number of women in private leadership thus contributing to women’s empowerment. For the public sector, gender data has informed the formulation of gender-responsive electoral processes that have helped to more than quadruple the percentage of women district chairpersons (from 6% to 27%).

Morocco’s strength in implementing gender-responsive budgets is an important trump-card in the Government’s priority for gender equality. Now, public spending decisions have more consideration for the needs of women and girls. This is in part thanks to the continued availability and use of gender data for planning partly through the Morocco GRB Center of Excellence (GRB-CE) established by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to promote knowledge across ministries on mainstreaming gender in budgeting and implementation.

Cameroon and Senegal are also using gender data at all levels of government to implement GRB. Senegal is also using time use data (data that analyzes how women and men use their time in a typical day) to shift to a care economy that essentially recognizes the value of unpaid care and domestic work and strives to reduce and compensate it through various policies, including social safety nets such as daycare centers and centers for the elderly.

On its part, Uganda has laws that require ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to demonstrate how their programmes and interventions will or have already addressed gender gaps before they can access the national budget. This has been instrumental in promoting the use of gender data and mainstreaming gender in financing and implementation.

This resonates strongly with good practices such as the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s gender mainstreaming approaches for policy-based lending and budget support as key lending instruments.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have been borrowing from AfDB to offset budget deficits. This has provided an opportunity to incorporate GRB as a best practice”, said Linet Miriti-Otieno, Chief Gender Officer at the African Development Bank.

“AfDB has been working closely with governments to identify gender policy measures and triggers that must be realized for disbursement to take place;” said Miriti-Otieno.

As one of the quick wins for increased use of gender data, experts are pointing to enhanced collaboration between gender data producers and users such as the media, who are key communicators of gender statistics and related information.

“More young journalists are embracing data journalism so there are already great opportunities for collaboration in this area,” said Mungai.

However, some adjustments to the type of data made available are needed.

“More nuanced data that goes beyond raw numbers will be important to better understand the state of women and girls,” said Namu.

“There is a pressing need for gender data that goes beyond raw numbers and that consistently asks “why” to better understand phenomenon,” said Namu.

Gender data should also be more people-centered to sharpen the focus on actual community needs and physical accessibility of gender data should be improved especially in contexts where more traditional or paper-based formats are used. This is part of the big push required to move gender data from the shelf to the decision table.

While agencies such as UN Women and ECA have made substantial technical and other investments in national statistics offices to help modernize systems and grow their capacity to gather gender data and mainstream it in national statistical systems (NSSs), continuous training is needed for government actors as well as producers and communicators of gender data to help ensure the effective use of data to improve the lives of women and girls.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.

Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) and African First Ladies together mark ‘World Health Day’ 2024 in a mission to transform patient care via providing more than 1740 scholarships to doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and under-served medical specialties.

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany marks “World Health Day” 2024 together with Africa’s First Ladies who are also Ambassadors of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” Campaign through their Scholarship and Capacity Building Program.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasized, “At Merck Foundation, we mark World Health Day every single day of the year over the past 12 years, by building healthcare capacity and transforming patient care across Africa, Asia and beyond.

I am proud to share that Merck Foundation has provided over 1740 scholarships to aspiring young doctors from 52 countries, in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties such as Oncology, Diabetes, Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Acute Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Embryology&Fertility specialty, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Psychiatry, Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine, Critical Care, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Neonatal Medicine, Advanced Surgical Practice, Pain Management, General Surgery, Clinical Microbiology and infectious diseases, Internal Medicine, Trauma&Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Cardiology, Stroke Medicine, Care of the Older Person, Family Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Obesity&Weight Management, Women’s Health, Biotechnology in ART and many more”.

As per the available data, Africa has only 34.6% of the required doctors, nurses, and midwives. It is projected that by 2030, Africa would need additional 6.1 million doctors, nurses, and midwives*.

