MIT and Mastercard Foundation select 10 African startups as finalists for innovation prize

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship has partnered with the Mastercard Foundation to select finalists for the Zambezi Prize.

The finalists have been chosen for the prize’s Innovation and Financial Inclusion award.

The firms selected are: Apollo Agriculture (Kenya), Bidhaa Sasa (Kenya), FarmDrive (Kenya), Farmerline (Ghana), LanteOTC (South Africa), MaTontine (Senegal), OZE (Ghana), RecyclePoints (Nigeria), Tulaa (Kenya), and Wala (South Africa).

“We are pleased to welcome the 2018 finalists into the MIT Zambezi family,” remarked Georgina Campbell Flatter, Executive Director at MIT’s Legatum Center.

“They represent some of the world’s most innovative change agents.”

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“The finalists demonstrated strong leadership and innovation in the way they are solving financial inclusion challenges,” said Ali Diallo, Global Programs Manager at the center.

“We also want to thank the hundreds of great startups that applied to this competition and shared with us their inspiring ventures, visions, and insights for advancing financial inclusion.”

“We hope to keep them all engaged through our upcoming initiatives.”

The finalists will attend the 2018 MIT Open Mic Africa Summit, held in Kenya’s Nairobi between 28-29 August.

The winner of the award will be invited to the Zambezi boot camp taking part during the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) gala in Boston, US, between 5-9 November, as well as being fast-tracked for the IIC global prize of up to $1mn in funding.