KENYA – Africa’s Talking, Kenya-based API platform for software developers has named Bilha Ndirangu, company co-founder as the new Chief Executive Officer.
Bilha, who was Chief Commercial Officer of the company succeeds Samuel Gikandi, also the company co-founder who has been appointed CEO of Africa’s Talking Labs (AT Labs), a newly established entity.
According to the company, the move is meant to spearhead expansion to more African countries with a goal to create strategic partnerships across different territories.
The two businesses, Africa’s Talking and Africa’s Talking Labs will operate as subsidiaries of Incorporated Africa’s Talking Group (ATG) whose mission is to provide unique business solutions to support a viable, entrepreneurial ecosystem for Africa.
AT Labs works on validating startup ideas and helping them grow into fully operational businesses easily by providing mentorship, infrastructure and work space.
AT noted that the change in structure also called for a shift in leadership as each of the two companies are currently working on different strategies.
“Over the years, Africa’s Talking has grown to become a company that is community driven, innovative and not afraid to go the extra mile to offer more value to software developers.
We believe that they play a crucial role in helping Africa take its rightful place in the Tech revolution,” noted the company in a statement.
“Our objective for creating these partnerships is to expand Africa’s Talking in a way that not only impacts more software developers in Africa but also creates an environment that we can offer mentorship so that they succeed and scale across the continent.”
The company says the reorganisation will better support the developer ecosystem in Africa, with a goal to expand its reach to all 54 countries on the continent.
Through the new structure, Africa’s Talking has a mandate to lower the barriers for access to communications, payments and cloud infrastructure to software developers and businesses across Africa.
On the other hand, Africa’s Talking Labs (AT Labs) will actualize its roles by providing an environment where it can co-create value with partners within its network and accelerate the path to market for technology startups.
Mid last year, the company raised a US$8.6 million Series A round, to enable its expansion across the continent.
The round was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), alongside Orange Digital Ventures and Social Capital, and other global venture capital funds.
