Application Opens For First Edition Of Africa50 Innovation Challenge – How Nigeria News
In recognition of your work in the field of innovation and technology, we would like to invite you to participate in the First Edition Of Africa50 Innovation Challenge.
A Pan-African investment platform focused on infrastructure development, Africa50 has launched an initiative – first edition of Africa50’s Innovation Challenge – to crowdsource novel solutions to help solve Africa’s most critical and pressing infrastructure development challenges.
For this first edition, the theme is ‘Last Mile Internet Connectivity’ and the Goal of the Challenge is to source solutions that can help significantly increase access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet in under-served areas of Africa.
In collaboration with United Nations Economic Commission for Africa a (UNECA), Africa50 is looking for the most innovative infrastructure and tech solutions which enable people to connect to the internet in their daily lives, through fixed and mobile devices.
The Head of Communications at Africa50, Fleur Tchibota, said that the Company believes Innovative last mile internet connectivity solutions have the potential to create significant commercial value across the continent and leave a lasting social impact. “It sees it as an exciting opportunity to engage with the most creative minds to develop innovative solutions in Africa, to solve an African challenge while creating value for investors”.
Why you should apply?
Africa50’s Innovation Challenge provides you with an unparalleled opportunity to get your solution in front of our investment team and project funding partners, as well as gain exposure in Africa’s leading tech events.
Benefits include:
The winners stand the chance to receive a cash prize or project development funding, as well as technical support to scale up and roll out their projects.
You also have the opportunity for scalability throughout the entire continent. To date, Africa50 has 28 African shareholder countries which it can leverage to scale successful solutions.
The ideas will be reviewed by a group of experts in ICT, investment, and socio-economic development, as well as Africa50’s investment team.
All finalists will be featured in video and/or social media materials “and at our event/media engagement activities, for example at the Afrobytes Summit in Paris (May 2020) and other Afrobytes events, the Africa Investment Forum (November 2020), Transform Africa (April 2020), our GSM (July 2020) and AfricaCom (November 2020)”, the release reads.
Solutions selected for project development investment will be rolled-out in Rwanda as the pilot country, with the objective to scale them up to other countries in Africa.
The winning criteria
Applicants will be judged on several criteria including innovation, scalability, affordability, and sustainability. In addition, solutions should be modular and be ready to deploy. Solutions will be assessed by a panel including Africa50 investment executives, and independent experts.
Who should apply
The call is open for innovators, engineers, developers, ICT experts, individuals and organizations in Africa and worldwide, to submit their workable solutions for funding and implementation.
How to apply
To apply visit Africa50 Innovation Challenge website. The application process will require you to provide a short description of the work that you’re doing and fill in a questionnaire.
Application deadline
Submit your application before December 31, 2019.