Two MENA Tech Startups Selected for Smart Cities Innovation Programme

Two tech startups from the MENA region have been selected to take part in a Rwandan government-backed accelerator programme for tech startups looking to advance urban transformation in Africa.

The Smart Cities Innovation Programme, launched by the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation in cooperation with the development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammernarbeit, is designed to help African startups working in the areas of fintech, mobility, cleantech and smart housing scale innovative products which can boost the potential of urbanisation, ensuring the continent’s developing smart cities achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The programme is an effort to further reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and will pilot the initiative towards green urbanisation, using Rwanda’s Green City Kigali as a test site for selected startups to apply and adapt their solutions under realistic market conditions.

After more than 300 applications were received, 31 startups have been selected to take part across three tracks addressing common needs of smart cities: cleanteach and smart housing, smart mobility and fintech for affordability. Of the 31 startups chosen, Tunisia’s Optimalogistic and Egypt’s Transport for Cairo were both selected to receive six months of holistic support including virtual and physical training, individual coaching as well as mentoring from seasoned experts as part of the smart mobility category. Additionally, they will join the other 29 startups in enjoying access to the programme’s corporate and public partners as well as investors, allowing for extensive networking and matchmaking.

Optimalogistic is an online platform offering services for the transport of goods and truck rentals. They aim to optimise the costs of their services through digital intelligent solutions whilst offering a high quality of customer service to transport professionals and B2B customers. The company is looking to expand into Africa and Europe. Meanwhile, Transport for Cairo provides data, tools and research to improve sustainable urban mobility in some of Africa’s emerging cities.