“For Example, before the start of the Merck Foundation programs in 2012; there was not a single Oncologist, Fertility or Reproductive care specialists, Diabetologist, Respiratory or ICU specialist in many countries such as The Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Guinea, Burundi, Niger, Chad, Ethiopia, Namibia among others. We are certainly creating historic legacy in Africa, and also beyond. Together with our partners like Africa’s First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Gender, Education and Communication, we are impacting the lives of people in the most disadvantaged communities in Africa and beyond.”, added Senator Dr. Kelej.

Merck Foundation works closely with their Ambassadors, the African First Ladies and local partners such as; Ministries of Health, Education, Information&Communication, Gender, Academia, Research Institutions, Media and Art in building healthcare capacity and addressing health, social&economic challenges in developing countries and under-served communities.

“I strongly believe that training healthcare providers and building professional healthcare capacity is the right strategy to improve access to equitable and quality at health care in Africa.

Therefore, I am happy to announce the Call for Applications for 2024 Scholarships for young doctors with special focus on female doctors for our online one-year diploma and two-year master degree in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties, which includes both Online Diploma programs and On-Site Fellowship and clinical training programs. The applications are invited through the Office of our Ambassadors and long-term partners, The First Ladies of Africa and Ministry of Health of each country.” shared Dr . Kelej.

“Our aim is to improve the overall health and wellbeing of people by building healthcare capacity across Africa, Asia and other developing countries. We are strongly committed to transforming patientcare landscape through our scholarships program”, concluded Senator Kelej.

Details of the Scholarships:

ONLINE Diploma Scholarships:

Sr. No

Duration

Speciality

 1

 PG Diploma (1 year)

 Diabetes

 2

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine

 3

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Sexual and Reproductive Medicine

 4

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Endocrinology

 5

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Respiratory Medicine

 6

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Acute Medicine

 7

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Rheumatology

 8

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Gastroenterology

 9

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Dermatology in Clinical Practice

 10

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Clinical Psychiatry

 11

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Medical Oncology

 12

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Obesity and Weight Management

 13

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Infectious Diseases

 14

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Women’s Health

 15

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Urology

 16

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Family Medicine

 17

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Paediatrics and Child Health

 18

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Pain Management

 19

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Cardiology

 20

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Stroke Medicine

 21

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Neurology

 22

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Neurosurgery

 23

 PG Diploma (1 Year)

 Care of the Older Person

 24

 PG Diploma

 (21 months)

 Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine

 25

 PG Diploma

 (21 Months)

 Laparoscopic Surgical Skills

 26

 PG Diploma (2 years)

 Neonatal Medicine

 27

 PG Diploma (2 years)

 Pediatric Emergency Medicine

 28

 PG Diploma (2 years)

 Primary Care Ophthalmology

 29

 PG Diploma (2 Years)

 Internal Medicine

 30

 PG Diploma (2 Years)

 Neuroimaging for research

 31

 ChM (2 Years) 

 Trauma and Orthopedics

 32

 ChM (2 Years)

 General Surgery

 33

 MSc (15 Months)

 Biotechnology of Human Assisted Reproduction and Embryology

 34

 MSc (2 years)

 Advanced Surgical Practice

How to Apply:

Applications can be submitted to: https://apo-opa.co/3VYljFE.

IN-CAMPUS Fellowship and Training Programs:

Sr. No

Program and Duration

Speciality

 1

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Advanced ART and Fertility Specialists

 2

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Assisted Reproduction and Embryology

 3

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Diabetes&Hypertension

 4

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Critical Care Medicine

 5

 Clinical Training Program (1 Year)

 Multi-specialties

 6

 Clinical Training Program (1 Year)

 Sub-Specialties of Oncology

 7

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Neurosurgery

 8

 ONCOLOGY Fellowship&Training Programs

8.1 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Medical Oncology

8.2 

 Fellowship Program  

 (1 Year)

 Gynecological Oncology

8.3 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Pediatric Medical Oncology

8.4 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Radiation Oncology

8.5 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Surgical Oncology

8.6 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Pain&Palliative Medicine

