Connect with us

News

AIF Announces 10 Nominees for Innovation Prize for Africa 2017

Published

on

Kindly share this post

African Innovation Foundation (AIF) has announced the top 10 nominees who will be contending for the 2017 Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA), to be awarded in Accra, Ghana on 18th July 2017. Innovators from nine African countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe have been shortlisted for the prestigious Prize.

This year’s innovators have demonstrated incredible proficiency through innovative solutions addressing challenges in agriculture value chain, health care, energy, communications, service industries as well as surveillance using drone technology.

This year’s cream of the crop underwent a rigorous selection process by a renowned panel of judges including corporates, academia, technology and scientific experts representing top African innovation influencers.

“We are pleased to share with you the names of our IPA2017 nominees as we continue on our mission to catalyse the innovation spirit and unlock untapped potential in Africa. For the first time, this year’s nominees include innovators from Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Zimbabwe. Moreover, given the instrumental role African women play in transforming Africa, it is thrilling to see more women among the 10 nominees with game changing innovations. By providing platforms to recognize innovation excellence in Africa and mobilizing for African innovators, we continue to live up to our credo of engaging, inspiring and transforming. The inspiring stories of these nominees remind us that innovation and African-led solutions are indeed the answer to Africa’s growth and prosperity.” said Walter Fust, AIF Chairman of the Board.

Now celebrating its sixth year under the theme “African Innovation: Investing in Prosperity”, IPA is the premier innovation initiative in the African continent, offering a grand share-prize of US$185 000 and incentives to spur growth and prosperity in Africa through home-grown solutions.

IPA has seen tremendous growth in applications and increasing interest from both innovators and innovation enablers over the years.

To date, IPA has attracted more than 7 500 innovators from 52 African countries, making it a truly Pan African initiative. IPA 2017 edition witnessed a record number of entries from over 2 530 innovators across 48 African countries.

The Foundation has supported past winners and nominees with approximately US$ 1 million to move their innovations forward. Due to exposure generated by IPA, past winners have gone on to secure over US$30 million in investments to grow and scale their businesses.

“Over the years, IPA has stimulated impactful and market-oriented innovations aiming at changing lives and transforming Africa. In this sixth edition, we want to promote more investment in home-grown innovations as well as intra-African collaboration and trade to allow the scaling up of viable innovations across borders. We’re excited for the opportunity to work with our partners to ensure the innovations of the 10 nominees will be available to African markets and beyond. We invite you to join us and unlock the potential of African innovators, starting by investing in these 10 nominees.” said Pauline Mujawamariya Koelbl, IPA Director.

AIF will host the IPA 2017 awards ceremony and its second Innovation Ecosystems Connector on 17 and 18 July in Accra, Ghana.

The event will focus on how innovation enablers and businesses can leverage funding streams, investments and resources that are critical to unlock potential of African innovators.

Participants at the IPA Awards will get an opportunity to attend the official opening of IPA 2017, experience the innovation marketplace, join high-level roundtable discussions, Zua Hub meet-ups, and networking activities, ending with a celebration of African ingenuity when the IPA 2017 winners will be announced.


Kindly share this post

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Comments

News

Detained Binance executive drags EFCC, NSA to court

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has has dragged the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to court alleging violations of his fundamental rights.

Binance

In a filing dated March 18 and presented by his lawyer Olujoke Aliyu from Aluko and Oyebode Law Firm, Gambaryan sought redress before Justice Inyang Ekwo, requesting five reliefs. Similarly, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager who escaped custody on March 22, initiated a separate suit before Justice Ekwo.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, in the suits marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/356/24 and FHC/ABJ/CS/355/24, had sued the Office of NSA (ONSA) and EFCC as 1st and 2nd respondents.

Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, alleged that his detention and the confiscation of his international travel passport violated Section 35 (1) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution, constituting a breach of his fundamental right to personal liberty. He further requested the court to order his immediate release and the return of his passport. Additionally, he sought an injunction preventing further detention related to any Binance investigations and demanded a public apology from the respondents, along with costs incurred.

Gambaryan stated that he visited Nigeria on February 26 alongside Nadeem Anjarwalla, representing Binance, in response to invitations from ONSA and EFCC. Despite attending the meeting as requested, both were detained afterward without formal charges.

During the court proceedings, T.J. Krukrubo, SAN, representing Anjarwalla and Gambaryan, informed the court of the respondents’ absence despite being served. Krukrubo also mentioned their notice of withdrawal of legal representation for Anjarwalla, filed on March 26.

