- Title: Ghana's Swoove says set to deliver growth after startup contest
- Date: 5th December 2022
- Summary: KWAKU TABIRI, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF SWOOVE, LOOKING AT THE SCREEN SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SITTING BEHIND COMPUTERS HANDS COUNTING MONEY (SOUNDBITE) (English) KWAKU TABIRI, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF SWOOVE, SAYING: "Because of the economic pressures, it's driven everybody to be more cash efficient, right? You have to be very cognisant of what customers can afford and what they can do and build your operations and your product to suit that, right? So, even though it's tough times, I think that businesses who can survive within this particular time frame will do even better when times get better, and I'm expecting times to get better within two or three years. At that time, we will have been through the hard times to then benefit from the good times. So, I think it has its advantages and disadvantages, being shaped by the flames of economic struggles." BOXES IN STORAGE ROOM LABELED BY DAY OF WEEK DELIVERY RIDERS TAKING BOXES FROM SHELVES RIDERS SEATED NEXT TO ORANGE STORAGE BOXES RIDER TALKING TO CUSTOMER ON PHONE RIDER SCANNING THE ITEM CODE WITH PHONE AND PLACING THE ITEM IN THE ORANGE STORAGE BOX RIDER EXITING SWOOVE HEADQUARTERS WITH BOX STRAPPED TO HIS BACK "MEST AFRICA CHALLENGE" LOGO STARTUP FOUNDER ADDRESSING SEATED AUDIENCE NSIAH AND OTHER MEST AFRICA EXECUTIVES WATCHING THE PRESENTATION MAN WATCHING PRESENTATION PAMPHLET CONTAINING DETAILS OF SENEGALESE STARTUP "KWELY" AND GHANAIAN STARTUP "SWOOVE" TABIRI ADDRESSING AUDIENCE AUDIENCE APPLAUDING MEST AFRICA CHALLENGE FINALISTS POSING ON STAGE WITH CERTIFICATES AUDIENCE APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KWAKU TABIRI, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF SWOOVE, SAYING: "It's been pretty great. I think we had a global audience. Even though we didn't win, I met so many interesting people. In fact, the startups that we met I think are going to be lifelong partners in a lot of the work we are going to do. A lot of times that doesn't come out as something tangible, but I think this will. They are from all over the continent, and we are hoping to work with them long-term." BANNERS READING (English) "MEST AFRICA CHALLENGE" VARIOUS OF MEST ENTREPRENEUR TEAMS TALKING OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF THE TEAM SEATED AT PARK BENCH, LOOKING AT LAPTOP SCREEN
- Embargoed: 19th December 2022 10:00
- Keywords: africa business central africa companies east africa emerging markets general ghana investing kenya logistics nigeria senegal south africa southern africa startups technology west africa
- Location: ACCRA, GHANA
- City: ACCRA, GHANA
- Country: Ghana
- Topics: Africa,Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA003432604122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:As a pair of motorcyclists from Ghanaian startup Swoove zipped along Accra's back streets with deliveries last week, a team of software engineers tracked their progress on screens.
Swoove's founders say because it started out during tough times, the firm is well-placed to weather the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of conflict in Ukraine.
"Businesses who can survive within this particular time frame will do even better when times get better," Kwaku Tabiri said of Swoove, which makes more than 5,000 deliveries per week.
Swoove was one of five finalists from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants in last week's annual MEST Africa Challenge, which offers a grand prize of $50,000 in funding.
It was the first in-person competition at the Silicon Valley-style Accra campus of the Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training program and seed fund since the coronavirus pandemic forced it online in 2020.
This year's finalists developed their businesses in a downturn that has disproportionately affected emerging markets, making their journey to success much harder, MEST's portfolio director Melissa Nsiah said.
"It's like walking into a gold store and buying a nice bracelet, versus having to actually mine and refine the gold and design the piece before you can present it to the customer," Nsiah said. "That's a huge feat."
The competition was won by Senegalese e-commerce platform Kwely, which focuses on African-made products. All five finalists will receive coaching from MEST throughout the life of the companies.
Although Swoove did not win, Tabiri took comfort in the outlook for African innovation.
"We're going to see a lot of startups coming up that are actually going to solve our problems, and now they have the money to do it," he said.
(Production: Cooper Inveen) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None