Meet Africa's new 'digital champions'

Earlier this month, Africa 4 Tech concluded its first-ever 72-hour open innovation bootcamp with the announcement of four ‘digital champions’ in the fields of agriculture, education, energy and health. The 'digital champions’ (young innovators from across the continent who were selected by expert juries) presented their breakthrough projects and prototypes at the 22nd Conference of the Parties of the United Nations (COP22) on 7 November.

The Africa 4 Tech bootcamp aims to help innovators grow and educate organisations about local markets and cultures.

From 2-4 November in Marrakech, Morocco, Africa 4 Tech convened more than 200 scientists, world leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists from 17 countries across Africa to source, design and code solutions to tackle some of the continent’s biggest challenges: agriculture, education, energy and health.

Through a competitive nomination process, 40 young African innovators from 15 countries were selected to share their insights and expertise with C-suite executives from global organisations. From those 40 innovators, two expert juries selected four ‘digital champions’:

Education: DK Osseo-Asare (Ghana), Founding Principal of Low Design Office (LOWDO) – an architecture studio that realses high design through low cost, low energy technologies and solutions.

Health: Lillian Makoi (Tanzania), founder and CEO of Jamii Africa – a mobile micro-health insurance product designed for low-income communities.

Agriculture: Flavien Kouatcha (Cameroon), Founder and CEO of Save Our Agriculture – a company making aquaponics kits and units for people who want to grow organic food at home or in urban areas.

Energy: Mehdi Berrada (Morocco), Founder of ALTO Solution – a company that is developing solutions for access to water and energy that meet the challenges of the circular economy.

“Our digital champions are talented visionaries who are helping to shape Africa’s legacy as a global leader in innovation,” said Stéphan-Eloïse Gras, CEO and co-founder of Africa 4 Tech. “Our goal now is to take the important and inspiring work done at Africa 4 Tech this week and ensure it yields real, positive impact for Africa and the world.”

African Business Review’s November issue is now live.

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