Justice Ekwo noted the withdrawal of legal representation and adjourned the matter to April 8 to allow the applicants to seek new representation and give the respondents an opportunity to appear.

In Gambaryan’s case, Krukrubo stated that although the processes were served on ONSA and EFCC, they still had time to respond. He requested an adjournment, indicating that the respondents’ deadline to file their applications would expire the following week.

Consequently, Justice Ekwo scheduled the next hearing for April 8 to continue proceedings.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

AXA Mansard Empowers Female SMEs with Financial, Digital Skills

Published

on

Kindly share this post

AXA Mansard, a member of AXA has empowered 200 female Small and Medium Enterprises with financial literacy and digital business skills.

In collaboration with SME 100 Africa, the two-day training, which was held in Lagos, is part of AXA’s lined-up programmes to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

Speaking, Olusesan Ogunyooye, Head of Marketing AXA Mansard, said the training was aimed to empower female SME owners with skills to improve business output and position them for the increasing economic opportunities available in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Ogunyooye noted that the move was in line with AXA Mansard’s sustainability agenda, explaining that the company was convinced that support for women through its inclusive protection programmes was pivotal to its purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters and its mission of moving from being a payer to a partner.

He further said that focusing on digital skills was important because the company realised the importance of digital skills to the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria and wants to ensure that women were empowered enough to be a consequential part of that growth.

“It’s almost trite to say that SMEs are the engine for economic growth, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where over 45 million adults are business owners. What needs to be continually discussed is how Nigeria is going to unlock that potential for economic development and how much of that potential will be unlocked by women and for women.”

“For us at AXA Mansard, we are aware that digital will play a major role in unlocking these current opportunities and Nigeria’s economic future. So, to ensure that women are equally represented in unlocking these future potentials, that’s why we have collaborated with SME 100 Africa to support them in developing the required skills”.

“Our choice of digital and financial literacy skills is deliberate. We understand the power of the duo. We understand that helping these SMEs with the skills to attract more customers will be a faster means to empower them.

“We see that they have amazing products and services, but they need to understand how to attract value for themselves by attracting the right customers, and you will agree with me that virtually all customer segments are online in one way or another today.

“So, if we can empower them with digital business skills, we would have helped them with the heavy lifting of trying to find and attract customers”. Ogunyooye explained.

According to him, AXA Mansard believes that for the world to experience progress truly, there must be an equitable distribution of creation and access to opportunities for men and women. This quest for balance informed the SHE for Shield initiative, a women-centred inclusive protection programme of AXA Mansard.

SHE for Shield is a group of initiatives designed for the Nigerian woman. The goal is to see them grow, add value, and help them mitigate risks at every step.

According to the company, research has found that access to health care is one of the most important things to Nigerian women, regardless of their economic segment. They desire to be financially independent, secure, and respected in the community.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

News

IFC Invests in New 4DX Ventures Fund to Support Tech Startups in Africa

Published

on

Kindly share this post

IFC is investing $10.5 million in a new fund by 4DX Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage African technology companies across a broad set of sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, edtech, climate tech, and health tech.

IFC’s investment in 4DX Ventures Fund III will come from IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform, which was launched last year to strengthen emerging VC ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Africa is among the regions least served by venture capital, receiving just 2% of global venture deal volume in the third quarter of 2023. Access to capital on the continent has been further exacerbated by a slowdown in global venture capital investment.

Tech ecosystems are nascent, or even nonexistent, outside of more established markets such as Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

“IFC and 4DX Ventures share the commitment to supporting tech entrepreneurs with innovations that will help Africa leapfrog in critical areas such as climate, health care, fintech, e-commerce, and education,” said Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner of 4DX Ventures.

“We look forward to partnering with IFC to help promising tech startups build transformative businesses and realize sustainable development impact on the continent.”

4DX’s new fund will invest in companies with tech solutions that can improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across Africa. The firm’s first two funds invested in companies such as Egypt-based e-commerce platform MaxAB, an IFC portfolio company; Ghana-based health tech firm mPharma; and Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform Wasoko, formerly known as Sokowatch.

“By supporting the development of tech ecosystems in emerging markets, IFC’s venture capital platform aims to improve access to key services, boost business competitiveness, and promote job creation through digital transformation,” said Mohamed Gouled, Vice President of Industries at IFC.

“Our investment in venture funds such as 4DX Ventures will help African entrepreneurs access more financing and resources they need to scale tech innovations and bolster sustainable growth across the continent.

In addition to providing capital, IFC will work with 4DX Ventures to implement their environmental and social management system.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending