The rapid rate at which startups are springing up in Africa is quite laudable and augurs well for the economic future of the continent. However, most inspiring about this development is not just the proliferation of African startups but the diversity of fields explored and the brilliance of innovation that comes with it.
Africa has recently recorded rise in the growth of startups in agriculture, fintech, food processing, delivery service, entertainment, education and a few other sectors.
Recently, the innovation and diversity was taken a bit further as Greymate Care a Nigerian startup that links screened caregivers with families in need of support for their elderly or disabled relatives was launched.
The online platform launched in October 2016 by two female entrepreneurs with medical backgrounds, Chika Madubuko and Ogochukwu Obi takes into consideration the rise in the population of the elderly in Africa coupled with the challenges many families go through in providing adequate care and companionship.
Users can book intensive nursing for a period of illness, regular help in dealing with everyday tasks, or just a visitor to provide companionship to an elderly relative while the family is at work.
“There are currently 35 million citizens above the age of 55 in Nigeria with children or spouses who are working full time to earn a living inNigeria’s current economic condition,” Madubuko says.
“Family members find it hard to provide their dependent loved ones the quality of love and care they deserve not because they do not want to, but because they are too busy with their jobs.”
According to Madubuko, families resort to hiring untrained, unvetted, and inexperienced caregivers due to difficulties in locating the right home help. This can lead to the mistreatment of vulnerable individuals, inadequate care, a lack of motivation to provide quality care, or even incidents of theft from the home.
Greymate Care seeks to address these problems, by providing a go-to access point for vetted, trained caregivers. All listed carers are provided with comprehensive remuneration packages, including perks like paid holiday, in a bid to incentivise diligent and long-term caring, rather than the ad-hoc approach often exhibited by strangers hired to help.
The startup conducts a series of governmental and biometric checks on carers listed on the platform; on passing all checks, Greymate Care provides training to caregivers to ensure a high quality of care.
“We provide convenience and peace of mind to our service users because our caregivers have undergone rigorous training to world class standard, have been background checked and are professional,” Madubuko says.
The bootstrapped startup takes a 25 per cent commission on each care booking via the platform.
Madubuko revealed that the company has so far generated revenues in excess of NGN53 million (US$148,000), from 500 one-off on-demand care requests, and 70 contracted care users.
Greymate Care hopes to expand quickly with the aim of signing up over 200,000 service users in Nigeria, as well as plans to expand to Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa by 2030.
As part of expansion plans ,the startup applied and has been accepted onto the She Leads Africa accelerator, during which time the co-founders hope to secure external funding to execute their ambitious plans.
