Hello Innovators,
Apologies for going MIA over the last two weeks. We were swamped with deadlines! But the ecosystem hasn’t slowed down, and this past week was incredibly busy.
While the world gathered in New Delhi for the India AI Summit, we were on the ground joining the 3-day KNUST AI4SD conference in Kumasi. While global summits debate high-level policies, local researchers at KNUST, GAEC, and homegrown founders are actively deploying deep tech to solve hard, physical problems right here in Ghana.
Here is your intelligence briefing.
The Deep Dive
The French Embassy-backed AI4SD project marks one year of advancing AI for Sustainable Development.
The Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development (AI4SD) project marked its first anniversary with a major celebration at the Alliance Française d’Accra, followed by a mini conference in Kumasi.
Backed by funding from the French Embassy in Ghana, the initiative supports a consortium that includes Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Université Paris-Saclay, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Over the past 12 months, the project has quietly built a robust, localised AI ecosystem.
Key milestones from Year One include:
- Grassroots STEM: KNUST established 14 robotics clubs across Senior High Schools and rolled out the SheCodes programme at KNUST, Takoradi and Kumasi Technical Universities.
- SME Integration: Training initiatives to help local businesses integrate AI into their workflows.
- The Innovations: The anniversary exhibition showcased homegrown, deeply practical AI tools. Highlights included SignTalk, a Crop Disease Detection Toolbox, AI models for diagnosing rare diseases, and—perhaps most critically—a water treatment system for galamsey-polluted water.
💡 The Spark Insight:
As H.E. Diarra Dimé-Labille, the French Ambassador to Ghana, noted, the goal is to equip youth “with skills to turn ideas into practical solutions.”
This isn’t just a standard development grant; it signals that sovereign capital now bypasses traditional aid to fund deep-tech R&D directly at the university and grassroots level. By focusing on hyper-local problems like galamsey water pollution and localised agriculture models, AI4SD proves that the most valuable AI in Africa won’t be imported; it will be built locally.
Venture Capital & Funding
Points Africa lands $2 million from VestedWorld to build Africa’s first shared loyalty network.
Points Africa is building a unified, cross-merchant loyalty network that allows consumers to earn and redeem their points across multiple merchants. The fintech will use the funds to scale its “coalition model” infrastructure locally—unifying points from major brands like MTN, Jumia, Uber, and Melcom into a single digital wallet—before expanding into Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya.
Fido secures $5.5 million debt investment from Swiss-based impact investor Symbiotics.
The funding will enable Fido Ghana to scale its AI-powered lending and digital financial services, strengthening its ability to reach individuals and small businesses underserved by traditional banks.
Farm 360 lands $1 million from Barka Capital to scale its restoration-linked agribusiness model.
Founded in 2020, the company surpassed $1 million in annual revenue in 2024, underscoring the commercial potential of restoration-driven agriculture. Farm 360 works with 953 digitally registered farmers across multiple value chains, has planted over 108,000 trees across 340 hectares, and created more than 150 jobs.
The transaction includes $500,000 in equity, a $500,000 working capital facility, and a $20,000 technical assistance grant.
FarmerTribe secures debt financing from Green Earth Group.
Green Earth Group N.V. has invested in Ghana’s agricultural sector through a partnership with Pangea Global Ventures, providing debt financing to FarmerTribe to support the completion of a modern rice milling facility in Walewale. The funding will enable FarmerTribe to move beyond aggregation into higher-value local processing, helping retain more economic value within the community.
The transaction also provides working capital to enable immediate payments to FarmerTribe’s network of 5,000 smallholder farmers, improving liquidity and reducing reliance on intermediaries. The facility is fully secured through a Fixed and Floating Debenture and a Legal Mortgage over the Walewale site, ensuring strong collateral protection.
Fern Capital invests in Kenya’s Malaica to tackle the maternal health experience.
Fern Capital has invested in Kenya’s Malaica to transform maternal health, tackling the fragmentation that puts millions of women at risk. By combining AI-powered guidance and smart triage with locally grounded, human-centred care, Malaica delivers a seamless “High Tech, High Touch” experience throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
Fern Capital, led by Dr. Afua Basoah and Dr. Abigail Osei-Kumi, invests between $250,000 and $1 million in early-stage, high-growth healthtech startups across the UK, Europe, and Africa.
Nubia Capital backs Ghana’s Phundit to tackle personal emergency finance in Africa.
Phundit has secured an undisclosed funding from Nubia Capital to address the challenge of personal emergency finance. Phundit prioritises building accessible savings for life’s unexpected moments, combining AI guidance, behavioural insights, and everyday rewards to encourage consistent saving. Led by Peter Tokor, Phundit is reshaping financial resilience across Ghana and beyond.
Accelerator, Incubator & Ecosystem Moves
HOPin Academy appoints Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu as its new Board Chair.
Mr. Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu, Executive Director of STAR-Ghana Foundation, succeeds Mr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi as the new Board Chair. Mr Amidu brings extensive experience in governance, civil society leadership, grant-making, and institutional strengthening.
Ishmael Yamson & Associates taps Richard Osei-Anim (CEO of Coral Reef Innovation Africa) to lead their newly established AI Global Practice. In this role, Richard will deepen the firm’s market leadership in AI-enabled business transformation.
Bridge for Billions names Afia Bobia Amanfo as its Regional Director for Africa to steer its incubation and founder support efforts across the continent.
Partnerships & Expansion
Chestify AI Labs partners with the Harmonic Innovation Group to scale its diagnostic intelligence across the continent.
Through this partnership, Chestify AI Labs gains the strategic, operational, and technical support required to move its AI diagnostics beyond the proof-of-concept stage and into full-scale production.
Affinity Ghana and Fluid Finance receive technical assistance funding from Cisco Foundation & FINCA Ventures.
Cisco Foundation and FINCA Ventures have awarded technical assistance funding to Affinity Africa and Fluid Finance Technologies in Ghana. Affinity Africa will use the support to expand digital financial literacy for women and informal workers, while Fluid Finance Technologies will advance the integration of financial services, mechanization, and advisory solutions to help farmers improve productivity and build climate resilience.
eGotickets partners MTN Momo
eGotickets has deepened its market penetration by partnering with the MTN Momo App, embedding its ticketing solution to streamline the checkout process for millions of event-goers.
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See you next week!!!!
The Ghana Innovation Journal Team
