Botswana firms among finalists for Jack Ma’s $1.5m award
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday August 22, 2022 12:34
The competition, now in its fourth edition, was established by the Jack Ma Foundation and is aimed at aims at supporting entrepreneurs who are not only building successful businesses, but who are also running mission driven organisations that generate growth for their local communities across Africa.
The Foundation behind the competition was established by Jack Ma, a Chinese magnate and entrepreneurial icon who co-founded Alibaba Group, the multinational tech group best known for its e-commerce platform.
Annually, the competition awards grant funding to 10 outstanding African start-up founders with the winner receiving $300,000, the first runner up $250,000, the second runner up receives $150,000 and 7 others in the top 10 each receiving $100,000 cash.
In the running among the top 50 this year are Tendekayi Katsiga, founder of Deaftronics (Pty) Ltd and Melissa Tafila, co-founder of Conexus Proprietary Limited.
“The 50 entrepreneurs are currently undergoing several rounds of evaluation panels leading up to the grand finale in November where 10 outstanding finalists will share the grant of US$1.5 million, on top of training, mentorship, and access to a community of international leaders and innovators, industry experts, investors, and accelerators,” the competition’s organisers said this week.
Mmegi had an opportunity to speak to both local finalists this week on their entrepreneurial journey and the focus of their business.
Tendekayi Katsiga, founder of Deaftronics (Pty) Ltd
Mmegi: What led to you engaging or venturing into this business and what challenges or opportunities did you face?
Katsiga: The inspiration came from a hearing impaired team with whom I was working at a non-governmental organization called Godisa Technologies Trust based in Otse, Botswana. During our interactions, I realised that the batteries of the hearing aids were running out, and they were not available in rural settings, and they were expensive. The input of the design came from hearing impaired people.
The company’s exceptional pricing model is of significant value to the hearing impaired, especially in developing countries, such as Botswana where access to disposable income is limited and the correct batteries for hearing aids are scarce. Deaftronics aims to empower the hearing impaired by creating employment opportunities and helping them better integrate into the community.
We realised that in order to meet our goal of lowering hearing loss and its burden we would need to bring the hearing assessment and resources out to the communities that lack access to specialist or the ability to pay for high-cost equipment. This is where mDREET comes in. mDREET, which stands for Mobile, Detection, Research, Education, Equipment, and Training, is a tried and tested health care programme that looks to break down these barriers to by taking holistic approach to solving the challenges posed.
With our innovative smartphone hearing test app, pure tone, we managed to bring a cost effective and mobile way to screen for hearing impairments to those communities that traditionally lacked access.
Traditional hearing screening costs US$50 whereas Deaftronics mobile screening costs only US$1. This massive reduction enables screening for everyone hence improving easy access to quality healthcare service for the most vulnerable communities in Africa.
However, Deaftronics is facing challenges in finding distributors in African countries and making sure that the product is sold at an affordable price with distributors.
The uptake of hearing aids in the Africa is a fraction of the need.
Mmegi: What social issue were you responding to in venturing into this business?
Katsiga: Hearing impairment is a hidden disability. Without appropriate intervention it may have a significant impact on quality of life. Its impact can occur at any phase of a person’s life cycle. Hearing loss impacts on a child’s development by causing delays in language acquisition, by impeding school progress and by developing a negative self-image. Hearing loss impacts later in adult life and causes serious problems by impeding vocational development and employment and by creating economic difficulties. For the elderly it leads to increased social isolation.
Deaftronics also offers the means to mitigate detected hearing impairments with our solar chargeable low-cost hearing aid. In low economic environments, the weekly purchase of hearing aid batteries can be challenging (e.g., cost prohibitive or locally not available).
The solar chargeable hearing aid is appropriate technology for low economic settings, eliminating this challenge and ensuring the continued use of the hearing aid.
The impact is significant and can be life changing: If hearing impairments are detected and addressed at an early age, this can prevent speech impediments (and subsequent marginalisation of an individual) and ensures that the child can fully benefit from education through regular local schools rather than falling behind due to the hearing impairment. I believe that only through education, can we break the cycle of poverty.
Mmegi: What impact would you say your business has had in Botswana and particularly among groups such as women, youth and rural dwellers?
Katsiga: We have provided 1,200 solar powered hearing aids in Botswana and provided 600 school children with solar powered hearing aids. Increased participation of school going children.
Deaftronics’ products offer excellent value for money – the company’s solar-powered hearing aid unit is sold at a fraction of the price of conventional hearing aids, which is a strong differentiating factor. The company’s solar rechargeable hearing aid makes it possible for poverty-stricken, hearing-impaired communities in Botswana to circumvent the problem of having to buy expensive batteries on a weekly basis. Deaftronics goes the extra mile to empower the hearing-impaired community. The company has not only created job opportunities but has also facilitated the integration of the deaf into the community.
Deaftronics, therefore, helps improve its customers’ access to education. The company has successfully developed an innovative solution that is responsive to the needs of the hearing-impaired rural communities.
In addition, at least 70 percent of our workforce are females. Sarah Phiri Molema controls 60% of the shareholding. Traditional hearing screening costs US$50 whereas Deaftronics mobile screening costs only US$1. This massive reduction enables screening for everyone hence improving easy access to quality healthcare service for the most vulnerable communities.
Deaftronics took the initiative and partnered with First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB) where it trained bank tellers countrywide in sign language to assist with bank related functions. As a result, deaf communities in Botswana that were previously unbanked are able to access banking services. With the support of First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB), we developed the first HIV/AIDS book in sign language. There has been a reduction in HIV/AIDS transmission rate from 38% to 9% within the deaf communities.
Melissa Tafila, co-founder of Conexus Proprietary Limited
Mmegi: What led to you engaging or venturing into this business and what challenges or opportunities did you face?
Tafila: The desire to make an impact in education in Botswana is what led me to venture into this business. I wanted to create an environment where students are inspired to excel, challenge themselves to do better and even develop their skills.
It has always brought me great joy to see children’s faces light up in understanding because of a simple explanation I gave them, to an academic question they asked. I wanted to do more and adding the use of technology to ease their understanding was what made it even more fun.
Starting a business, I came to find, is not an easy task. Building from the ground up has required a lot of sacrifices; resigning from your day job to pursue work on your dream, spending inordinate amounts of time defining and redefining the vision, researching and planning, taking on multiple roles, working longer hours and initially, mostly without pay, and at the same time keeping oneself motivated.
That was a challenge, but persistence, perseverance and focusing on the reasons why we were building this, is what kept me going. I am glad that by God's grace we managed to push through the difficulties to get to where we are today.
Mmegi: What social issue were you responding to in venturing into this business?
Tafila: We were responding to the affordability, inclusivity, and accessibility to quality education. We have always had the interest to provide all students with quality learning resources and revision materials, regardless of their socio-economic status, cultural background, or geographical location. We have always wanted to help each student reach their full potential in their studies and doing so using technologies that keep them engaged in their learning.
Mmegi: What impact would you say your business has had in Botswana and particularly among groups such as women, youth and rural dwellers?
Tafila: We have seen students developing good study habits and being more keen to revise, preparing for their quizzes, tests and exams well in time. We have received testimonies from parents about their children improving their marks at school and being more confident in class. Students have also gained a better understanding of curriculum objectives and are achieving their learning goals.
Our service offers equitable access to learning resources and leverages on legacy systems such as SMS/USSD making it easily accessible even in the most remote or isolated areas. It is a complete user-friendly mLearning and eLearning platform that is affordable to families of different socio-economic status and allows parents and teachers to support learners and impact learning outcomes.