Hi, welcome to Tech This Evening, an After-Work Tech Newsletter from Techparley Africa. Sure, there is a lot to unpack right now. Sit back, while I walk you through.
Top Story: Botswana Startup, Brastorne, Eyes Côte d’Ivoire Expansion as It Rolls Out AI Tools to Smallholder Farmers
Brastorne Enterprises, a Botswana-based technology startup focused on connecting Africans without reliable internet access, is set to begin operations in Côte d’Ivoire by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Brastorne’s platform today runs three core services. mAgri provides farmers with market information, trading opportunities, and agricultural advice. Mpotsa delivers localised content on health, education, and employment through interactive voice and SMS. Vuka offers a social communication service built specifically for feature-phone users.
While USSD remains central to its offering, the company is now preparing to introduce a web-based platform designed to work on low-cost smartphones with limited storage capacity.
“We chose a web app instead of an app because when we look at the farmers that we’re reaching, they do have smartphones, but entry-level smartphones where space becomes an issue,” Magowe said. “If you’re coming with an application, it’s going to be uninstalled very quickly because they want to save space.”
Other Tech News Stories You Should Read:
NEO PAY Partners CredibleX to Provide Data-Driven Financing for Small Businesses. Read now.
Cybersecurity Startup, Outtake, Raises $40m to Pioneer AI-Led Fight Against Digital Identity Fraud. Read now.
XSML Capital Raises US$142M for Fourth African Fund, Surpassing Target in Strong Vote of Confidence for SME Financing. Read now.
On Startup Spotlight:
Tactful AI Raises $1m to Scale Agentic AI Customer Experience Across Egypt and the EMEA
Egyptian customer experience (CX) platform, Tactful AI, has raised $1 million in a Pre-Series A funding round, marking a key milestone as it looks to deepen its footprint in Egypt and expand across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
The round was co-led by Foras AI and M Empire, with participation from a group of deep-tech angel investors, underscoring growing investor confidence in enterprise-focused Agentic AI platforms emerging from the Middle East and North Africa.
Founded to help enterprises automate and optimise customer interactions, Tactful AI enables organisations to deploy Agentic AI systems capable of resolving customer requests end to end, while retaining human oversight and operational control, an increasingly critical requirement for large, regulated businesses.
“Over the past year, we made a conscious decision to prioritise depth over speed, focusing on product–market fit and working closely with enterprise customers to solve real CX challenges,” said Mohamed Elmasry, Founder and CEO, Tactful AI.
“The result was more than 100x growth in platform usage and a much clearer understanding of how Agentic AI can be applied effectively in production environments. This round gives us the fuel to scale that impact starting with Egypt, expanding regionally, and continuing to invest heavily in R&D.”
Quadri Adejumo brings you all the details. Read here.
Also Read:
SiFi Secures $20 Million Series A to Transform Corporate Spend Management Across Saudi Arabia. Yakub Abdulrasheed brings us the details, here.
Quote of the Day:
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke.
Thank you for joining me yet again this evening. Stay safe, and see you tomorrow for the next tech newsletter.
Best, Quadri
