Gugu Lourie, TechFinancials South Africa | Plural, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered policy tracking platform, today announced its expansion into Africa to enable access to public policy data across various African jurisdictions starting with Nigeria and South Africa.
In June 2023, Plural began collaborating with a local network organization, Afrilabs, to help refine the platform and spur the region’s economic growth, create political change, simplify increasing regulatory complexity, develop ongoing digital transformation and stimulate transparency and cross-border business expansion.
Plural’s expansion into Africa comes at a crucial time, as Africa is currently implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and being met with growing calls for policy transparency, harmonization and improvements to aid free trade and economic development. Plural enables its users to understand and participate in how policies are evolving with its public policy data, which is significant for making informed business decisions and fast-tracking economic growth. With its all-in-one AI-powered offering, Plural can also help field:
- Political Evolution: As more countries move toward democratic governance, there’s an increase in legislative activity. Plural, with its focus on monitoring, tracking and collaborating on public policy, provides an essential service in helping move politics forward.
- Increased Regulatory Complexity: As economies mature, regulatory frameworks tend to become more complex, and African businesses must keep abreast of changing legislation. Plural’s ability to provide up-to-date, accurate legislative data across various jurisdictions can help companies navigate this.
- Digital Transformation: With increasing internet penetration and adoption of digital tools, there’s a growing demand for software solutions that can provide crucial information in real-time and facilitate remote collaboration, which is the backbone of Plural.
- Cross-Border Business Expansion: As African businesses grow and expand into other markets, they need to understand and comply with different countries’ policy environments. Plural’s broad jurisdictional scope can provide this much-needed multi-country perspective.
“In many African nations, access to policy data isn’t as seamless as in the U.S. or EU. Therefore, as these dynamic economies navigate key legislative transitions, the demand for current and trustworthy information becomes paramount for policy advocates, businesses, nonprofits and partners of government,” commented Obinna Osisiogu, Vice President of Plural Africa. “Plural’s entry into the African market is a step towards bringing visibility into the policy process and improving the means to participate in democracy on the continent.”
Plural initiated a controlled release of its product in Africa in June 2023, working with a select group of exclusive partners to help identify the unique needs in the area and modify its offering to ensure it effectively tackles what’s most important, first. Plural’s founders, Yemi Adewunmi, Damola Ogundipe and Shawntera Hardy wanted to execute their company’s offering in Africa knowing the lack of digital resources. Nigeria and South Africa are the first countries to experience Plural and the company plans to expand to other African regions beginning September 2023.
“Ever since we identified Plural’s synergies with our Policy Pathways, we have been excited to partner with its launch in Africa,” remarked Jennifer Okeke-Ojiudu, Afrilabs’ Senior Ecosystem Engagements Manager. “Recently, in line with our inclusion efforts, we introduced the RevUp Women initiative to champion women-led, early-stage African enterprises. Beyond backing these businesses, we understand the essential policy shifts needed to tackle institutional barriers facing women-led ventures. We’re proud to spearhead this policy advocacy with Plural’s tools.”
