Is Casablanca the Next Silicon Valley?

On the coast of the Indian Ocean, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s financial nerve center and largest city, has long served as a gateway connecting East Africa to the rest of the world. Yet when it comes to innovation, the rapidly growing city of 6 million people has fallen far short of Kenya's Nairobi, which has gained the reputation as the region’s unquestioned tech leader. Now, Dar es Salaam is seeking to assert itself. A 2-mile stretch along Bagamoyo Road is home to a suite of tech firms — startups and global giants alike — as well as data centers, incubators and the College of Information and Communication Technologies of the University of Dar es Salaam.

Some of the tech startups emerging from this ecosystem include Wengi, an equity crowdsourcing platform; Gengeni, a grocery delivery app; and Worknasi, a platform that allows customers to list and reserve coworking spaces and meeting rooms, and also serves as a marketplace for freelancers. Technically, it is this stretch of Bagamoyo Road that’s known as Silicon Dar. But just as it’s difficult to pinpoint where Silicon Valley begins and ends, the innovative spirit driving Silicon Dar isn’t limited to a few buildings.

Tanzanian cross-border money transfer startup Nala secured $10 million in seed funding earlier this year, as it expands services for East African customers based in Europe who send remittances back home. Traditional service providers charge steep fees for African remittances, and Nala is among a band of firms disrupting that model by using tech to deliver money without charging much. Meanwhile, Dar es Salaam-based OnilBox serves almost like an Uber for fitness: It connects exercise enthusiasts with gyms and studios, allowing them to check availability and book slots. One year after launching, OnilBox has become Tanzania's largest fitness tech platform.

Perched on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, Casablanca has long served as a magnet for tourists, who delight in its stunning architecture, cuisine and views of the seemingly endless ocean. Lesser known outside Africa is its reputation as the continent’s top finance hub — ahead of Cape Town and Johannesburg. But Casablanca is aiming for more, building a rapidly growing tech culture that’s spawning bold startups and drawing global firms. In this year's StartupBlink rankings of the best cities for startups, Casablanca rose 39 positions. In North Africa, only Cairo is ranked higher.

Among the brightest stars on the Casablanca tech scene is KoolSkools, an online learning platform that allows schools to create digital content from traditional coursework, deliver live classes and manage everything from report cards to interactions with parents. At a time when the pandemic has underscored the value of digital learning, this startup is poised for growth. Meanwhile, the past two years have also exposed the vulnerabilities of supply chains. Firms like Fellahi, which connects small farmers with urban consumers looking for fresh fruits and vegetables, and Freterium, a predictive supply chain platform, are hoping to turn Casablanca into a hub for logistics solutions.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world’s leading consulting firms, announced in June that it is setting up an innovation center in Casablanca to capitalize on the city’s tech energy, especially in artificial intelligence. Also, billionaire Mark Cuban is eyeing fintech investments in the city. And as Morocco and Israel strengthen ties after establishing diplomatic relations in 2020, the North African nation is tapping its new friend’s tech prowess.

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Diamonds are responsible for more than 87% of Botswana’s export revenue, with a mammoth dependence on traditional supply chains that was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when exports fell sharply. The pandemic also revealed the power of tech to keep economies afloat when physical contact and travel came to a standstill. This reality has led Botswana to seek to establish its own tech hub.

Located in the Kalahari desert just outside capital Gaborone, the Botswana Digital & Innovation Hub (BDIH) aims to support startups and local companies and attract international ventures. So far, the BDIH has focused on biotechnology, information and communications technology, indigenous knowledge and technology related to mining and clean energy.

The BDIH holds at least four innovation networking events per month and supports over 100 startups. Its tech park, designed like a series of sand dunes, will eventually also house a business school. Early signs of promise include Angular Creative Labs – Mohiri, a digital solutions firm whose artificial intelligence assistant sends personalized job alerts to subscribers; Project Nthuse, a safety network app that sends out emergency SMS alerts when users activate a panic button within the app; and the BDIH-supported Eco Hub, which intends to use recycled plastic waste to manufacture eco-friendly bricks for affordable housing.

What should new tech hubs do differently than California’s Silicon Valley?

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