Fastagger: Bridging Africa's Digital Divide with On-Device AI Solutions

Africa aims to reshape its economic future through active participation in the global digital economy, with technology as a key enabler. However, a significant digital divide persists, with many regions lacking reliable internet, affordable data, and access to advanced mobile devices. Traditional AI platforms, relying on robust cloud infrastructure and high-spec hardware, often exclude African communities from the benefits of AI innovation. African deep tech startup Fastagger is addressing these challenges by enabling AI models to run efficiently on low-power devices, including affordable smartphones. Decentralizing AI Access: Fastagger's solution decentralizes AI access by enabling on-device AI functionality without a constant internet connection or high-performance infrastructure. This makes it possible to reach rural, peri-urban, and bandwidth-constrained environments. The company supports AI developers, startups, governments, non-profit organizations, and enterprise IT teams in building AI-powered applications that function reliably on the ground in various African environments. This approach has implications for doctors and nurses in rural clinics, who can use on-device diagnostics, teachers and children accessing offline AI-enhanced learning tools, and smallholder farmers utilizing smart agriculture advisory tools. Strengthening Africa's Small Business Economy: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) form the backbone of Africa’s economy, and many rely on mobile money, a $1.7 trillion market. Fastagger has developed an AI business assistant agent to help small businesses enhance customer relationships and automate engagement. For a small monthly fee, SMBs gain access to a SaaS tool powered by mobile-based AI that provides customer intelligence, automated engagement, and business coaching. The AI algorithm analyzes customer profiles, initiates coupon reward systems, and offers data-driven insights. The system was developed with support from Microsoft and the NVIDIA GenAI Programme Accelerator, which provides exclusive resources and opportunities to companies looking to build, market, and scale up their generative AI products and services. Microsoft has supported Fastagger with end-to-end support through the Africa Transformation Office’s flagship startup cohort program, including technical mentorship on Azure AI, IoT, and GitHub, along with business strategy guidance. Key partnerships with Technvest, Cloudmania, and NVIDIA have accelerated product development and deployment. Fastagger has developed the AUNI system, which is embedded into Safaricom’s M-PESA Business App, serving over 2,500 MSMEs using entry-level Android devices. "Using the AUNI system has allowed us to effectively manage and track customer interactions, streamline our marketing efforts and allows the company to have overall better data organisation, including visual graphs with reports,” comments Sharon Njoroge, from Mandevu. “This is providing valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing Mandevu to make data-driven decisions, a game-changer for the company.” By making machine learning accessible on widely available devices, Fastagger is democratizing AI and powering local solutions across Africa.