This week with Yvonne Bajela (Localglobe):
What is the tech in Insur-Techs, and how does it apply to Construction-Tech
The African venture ecosystem
When artificial intelligence (AI) is going to have an impact in Africa, and what venture models capture value in Africa before AI
How venture in emerging economies can learn from each other, specifically why the African venture ecosystem resembles India so closely
Construction Tech Enabling African Market Connectivity
Large infrastructure gaps exist across Africa, especially relating to transportation, utilities, and connectivity. As Shubhankar notes, construction tech that helps link "infrastructure-deprived markets represents a major opportunity." Construction tech that addresses market connectivity and last-mile distribution challenges will likely see tremendous demand. Realizing the full economic potential of African markets relies heavily on making foundational infrastructure investments.
India's Construction Tech Growth Trajectory Instructive for Africa
India's startup and venture ecosystem today was at a very different stage just 5-8 years ago. The comparison illustrates how rapidly the tech landscape can evolve in emerging markets. As Yvonne highlights, "I'd say that it's probably like five, eight years ahead of where Africa is." Important parallels exist between India circa 2015 and Africa today that construction tech companies can learn from. Of course, localization and unique domestic innovation will be key. Foreign imported ideas cannot be forced. But the pace of progress can absolutely be accelerated by examining lessons from India's rapid tech growth.
Local Insights Critical for Construction Tech Firms Entering Africa
Deep local expertise is required for construction tech investors to succeed in unfamiliar markets like Africa. As Patric explains, "You have to have the competence of local empathy in your, I mean, ideally partner team, but, but at least in your investment team." Investor teams and startups should include members with emerging market exposure to bridge the contextual gap.
Optimizing Africa's Fragmented Construction Supply Chains
Construction supply chains in Africa are highly fragmented compared to more mature markets. This leads to inefficiencies, poor transparency, and wasted resources. As Patric suggests, construction tech can deliver "supply chain optimization and visibility" improvements by digitizing and optimizing supply chain operations in Africa. Overall there is substantial potential to drive major supply chain efficiency gains in African construction markets with appropriate construction tech solutions.
Localized AI to Bridge Africa's Healthcare Gaps
There is an opportunity to leverage AI for healthcare in Africa to address language barriers and improve access to doctors. For example, in Nigeria there are over 500 languages spoken which can cause issues for healthcare workers. As Yvonne discusses, "If you look at Africa at the moment, right, there's countries that have Like take Nigeria, for example, they have 512 languages within Nigeria alone, which is crazy." AI language models trained on African languages could enable better doctor-patient communication and diagnoses. This is a very different use case from healthcare AI applications in the US or Europe. There is huge potential utility in applying AI to solve fundamental healthcare challenges in Africa. Startups are exploring highly localized AI models for Africa that take into account diverse ethnicities and languages. The AI applications being developed aim to tangibly improve health outcomes rather than just using AI for its own sake.
Construction Warehousing-as-a-Service Offers Productivity Gains
Providing warehousing-as-a-service targeted at major construction projects could address a key pain point. As Patric highlights, this could support "large construction sites" with extensive equipment and material needs. A startup could offer modular, temporary warehouse structures onsite to efficiently store and manage inventory. This would remove the burden of contractors establishing their own makeshift warehousing. It is an operations-heavy, asset-driven business requiring real estate and construction expertise. But for the right founding team it could unlock huge construction site productivity gains. The warehousing would also grant visibility into material flows. Investors remain interested in the concept given the tangible benefits but have yet to see an ideal founding team materialize.
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Keywords: construction tech, AEC, Africa, India, healthcare AI, warehousing, infrastructure, supply chain optimization, emerging markets, localization, venture capital