8.7 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Pathology Oncology

8.8 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Hematology Oncology

8.9 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Interventional Radiology

8.10 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Surgical Oncology – Breast Surgery

8.11 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Carcinoma of Breast

8.12 

 Fellowship Program

 (1 Year)

 Head&Neck Cancer Surgery

8.13 

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Radiation Technician

8.14 

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Oncology Nursing

8.15 

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Oncology Research Training

8.16 

 Training Program

 (3 months)

 Laboratory Technician

How to Apply:

Applications can be submitted to:

Fertility: https://apo-opa.co/3xDdBqn
Oncology: https://apo-opa.co/4aHjeTr

The selection for each scholarship will be based on request by First Lady Office, Ministry of Health and / or Medical Society with the aim to fill the gaps of public healthcare system in each country.

The selection will be based on eligibility criteria fulfillment of each training Institute and Foundation, scholarship availability and fund availability.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

More images: https://apo-opa.co/3JdiFnY

Media contact:
Mehak Handa 
Community Awareness Program Manager 
+91 9310087613/ +91 9319606669  
mehak.handa@external.merckgroup.com 

Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard:
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About Merck Foundation:
The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality&equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website. Please visit www.Merck-Foundation.com to read more. To know more, reach out to our social media: Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com); Facebook (https://apo-opa.info/3Ykd3hH), Twitter (https://apo-opa.info/3Yo3y11), Instagram (https://apo-opa.info/3lsqM7q), YouTube (https://apo-opa.info/3CNFGLa), and Flickr (https://apo-opa.info/3JT8BSC).

The Vice President and Flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has underscored the  indispensability of digitalization in the advancement of Ghana’s justice system.

Speaking at the launch of LEADing Justice, an acronym for the framework of the vision of the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Margaret Torkonoo, in Accra on Monday April 8, 2023, Dr. Bawumia said, digitalization, which is a significant feature of the Chief Justice’s vision framework, and other elements, are significant to the realisation of the Chief Justice’s vision, as well as the  transformation of the overall justice delivery system in Ghana.

“As we have learnt today, the vision of the Honourable Lady Chief Justice hinges on the fundamental pillars of law, ethics, assets management, due process digitalization, a trajectory I am profoundly interested in and committed to, and the preservation of due process – all of which are crucial for the continuing advancement of our justice system,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“Having personally launched the Electronic Case Tracking System for the criminal justice sector in 2018 and witnessing the positive changes that the e-justice system, which was launched a year later is bringing to the administration of justice, I am particularly delighted that digitalization is a key component of this strategic vision,” he added.

Vice President Bawumia commended the new Chief Justice, for her commitment to enhancing the administration of justice in Ghana through her LEADing initiative, and called on all stakeholders to support the vision.

“There can be no escaping the fact that the duty of the Judiciary and the Judicial Service is to bring justice closer to the people of Ghana, by employing the tools and strategies that will make it much more comfortable for them to access and utilize instruments of justice,.”

“I note with great admiration and excitement the new impetus, focus, energy, and dynamism that Her Ladyship has brought to the administration of justice since she took over the reins of office less than a year ago. It is this new zeal and sense of urgency that has culminated in the Vision that we are launching today which would be the blueprint for her administration and point the way for the Judiciary and the Judicial Service towards the goal that meets the justice demands of the 21st Century and beyond.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, let me use this opportunity to encourage all the key players in the justice delivery value chain and indeed all of us gathered here today, to give every support that we can to support this Vision of the Chief Justice so it can deliver on its goals and target to the benefit of our country,” Dr. Bawumia added.

On the part of Government, the Vice President reitereated government’s commitment to supporting the Judicial Service.

“As a Government, we shall continue to do more for the Judicial Service to ramp up the e-Justice system to other levels of court beyond the High Courts in Accra.”

“We shall continue to invest in court infrastructure, residential accommodation for Judges and Magistrates and the general re-tooling of the human resources of the institution to improve justice delivery.  It is in our interest as a country to do so.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.