Esri and AfroChampions Launch Partnership to Promote GIS in Africa
24.9.2020 16:52:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced a joint initiative with AfroChampions, a Pan-African nonprofit that aims to promote policies that foster private-public collaboration for Africa's economic transformation. The goal of the initiative is to engage leaders in business, governments, the African Union, and other regional economic communities through dialogue and potential partnership building in applying geospatial technology and solutions.
This new partnership with AfroChampions seeks to contribute to sustainable economic development in Africa and promote the benefits of a shared geospatial infrastructure throughout the continent. As a majority of Africans still live in rural areas, geographic information system (GIS) technology can create new opportunities for growth, especially in critical fields such as health and telemedicine, land management, agriculture, and mobility.
The powerful mapping and data analytics that GIS provides forms a foundation for some of the most successful economic strategies that nations pursue today. This initiative will offer African governments and other organizations streamlined access to Esri's world-leading GIS technology and expertise, in addition to a broad network of regional partners.
"Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related crises, African leaders must fast-track the African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA], which is our own recovery plan," said Dr. Edem Adzogenu, executive director of AfroChampions. "However, we need technologies, such as geospatial solutions, to operationalize the AfCFTA."
Over the long term, Esri's solutions will advance projects retained as part of AfroChampions Trillion Dollar Investment Framework, a 360-degree road map officially endorsed by the African Union and in which core enablers of the AfCFTA are transportation and connectivity; the removal of nontariff barriers; low-cost power; and enhanced value and industrialization in a modernized digital economy.
"At a time of economic uncertainty, we consider it part of our company's mission to coordinate and collaborate with partners like AfroChampions for initiatives that promote sustainable global development," said Sohail Elabd, general manager of Esri Middle East and Africa. "With the help of a network of action-oriented business and political leaders spreading across the entire continent, these initiatives can be instrumental in advancing the use of geospatial solutions for the public good around the world, from healthcare coverage to infrastructure support."
This partnership is part of Esri's ongoing commitment to its users and the broader geospatial community across Africa. It is closely aligned with key continental initiatives such as AfCFTA; the African Development Bank Strategy for 2013–2022; the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and the African Union Agenda 2063, which emphasizes the need for global Geospatial Information for Sustainable Development (GI4SD) management.
"Esri's support is timely," continued Adzogenu. "It can help us in many practical ways, like compiling data, identifying best practices that can be replicated from one country to another, defining the right locations for strategic infrastructure projects, or launching cross-border renewable projects."
Africa Geoportal, the continent's existing geospatial community platform built by Esri, will support the AfroChampions' virtual festival Boma of Africa as well as other ongoing community outreach activities.
To learn more about how Esri is partnering with Middle Eastern and African communities to empower them with location-based sustainable solutions to global challenges, visit esri.com/en-us/about/about-esri/mea.
About AfroChampions
The AfroChampions Initiative is a public-private partnership designed to galvanize African resources and institutions to drive Africa's economic integration and transformation. As a consequence, AfroChampions supports the emergence and success of African economic champions, which have a critical role in integrating African markets and accelerating the transformation of the continent and its global competitiveness. AfroChampions is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and works with regional and global partners and governments, with the support of other corporate and institutional partners. AfroChampions has defined four pillars of activity, all aimed at supporting Africa's economic integration. These are
- Policy advocacy: Policy-shaping and advocacy on African integration and inclusive development, with a specific focus on advancing the African Continental Free Trade area, expected to create the largest single market globally in 2021.
- Mobilizing champions for impact: Building networks and partnerships of African private and public sector champions to collaborate on African transformation projects and initiatives.
- Facilitating investments: Driving investment in game-changing projects on the continent that accelerate integration and transformation.
- Building future champions: Building and promoting the next generation of African champion institutions, innovators, and leaders.
Learn more at www.afrochampions.com.
About Esri
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, all 50 state governments, more than half of all counties (large and small), and 87 of the Forbes Top 100 Colleges in the U.S., as well as all 15 Executive Departments of the U.S. Government and dozens of independent agencies. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com.
