Six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies are in sub-Saharan Africa. Seven Swedish companies that offer effective logistics, smart city, clean water, residential and energy solutions, have now been selected by STING’s Go Africa program to gain knowledge, contacts, tools and support to make best use of the opportunities that the development and incredible tech boom in Africa brings.

The population of Africa is estimated to double to 2.4 billion by 2050, and the availability of smartphones and mobile broadband is exploding across the continent. Now the internationalization program STING Go Africa will create the best conditionse for the chosen companies – AsaDuru, Epishine, Globhe, Greenwater, iFoodbag, Red Flash and ReStock – to quickly succeed in their establishments and businesses in selected African markets.

– Both the opportunities and the challenges are great in Africa. With Go Africa, we want to get more innovative Swedish SMEs to dare to explore Africa and provide them with the tools to successfully establish themselves and succeed with their first project and business, says Karin Ruiz, head of the Go Africa program and coach at STING.

The companies will get access to STING’s and the program partners’ networks and introductions to local contacts in the markets, and the possibility of soft landing in selected tech hubs in the project’s focus markets; Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Rwanda. The teams will also participate in individual coaching sessions every month to discuss challenges, progress, go to market strategies and other issues, and get access to special experts for more specialized feedback. There will also be workshops where all the companies take part together to solve problems they have encountered.

The Go Africa program is organized and led by STING in cooperation with Inclusive Business Sweden, Swecare, SP and Swedish ICT, with funding from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth.

> Read more about STING Go Africa 

Here are the selected companies:

AsaDuru enables African property developers to create completely self-sufficient homes using an integrated and modular solution of rammed earth construction, rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment and solar energy. In the early 2017, AsaDuru aims to establish itself in South Africa to construct a showcase community. We view South Africa as a good gateway due to ease of doing business, a strong economy and pro green legislation. Following this, AsaDuru is able to expand into other markets, typically via local partners, using the showcase community as a reference point.

Epishine is a spin-off from the universities of Linköping and Chalmers around organic solar cells. This new type of solar cells are produced, in contrast to traditional silicon solar cells, on a plastic film in a plain printing process and consists only of organic materials. As the materials and manufacturing is inexpensive, this enables large scale production that opens up new opportunities for local electricity supply in developing countries.

GLOBHE provides drone services to give new perspectives and solutions to global health challenges by improving mapping, imaging, data collection and cargo transportation when roads are not accessible. Through partnerships, GLOBHE has access to the latest drone technology, the ability to match technology with needs, and to help our clients utilize drones to improve their operations, reduce costs, improve safety, and increase sustainability. GLOBHE currently has operations in Rwanda and Malawi, with plans to expand in southern and eastern Africa.

Greenwater offers access to safe drinking water and is currently setting up a Pilot project in rural villages, in cooperation with WASAC Ltd and the University in Rwanda. In 2017, Greenwater is offering its sustainable solutions to businesses and organizations in the East African region and is identifying partners to set up an assembly plant in Rwanda, to meet the need on the emerging market in Sub Saharan Africa.

ifoodbag is a unique and innovative bag made from a paper composite material that locks in cold. Our first application in Africa will be for local fishermen along the coast of Kenya, Tanzania and in the area around Lake Victoria, where our technology can enable scalability and generate new job and income opportunities. Implementing ifoodbag for cold logistics is both cost-effective, sustainable and reduces fish wastage which is game-changing for all small-scale entrepreneurs in this sector.

Red Flash is a tech company that delivers a set of IT-based Smart City services in frontier markets. By introducing the services, we address problems arising from rapid urbanisation. Initially, we help municipalities to collect taxes and fees from merchants and motorists using the Mobile Money. By way of design and execution the services are well aligned with most political agendas delivering increased prosperity, improved environment and increased transparency in the cities.

ReStock is a fresh produce digital logistics service for small-scale entrepreneurs operating in informal markets. By removing inefficiencies within Kenya’s fresh produce value chain, ReStock aims to not only reduce operational expenses for micro-entrepreneurs but to also prevent spoilage and food waste through the efficient redistribution of unsold stock. ReStock has received awards from Copenhagen Business School and STING, and with the support of STING’s Go Africa program will launch in the Kenyan market early next year.