AfriGIS stands as one of the pioneering geospatial solution companies, providing verified and validated geospatial data on administrative boundaries linked to postal codes across Africa. Expanding its dataset to encompass the entire continent, AfriGIS has developed polygon data for 21,600 localities- towns and 475,000 sub-localities- suburbs over the past three years.
Multiple attributable data overlays are available to enhance the dataset via API, including points of interest, administrative political boundaries, cadastral, deeds, and census data, street centerlines, postal code regions, sectional schemes, gated communities, built-up coverage, aggregated suburbs, and more.
Geospatial data is vital for many industries
Retailers, including fast-food franchises, utilize geospatial data to strategically position outlets and enhance profitability. Couriers leverage it to boost first-time delivery success rates. Banks and financial services employ it for compliance, customer segment understanding, and product positioning. Governments rely on it for elections, service delivery, and tax collection. Virtually every industry and sector finds utility in geospatial information and analysis.
Yet, until recently, sourcing verified and validated geospatial data concerning Africa’s administrative boundaries and postal codes posed significant challenges for organizations. Diverse administrative structures and terminology across countries hindered standardization, while frequent political and administrative changes often rendered data outdated or incomplete.
Moreover, many African nations grapple with limited resources for accurate data collection and maintenance. Accessibility issues stem from data distribution restrictions and the absence of centralized data repositories. Quality concerns, compounded by political and security sensitivities, further hinder the availability of reliable and detailed geospatial information crucial for various developmental and logistical applications.
How AfriGIS built the dataset
AfriGIS embarked on a bold initiative to collect, update, and standardize geospatial data, ensuring its validity and reliability across diverse applications such as urban planning, resource management, logistics, and governance.
This ambitious endeavor, spanning three years, demanded meticulous collection and integration of regional data to tackle specific logistical challenges encountered by various industries across Africa.
COO of AfriGIS, Charl Fouché
COO for AfriGIS, Charl Fouché, says, “Our focus on Africa is driven by the demand for better solutions from African countries that have been left behind by technological development, and face significant challenges in accessing modern digital tools and infrastructure.”
“We recognised the critical need for more accurate and comprehensive data to solve the unique challenges of parcel delivery. Logistics companies struggle when there are no detailed postal codes or reliable administrative boundaries, which are crucial for the precise distribution of goods. AfriGIS’s new datasets have enhanced the granularity and accuracy of information available, extending beyond street mapping to include detailed local knowledge gathered from communities.” he adds
Administrative structures vary across the continent. For example, South Africa comprises provinces, district councils, and municipalities, while Namibia’s regions are subdivided into constituencies, and the DRC features provinces, territories, and cities, further divided into sectors, chiefdoms, and rural groupings, along with urban communes.
Now, administrative levels and localities have been interconnected across all 54 African countries, with ongoing maintenance to ensure data accuracy and timeliness. Creating a system capable of catering to each country’s unique needs demanded a deep understanding and a customized approach, guaranteeing data precision and usability for both logistical and administrative purposes.
Fouché says, “Our task was to align our APIs to international standards and ensure they are adaptable across various administrative levels.”
He adds, “The project took three years to concluded and involved collecting and integrating data from various sources to map out all cities, towns, and villages and their corresponding administrative structures. We now have generic APIs that link postal codes to villages across Africa, making our database unique and extensive.”
How geospatial data drives business
Business thrives where communities exist. Knowing the whereabouts of people and business activities is pivotal; comprehending additional occurrences at these locales provides a substantial edge in accelerating and seizing business prospects. This accessibility has long been a coveted goal for many organizations across African nations, yet until now, it has remained nearly unattainable.
Attributable data facilitates the visual representation of business establishments and their locations. Overlaying deeds data alongside income, demographic, traffic, and weather patterns enables sophisticated modeling for retailers and other enterprises. Such insights empower them to strategically time special promotions aligned with holidays, weather trends, or major sporting events, for instance.
By addressing both digital and physical infrastructure needs across diverse African countries, individuals and both public and private entities can access and order products online, even in remote regions lacking physical infrastructure. This potential breakthrough holds the promise of significant advancement for countries and businesses across the continent.
“In South Africa, we take online shopping for granted,” adds Fouché
“But finding and ordering products online significantly enhances quality of life for people in more isolated African communities. It offers greater convenience, wider selection, and more competitive pricing. For those in remote or underserved regions, e-commerce eliminates the need for lengthy and costly travel to urban centres for goods and services. This reduces the everyday stress that comes with buying basic necessities. Online shopping also introduces people to products and technologies that may be unavailable locally, contributing to improved living standards.” he says
AfriGIS has demonstrated that physical infrastructure limitations can be mitigated through digital solutions.
Fouché concludes, “By setting a precedent in the logistics and mapping industry, we are confident that our detailed, tailored data solutions will contribute to improving the efficiency and reach of services across a continent as diverse as Africa.”The post AfriGIS Pioneers Verified Geospatial Data for Africa first appeared on IT News Africa | Business Technology, Telecoms and Startup News.