The Western Cape’s permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) expressed satisfaction and commended the efficient implementation of social housing projects to residents by the Western Cape Provincial Government’s Department of Infrastructure and the City of Cape Town.

The delegation said some of the social housing projects are a great example of effective intergovernmental collaboration and public-private partnerships which provide decent and dignified accommodation.

While briefing the delegation on, the City of Cape Town reported that ten affordable social housing projects, totaling 4 849 residential units, have been completed between 2017 and 2024. According to the City, six more land parcels have been awarded as part of the land release program for affordable mixed social housing, out of which 4 268 housing opportunities are expected to be completed by 2028.

The delegation heard that more land parcels are at planning and release stage and are expected to provide approximately 20 000 housing opportunities in future.

The delegation conducted site visits to three of the recently completed social housing projects on Wednesday. It was impressed by the Conradie Better Living Model Exemplar Project in Pinelands which has 1004 affordable rental units ranging from R740 a month for a bachelor unit. It was built on the land belonging to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and has more tenants living in the vast precinct than the total population of Pinelands.

The delegation also commended the Maitland Mews development which boasts 204 social housing units developed to curb the City’s dire need for centrally located social housing residences. At a total development cost of R95 953 055, monthly rental ranges from R650 for a bachelor to at least R4 900 for a two-bedroom unit.

Other features include nine business training units which are also used as meeting venues, play areas for children, and 24-hour security with biometrics fingerprint access and CCTV cameras.

The delegates also braved the rain and inclement weather on their third site visit of the day. They inspected the Goodwood Station Social Housing Project which began tenanting its 1055 units in December 2023 and August 2024 respectively. Water and bulk services are fully subsidized, and tenants also benefit from the indigent electricity subsidy.

The delegation and SALGA representatives quizzed the City on what seem like stringent and exclusionary letting procedures, and recommended a more inclusionary approach to benefit more people. The City currently has 410 000 applicants on its waiting list of indigent people needing social housing.

The leader of the delegation, Mr Rikus Badenhorst, said other municipalities could benchmark the City’s delivery model in managing strategic intergovernmental cooperation and private-public partnerships that enable development.

Meanwhile the department cautioned that lack of funding, cross-subsidy and political support may hamper the delivery of similar projects that are currently at planning phase. The department indicated that similar projects are currently underway in Oudtshoorn, George, Knysna, Worcester, Stellenbosch and in other areas across the province.

The City recommended exploring alternative funding mechanism for affordable housing beyond government subsidies which may not be sustainable in future. The City also suggested the devolution of the Consolidated Capital Grant funding to municipalities for localized administration.

Mr. Badenhorst said the delegation will consolidate all recommendations and report back to the NCOP at the end of the oversight programme. The delegates will reconvene at the Western Cape Provincial Parliament Chamber this morning to turn their focus towards the province’s disaster management systems.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.

As part of his official visit to Cuba, President Wavel Ramkalawan toured several key health institutions and engaged in discussions aimed at strengthening Seychelles’ healthcare sector.

President Ramkalawan visited the La Pradera International Health Centre and the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, where he explored advancements in medical treatment and biotechnology that could benefit Seychelles.

Following these visits, the President met with Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, to discuss the longstanding healthcare cooperation between the two nations and explore new avenues for collaboration.

President Ramkalawan expressed Seychelles’ gratitude for the Cuban medical brigade, which has been a cornerstone of healthcare support in Seychelles. Currently, 25 Cuban specialists and 13 general practitioners are working with the Seychelles Ministry of Health, significantly enhancing the country’s medical services.

Additionally, the cooperation extends to medical training, with Cuban scholarships enabling Seychellois students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies in medicine, further building the nation’s healthcare capacity.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Seychelles.

Today, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Administrator and Feed the Future Coordinator Samantha Power announced that the United States government, working with Congress, has committed more than $80 million of new Feed the Future funds and supplemental resources to rapidly respond to impacts of recent droughts and the lingering macroeconomic shocks of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These funds through Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger initiative, build on the more than $20 billion that the United States has committed in global emergency and development food security programming over the course of the Biden-Harris Administration.

Today’s new commitment of more than $80 million in USAID funding supports the Feed the Future Accelerator, an effort to deepen the U.S. government’s food security partnership and focus resources on three countries in Southern and Eastern Africa – Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. These food security “accelerator” countries demonstrate both high need and high agricultural potential. These funds complement a diverse Feed the Future portfolio of $577 million, including over $497 million of ongoing U.S. investments in these three countries, plus more than $150 million in private sector investments. 

Under the Feed the Future Accelerator, U.S. investments will harness the region’s combination of fertile land, diverse farming systems, and reform-minded governments to support a regional breadbasket. This has the potential to stimulate inclusive, economic growth across borders while strengthening the resilience of producers and systems to endemic shocks and stresses. Recent research has demonstrated that increasing cereal yields by 25 percent in Eastern and Southern Africa could boost the value of agricultural production in the region by over $24 billion by 2030 and reduce hunger for 22 million people. In addition, investments in the Feed the Future Accelerator present an opportunity to leverage planned hard infrastructure developments in the Lobito Corridor to connect producers to new markets, increase regional food trade, and decrease travel time for agricultural products – reducing some of the $4 billion of food that is lost or wasted in Africa each year. 

A series of recent, unprecedented global shocks to the food system, coupled with conflict, have underscored the urgency of Feed the Future’s core mandate to build a more resilient global food system by concentrating investments in areas of agricultural potential amidst the many hunger hotspots around the world. The Accelerator funds – including $25 million of supplemental resources recently announced by Assistant to the Administrator Dina Esposito at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF), which includes $5 million of supplemental resources announced by Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman in June – allow Feed the Future to meet key challenges of the moment while delivering on the objectives of the U.S. Global Food Security Strategy.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Kifiya (www.Kifiya.com), a leading AI-powered, alternative data-driven scoring, embedded finance, and AgTech company, has been awarded the prestigious Silver Award in the Product Innovation of the Year category in Africa at the Global SME Finance Awards 2024, held as part of the Global SME Finance Forum in São Paulo, Brazil on September 17, 2024.

The Global SME Finance Awards, organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the SME Finance Forum, recognizes and celebrates institutions that have delivered innovative products and services and achieved impressive results in expanding finance and services to SMEs. Kifiya is the first Ethiopian company to win this award. This recognition highlights the company’s commitment to building a digitally and financially inclusive future by leveraging AI and cutting-edge technology to bridge the credit and market access gap in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Receiving this award reflects our ongoing dedication to empowering African MSMEs, SHFs and low-middle-income individuals through AI-powered and data-driven solutions,” said Munir Duri, CEO and founder of Kifiya. “This also demonstrates Ethiopia’s new-found drive for innovation led by the reforms instituted by our Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, which have created an enabling environment and policies that foster and encourage innovation, allowing companies like ours to thrive.”

Unlocking Market Potential for SMEs

Africa’s SME sector, which represents up to 90% of all businesses and provides 60% of total employment, is crucial in driving economic growth for the continent. However, many SMEs struggle with limited access to finance, a challenge that Kifiya is tackling head-on. By providing digital platforms that improve market access and address the financing needs of these businesses, Kifiya is unlocking new growth opportunities. 

In Ethiopia, where 50% of the adult population remains unbanked, Kifiya’s financial solutions create pathways for thousands of SMEs to access much-needed credit and financial services. The company’s efforts have led to increased financial inclusion, stability, and growth for local businesses, contributing significantly to Ethiopia’s economic development.

Empowering SMEs and Low-Income Communities through Innovation

Kifiya’s AI-powered alternative credit scoring and rating technology infrastructure solves the challenges of MSMEs’ lack of collateral and credit history, enabling them to be credit-scored and access uncollateralized credit for the first time in Ethiopia. One of the earliest successes of rolling out this infrastructure was a partnership with the Cooperative Bank of Oromia, which introduced a digital lending product that has enabled close to 300,000 MSMEs to access over $100 million in uncollateralized credit to date.

Kifiya’s intelligent embedded finance tech infrastructure enables banks to originate, extend, manage, and collect uncollateralized digital credit and provide Sharia-compliant financial products relevant and appropriate to MSMEs in agri-food systems, manufacturing, and service sectors. The platform enables FinTechs and businesses to embed inventory credit and BNPL financial services, digitize eCommerce trade processes, and provide MSMEs with inventory credit.

The company also offers an AgTech platform that digitizes smallholder farmers, enabling them to access credit, inputs, markets, and microinsurance to protect against climate-related risks and improve productivity. To date, more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia have accessed more than $10 million of agricultural inputs.

In the transportation sector, Kifiya’s Mobility as a Service (MaaS) technology revolutionizes travel booking and payments, providing eco-friendly and convenient travel solutions. 

Kifiya’s Insurance Technology (Insurtech) provides a digital marketplace for affordable microinsurance products, ensuring low-income individuals can secure their futures against financial risks.

Driving System-Level Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Recognizing that innovation can address many development challenges, Kifiya has combined its extensive AI and technology experience with a market system approach to design and implement solutions that target market inefficiencies and failures. Kifiya is utilizing its AI-powered products and data-driven infrastructure to drive the adoption of digital financial services and enable access to financial services and markets, one country at a time.

Munir Duri emphasized, “Our approach is about more than just technology. We are committed to driving sustainable, inclusive growth by solving systemic challenges that prevent millions of Africans from accessing finance and markets. This award motivates us to continue innovating and expanding our solutions across Africa.”

The company’s data-driven technology infrastructure supports financial institutions, smallholder farmers, low-to-middle-income individuals and MSMEs in accessing relevant credit products, reducing costs, and enhancing service delivery.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Impact Across Africa

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects an average 4.0% GDP growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa in 2025. With Africa’s population expected to reach 1.9 billion by 2050, Kifiya’s technology-driven solutions are poised to play a pivotal role in this economic transformation. 

Kifiya’s ongoing efforts to address the $400 billion credit gap and unlock market access for 44 million MSMEs and smallholder farmers will be critical to driving economic growth and financial inclusion across Sub-Saharan Africa. With a focus on scaling its innovative products, Kifiya is well-positioned to continue leading the charge in Africa’s digital financial services industry. 

https://apo-opa.co/4erx5yw (Link to a video of the Global SME forum 2024)

https://apo-opa.co/4gpdFfD (More information on the Global SME forum event)

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Kifiya Financial Technology.

Media Contact:
Kifiya Financial Technology Plc
Divine Muragijimana 
Phone: +254711455980 
Email: dmuragijimana@kifiya.com 

About Kifiya:
Kifiya Financial Technology is an AI-enabled, alternative data-driven scoring and rating company that offers FinTech, AgTech, and mobility solutions. 

Through innovative AI-powered digital financial services infrastructure, Kifiya empowers MSMEs, smallholder farmers, and low-middle-income consumers by providing uncollateralized credit, connecting them to larger markets, and digitizing critical sectors such as agriculture.  

Committed to enabling equitable access to financial services and markets, Kifiya leverages AI-powered data and technology for social good, creating a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Founded in 2010, Kifiya has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

For more information about Kifiya and its award-winning solutions, visit www.Kifiya.com.