Kasapreko Company Limited and its Group Chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, have been honoured by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the 2023 National Honours and Awards ceremony in Accra, Ghana, for their roles in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company – one of the largest indigenous beverage producers – was recognised for its contribution to changing its production line to manufacture hand sanitisers to aid in the fight against the global virus.

The Group Chairman was honoured for his role in helping establish the COVID-19 Private Sector Fund. The fund built the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC), a 100-bed capacity facility, to improve the medical diagnostic and research capacity of Ghana with regard to infectious diseases. The hospital was built in a record time of 100 days since the country has no such facility and there was a need to control the infection rate of COVID-19.

Richard Adjei, Managing Director for Kasapreko, who received the honours on behalf of the company and the Group Chairman, expressed gratitude to the President for the recognition, saying that the company responded quickly to the country’s urgent need by stepping in as a local producer of sanitisers.

He further stated that the company converted some of its production facilities to produce hand sanitisers at an affordable rate or more or less break even to ensure that people get sanitisers at a cheaper cost and also make them more available across the nation to help prevent the Covid-19 virus.

“Kasapreko on our part as one of the biggest importers of alcohol and with alcohol being 99 percent of sanitiser production saw the need and decided to convert some of our lands to produce sanitisers at an affordable rate or more or less break even to make sure that people get sanitisers at and also make it more available across the nation in order to help prevent the COVID-19 virus,” Kasapreko’s Director said.

The gesture by Kasapreko helped make hand sanitisers readily available and cheaper to meet the demand for the product in the country, curbing the spread of the virus.

Kasapreko’s Managing Director added that the company donated GH¢2 million in cash, as well as other items to communities and other institutions, including Korle-Bu Hospital, Ridge Hospital, the Prisons Service, Ministries, Schools, and the community where they operate.

Kasapreko’s efforts, coupled with other protocols and measures instituted by the government and other stakeholders, greatly assisted in containing the coronavirus and earned Ghana commendations from the international community.

The president’s recognition adds to a long list of awards Kasapreko has received, particularly, in the last decade, including consistent appearances on the coveted Ghana Club 100 list.

“Again, I must say we are truly honoured by Mr. President’s gesture. We are also very humbled by the impact we were able to make during such a difficult time. We recognize that this recognition comes with great responsibility, and we are committed to using our company’s resources and expertise to continue playing an active role in the development of our nation.,” the Managing Director added.

Jucadpharmacy is one of the trusted registered pharmaceutical companies we have in Ghana, fully registered under the companies code 1963 (Acts 179) and approved by food and drug board authority (FDA). (more…)

To mark International Women’s Month, Women at Uber and Black at Uber teamed up with TechConnect to host an event on the role of technology and culture in promoting equity across the continent.

According to Marjorie Saint-Lot, Head of Uber Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, the event is intended to be a reminder to all African women and girls of the potential they have to become global leaders and trailblazers in the world of tech and business, or indeed whatever path they choose to follow.

Femi Asante-Vanessa Bannerman-Nanama Botchwey-Adoma Owusu-Marjorie Saint-Lot

“As a global organisation that prioritises inclusion and gender equity, Uber has long championed the cause of women around the world,” Saint-Lot points out, “not only because it is a moral imperative to create a more just and equitable society with opportunities for all, but also because promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and putting more women in leadership positions, is proven to make for more innovative, successful and sustainable businesses.

Jeminatu Alabi-isama, Head of TechConnect Africa states that “It’s our mission to build a highly engaged, innovative and interconnected global community. We are proud to work with Uber on this initiative to uplift and empower women across Africa and transform communities.”

The event attracted African female business role models who shared their experiences and insights, including the lessons they have learned in their respective journeys. The panellists included Marjorie Saint-Lot, Vanessa Bannerman of Christie Brown, Adoma Owusu of Visa and Femi Asante of Group Sebastien. The conversation was moderated by Nanama Botchwey, the founder of N.Dowuona & Company.

At the event, Uber also announced the official launch of #GigSister, a women earner empowerment initiative in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. #GigSister is an influencer-led community group created to connect, empower and grow female drivers on the Uber platform across Africa. The initiative, which has already achieved success in parts of Europe and the UK, sees Uber teaming up with like-minded partners, including Google and L’Oreal, to uplift and empower women through mental health support, motivation and self-promotion, as well as self-defence training.

