The Western Cape's climate and green economy incubator closed its inaugural twelve-week programme with a Demo Day that drew investors, government and media into one room. Now it is turning to a second cohort. CAPE TOWN, 27 August 2026. For twelve weeks the founders had done the unglamorous work. On Thursday afternoon they finally got the stage. Inside a packed room in Cape Town, twenty climate and green economy startups walked up one after another, each with five minutes to m

Six years after winning AfricArena’s Future of Work Challenge, South African HR technology company Jem has raised $8.4m in Series A funding, marking a remarkable evolution from earned wage access to a broader workforce platform for Africa’s frontline employees. There is something particularly rewarding about seeing an early-stage startup return to the headlines years after first appearing on an AfricArena stage. This time, the company is called Jem. Back in 2020, it was Smart

AfricArena's Mandilakhe Somdle sat down with the founders of OURS to discuss the digital divide, the future of offline-first learning, and how technology can unlock access to education for millions of learners across underserved communities.