The CEO and co-Founder, Gebeya Online Market Place, Mr. Amadou Daffe, speaks on how African startups can attract funding from local investors and the need to scale online business offerings through automated processes, among other issues. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts: Gebeya recently launched its revamped online marketplace for freelance professional talent. What informed the launch and what does it seek to address? The high percentage of unemployment on the African continent is cited often at 30 per cent or more in populous countries like Nigeria and South Africa. But Africa has both an abundance of talented professionals and work opportunities. We know this from our own market research. We recognise that Africa does not have a talent shortage, but rather a matching problem. Thus, we launched a fully automated process that immediately connects those looking to hire with the talent they need. We address the trust and accountability risk by doing the candidate vetting ourselves.