From a women-driver safety perspective, Uber launched ‘Women Preferred’ in South Africa which allows women and non-binary drivers to choose to only pick up women riders.

“We are excited about this opportunity to come together and celebrate the potential of women to be business leaders in Africa,” Saint-Lot says, “and in the process promoting gender equality, recognising the contributions of women in business creating a more level playing field for both genders in Africa and inspiring women and girls to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and career ambitions.”

The sensational Tema-based music duo, Zee-TM, an offspring of the renowned R2Bees has inserted eye candy visuals for their latest release dubbed; Special Feeling.

As a signature trademark of all their projects, one can readily judge that the accompanying visuals is a high-budget work of art that seamlessly compliments the well-written, recorded, and produced soundtrack.

Directed by Babs Direction, the scenes evoke a sense of a carefree party feeling that aligns with your exclusive day out with your partner – a perfect accompaniment to the perfect date night.

The song emerges with Fuseini Emmanuel stage-named Adekid, giving fans pure eargasm with his soothing vocals jacked up on the love-themed Irics of the Afrobeat tune.

The entire jam takes a sudden acceleration with the introduction of the captivating vocals of Fuseini Julius Smith stage named Jay Smith who adds a unique spice of a bassy feel to the entire sonic structure.

Listeners are in for a thrilling ride through the streets of contemporary Afrobeats that can match any top-ranking global hit, boot for boot.

The musically talented brothers hail from Zebilla, a township located in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Their musical prowess began to blossom when they relocated to settle in the harbor city of Tema on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital city – Accra.

In Tema, these brothers started to seriously nurture their love for music, which led to them settling on pursuing genres like Afrobeat, Hip-hop, Reggae/Dancehall, and Hiplife as genres of their musical career.

Stream Special Feeling across all online music platforms here and get interactive with ZeeTM across their socials here – https://fanlink.to/specialfeeling

:  A new look Africa’s Travel Indaba is set to re-energise delegates from across the world when the show takes place in Durban from the 8^th to the 11^th of May. (more…)

DFS Lab has announced the launch of the DFS Lab Stellar Africa Fund I (the “Fund”) to back high-potential builders and teams in Africa who aim to transform the digital payments landscape and beyond by building on the Stellar network. The Fund is made possible through an investment from the Stellar Development Foundation.

The Fund brings together DFS Lab’s years of supporting Africa’s best digital commerce founders with the open-source Stellar network, optimized for payments and asset issuance. Portfolio founders selected for investment by the Fund will have access to DFS Lab’s team and community as well as mentors from the Stellar Development Foundation and Stellar ecosystem companies.

The new Fund builds on previous blockchain bootcamp collaborations between DFS Lab and the Stellar Development Foundation which supported developers and startups building on the open-source Stellar network in Africa, with wide-ranging product examples. Daniel Casanas, Head of Investments at the Stellar Development Foundation said, ‘‘We’ve seen developers build solutions on Stellar that address local needs, ranging from wallet apps and remittance services to digital identity solutions. We’ve worked with growing teams across Africa, and we’re excited to be expanding our relationship with DFS Lab to support more African founders.”

“At DFS Lab, we have always taken a pragmatic approach when it comes to decentralized finance in Africa. It is hard to deny the potential that decentralized solutions can offer in a continent where finance is oftentimes bogged down by inefficiency, opacity, and lack of interoperability,” says Joseph Benson, Partner at DFS Lab. “We’ve now seen a rush of talent and capital enter into this space, helping to refine the potential use cases for technologies like blockchain and crypto in Africa. Undoubtedly, some approaches will falter as hype gives way to reality, but those who break through and find traction may find themselves building foundational platforms that can underpin the future of digital transactions on the continent. We believe that’s an opportunity well worth exploring.”

Speaking on what founders can look forward to from the Fund, Stephen Deng, Partner at DFS Lab summarized that, “We’ll back pre-seed and seed teams building for Africa. We’re open to various use cases, but will be especially interested in those solving for fiat-crypto ramps and those building cross-border payments for the continent. We’ll fund both teams that are familiar with the Stellar platform alongside those who want to integrate Stellar into their product roadmaps for the first time. We plan on initial investments of up to $100,000, with further follow-on investments possible as teams grow.”