21 start-ups from India take innovations to Africa

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Government of India’s Technology Development Board (TDB) took a delegation of twenty-one start-ups to Nairobi, Kenya to showcase their innovations at the business enclave that was addressed by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday.

FICCI and TDB plans to begin a programme called African Development through Indian Technology and Innovation (ADITI) under the slogan 'India shares because it cares'. This has been envisaged by the Prime Minister of India and over 40 heads of African states during the India Africa Forum Summit III (IAFS III) happened at New Delhi in the month of October 2015.

The technologies and innovations of Indian startups offer affordable solutions for service delivery at last mile in priority sectors of African markets that include agriculture, healthcare, water, sanitation and financial inclusion.

With this delegation, Government of India and FICCI endeavour to further enhance the bilateral cooperation between India and Africa through exchange of technology and knowledge. These technologies have been developed, tested and validated in India. They are now going to be replicated in the countries of Africa.

CassavaTech is one among the few technologies that has been exhibited at the business enclave in Kenya. This patented technology reduces the capital cost of processing Cassava from $15,000 to $200 and cuts the operating cost from $20 to $2 for processing a capacity of 200 kg Cassava. It also brings down the drying time for Cassava from 10 days to 10 hours in producing good quality Cassava flour.

Another technology being showcased is almost 100% compostable menstrual hygiene solution providing affordable pads to adolescent girls and women. This is done using a unique low cost low electricity consuming machine that produces 1200-2400 pads per day (8-10 hrs) through community participation from 12-16 unskilled women as production workforce.

The participating companies come from several national flagship programmes like the DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Programme, Millennium Alliance and DRDO-FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization. Such endeavours represent a unique opportunity for India to strengthen its cooperation while opening new markets for Indian start-ups.