Little Africa in New York to celebrate Africa Day

Global Business

May 25th marks Africa Day, commemorating the founding of the Organization of African Unity, better known as the African Union.

In the United States, New York is home to more African immigrants than any other city.

While Africans only represent about four percent of the city’s foreign-born population, their numbers are growing.

Many are thriving in their adopted country but as I found out they often feel torn between two cultures. CCTV America’s Karina Huber reports.

From 2000 to 2011, the number of African immigrants to New York City rose 39 percent, to 128,000 and the number is likely much higher if you include those living here without legal residency.

According to Asfaha Hadera, a refugee from Ethiopia who started a non-profit to help African immigrants, most Africans come to the United States in search of better education or better jobs.


Liberia’s first online food app vitalizes country’s startup industry

Liberia is not known for its tech start-ups but that could be set to change.

Cookshop is the country’s first ever platform that allows users to order food delivery straight to their doors.

Users can places orders from restaurants across the capital from their phones or their computers. CCTV’s Katerina Vittozzi met the team.
Follow Katerina Vittozzi on Twitter @kvittozzi

The business, which launched in 2014, has managed to weather the storm of Ebola and has since seen orders soar.

Customers can order online from a wide range of participating restaurants.

In the early days of the application, most of Cookshop’s traffic users familiar with this type of service, such as the expatriate community.

“They just didn’t think it would work, for many reasons. Because they didn’t think the market was big enough, they weren’t sure if we would provide a consistent service,” Mlentoo Wesley, co-founder of Cookshop said. “But over time we proved that we are reliable, we are trustworthy, we paid them all their money back at the right time.”

More locals have been accessing the food platform as mobile costs continue to go down.

Cookshop’s team shut down the application during the Ebola outbreak but it has made more than 10,000 deliveries since their relaunch.

For now the service is only available in the capital Monrovia.


Tim Unwin on tech startups in Africa

For more on tech startups in Africa, CCTV America’s Karina Huber spoke with Tim Unwin. He’s UNESCO’s Chair of Information and Communication Technologies for Development and Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Follow Karina Huber on Twitter @kkat31