Copyright © 2020 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200924005627/en/
Contact information
Jo Ann Pruchniewski
Public Relations, Esri
Mobile: 301-693-2643
Email: jpruchniewski@esri.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Vertex Energy Announces 6,000 bpd Group III Base Oil Expansion Project24.6.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vertex Energy, Inc. (“Vertex” or the “Company”) today announced it is advancing a project at its Mobile, Alabama refinery to produce crude-derived conventional Group III base oils through the Company’s existing hydrocracker and related processing infrastructure, providing lubricant manufacturers and blenders with an additional domestic source of high-quality Group III supply. The project is designed to add an incremental 6,000 barrels per day of conventional Group III production capacity and support production of 4 cSt, 6 cSt, and 8 cSt Group III base oils using an existing crude-derived hydrocracked vacuum gas oil stream produced at the Company’s Mobile, Alabama refinery. Combined with the Company’s existing re-refined Group III base oil production, this additional capacity is expected to make Vertex the leading Group III producer in North America. Vertex has completed preliminary design work and has procured a high-pressure lubricants hydrotreating unit. The Company plans to start pr
Taktile Secures $110M in Goldman Sachs-led Series C to Power AI Transformation in Financial Institutions24.6.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Taktile, the leader in AI transformation for financial institutions, today announced its $110 million Series C fundraise. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round, with participation from Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Tiger Global, Y Combinator, and Dig Ventures. Taktile Fast Facts Taktile enables banks and insurers to transform into AI-native organizations that are increasingly powered by autonomous agents. Demand for Taktile accelerated in 2025, as AI models became capable of automating high-stakes decisions that previously required hours of manual work—from underwriting business loans and assessing claims to catching financial crime. Customers automate and optimize decisions with Taktile by combining its financial services expertise and product built for sector-specific AI use cases. One of the world’s largest insurers is running multiple use cases on Taktile, with projected cost efficiencies of over $90M in claims processing alone. Taktile’s team has a proven
New MetLife Study Reveals a 72% “Confidence Gap” in Ability to Recover from Life's Setbacks24.6.2026 16:25:00 EEST | Press release
A new multinational study from MetLife reveals a striking “confidence gap”: while most adults describe themselves as resilient, their confidence drops by 72% when faced with real-life setbacks. The Confident Pathways Report, conducted across the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico, was designed to better understand how confidence is built and sustained throughout life. The findings underscore the role of opportunity, preparedness, and support in building confidence - factors that help people navigate uncertainty, recover from setbacks and pursue their goals. At a time when soccer is bringing people and communities together around the world, the findings also highlight how early childhood experiences such as sports, education, and mentorship can help foster resilience and gain confidence from a young age. Key findings across the four countries surveyed include: Confidence drops by 72% when adults consider their ability to recover from setbacks. Respondents were far more lik
StatLab Launches CytoPath Disc, Advancing Standardized Cell Block Preparation Worldwide24.6.2026 16:08:00 EEST | Press release
StatLab Medical Products, a leading global developer and manufacturer of pathology supplies and equipment, today announced the global launch of the CytoPath Disc, an innovative cell block preparation technology designed to standardize and simplify cell block preparation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260624368623/en/ Developed as an alternative to traditional cell block methods, which convert concentrated cells suspended in fluid into a paraffin-embedded format for slide-based evaluation, the patent‑pending CytoPath Disc offers a more streamlined and efficient approach. The CytoPath Disc absorbs concentrated cells within a simple, sponge-like matrix, which is then processed, embedded, stained, and sectioned using standard histology workflows. Traditional cell block preparation methods often present challenges in achieving consistent results due to complex procedures, as well as the need for additional equipm
TensorX Launches With €8M Seed Funding Round Led by Darius Cubed Ventures for Bet on European Sovereign AI Infrastructure With Plans to Deploy up to €100M in NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs24.6.2026 16:07:00 EEST | Press release
A team of Irish founders has committed €8 million to Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, including the latest B300 chips, to launch TensorX, a sovereign AI inference platform designed for Europe's AI builders, trusted by regulated industries and already generating revenue from paying customers. The company was founded by Shane Morton, is part of the NVIDIA Inception program and is partnering with Dell on sourcing GPU hardware. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260528791384/en/ (From left to right): Craig Donnelly, Shane Morton, Nicole Morton, Tim Grant At a time when enterprises are racing to adopt artificial intelligence but most remain unwilling to let their data leave European jurisdiction, TensorX offers high-performance inference with zero data retention, running entirely on dedicated hardware in Dublin and Helsinki. TensorX is also in advanced talks around a financing facility to further expand its European footprint,
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom