The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) announced the seven Southern Africa semi-finalists for its annual HiiL Justice Accelerator (HJA).

The HJA is an international business acceleration programme designed to help startups in the field of legal and justice innovation. Through the Justice Accelerator, HiiL seeks out and supports companies and individuals who are turning the tools of technology onto the challenges of access to justice around the world.

The seven organisations selected for this year’s semi-finals will pitch for a R75 000 prize at the Innovating Justice Boostcamp Johannesburg, which takes place at OPEN Maboneng on 13 October. Up to two startups will also be selected to receive up to R300 000 as part of the HJA’s full accelerator track.

“We were overwhelmed by the sheer number and quality of applications we received as a result of our Call for Innovations in Southern Africa this year,” says Justice Accelerator head Wilfried de Wever, “And drawing up a shortlist was tough. But we wish all of our semi-finalists the best of luck and hope to expand our programme in the region to support more organisations on a local level next year.”

The semi-finalists are:

• Environmental Justice Reporting App (Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association) (Zimbabwe) – A monitor and report mobile app on environmental rights in Zimbabwe.
• Mobile Corruption Reporting App (Transparency International: Zimbabwe) (Zimbabwe) – A mobile application which will provide citizens, especially the youth, with a platform to report cases of corruption anonymously.
• Road Rules (Zimbabwe) A mobile app that is revolutionizing the way people acquire driver’s licenses and help motorists fight traffic police corruption in Zimbabwe.
• Lady Liberty (South Africa) – A ‘first in South Africa’ mobile legal office, taking law to marginalised women by traveling to poor remote areas and virtually by using mobile technology.
• NuvaLaw SME (South Africa) – NuvaLaw is a LegalTech startup that resolves claims and disputes by processing legal information efficiently.
• Comic Contracts (South Africa) – Creates legally binding visual contracts for vulnerable people to reduce contract inequality, improve understanding and align mutual expectations.
• MoLLy (South Africa) – MoLLy is mobile artificial intelligence, which aggregates and organises existing legal knowledge onto devices and serves as a legal library/resource.

Free tickets can be reserved at https://boostcampjohannesburg2017.eventbrite.co.uk.

Meet The 8 Tech Startups Selected to Pitch at Seedstars Abidjan

Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes has brought its pre-selection rounds to an end and selected eight promising tech startups to pitch at the Seedstars Abidjan pitching event on September 8th at 4 pm in the Auditorium of the Banque Africaine de développement.

The top startups selected to advance to the pitching event are:

• AGATHA – a platform that allows clients to connect with craftsmen in all sectors to provide services on demand.
• AYNID – a search engine for products made and sold by Africans.
• CINETPAY – a mobile money payment gateway that enables e-merchants and merchants to accept mobile money and card payments, online or offline.
• GRAINOTHEQUE – a mobile application that uses image recognition to detect, quantify and classify plant diseases.
• WEFLY AGRI – a drone that enables farmers to get updated information on the state of their crops and fields with analytics to help them make better decisions.
• YOUNG POWER SIVE – a plastic device that protects the cup that collects the rubber trees’ latex or natural rubber against rainwaters.
• ZEBRA MOBILE – provides stations that fix connected objects in less than 40 minutes with affordable prices, a unique after sales service and a complete transparency.
• EDUCAS CONSULTING – an education platform that allows anyone to learn independently and access additional support resources.

Domestic Travel Shrinks In SA Due To Financial Hardship: StatsSA

Domestic tourism within South Africa has declined over the past two years due to economic hardships, the Domestic Tourism Survey 2016 (DTS 2016) released by Statistics South Africa on Monday shows.

According to the survey, the total number of day trips undertaken within the country decreased from 44,3 million in 2015 to 39,4 million in 2016. Overnight trips decreased from 45,4 million in 2015 to 43 million in 2016.

The report also shows that the highest number of trips are only being generated in December, compared to the other 11 months of the year.

“The reasons why people are not traveling are clear – people are not traveling because they are feeling the pinch, therefore they are less likely to spend. We can see a drop in the budget for traveling across time – it’s steady at R87 billion [in 2015 and 2016] but we can see a significant drop from 2014, and a significant drop from 2013,”  said Statistician General Pali Lehohla when he released the report in Pretoria.

The main finding of the DTS 2016 reflect a general pattern of decline in domestic tourism over the past two years, associated with economic stagnation and an inevitable re-prioritisation of consumer spending that has taken place during that time.

The main reasons for South Africans to travel are shopping, visiting friends and relatives and for leisure. (via African News Agency)