Tech4Africa launches award, calls for entries

Some of the industry's leading minds gathered for two days to participate in presentations by and discussions with international speakers on the state of web and emerging technology on the continent.

"The Tech4Africa Innovation Award is another mechanism for us to realise our goal to engage, inspire, enable and innovate," says Gareth Knight, MD of Tech4Africa. "Africa has produced some incredible innovations to address problems that are considered unique, although these solutions often find traction around the globe.

"We want to recognise a single person or company that has developed something that has changed the lives of people in Africa. A great number of successful innovations emerge every year, yet many slip under the radar and this is something we hope to remedy through this initiative."

Entry process

The process has been broken down in a bid to make applying as simple and cost-effective as possible. Individuals or companies need to send a single-page synopsis of their product or service, what the innovation is and the level of success or traction that it has attained.

The only qualifying criteria is that the innovation must have been in the market for at least one and a half years and must have been created by Africans to solve uniquely African challenges. Participants are welcome to nominate themselves or suggest a deserving recipient.

Nominations and entries for the Tech4Africa Innovation Award will close on Monday 12 September 2011 after which 10 finalists will be chosen. The winner will then be announced at an award ceremony to be held on 26 October 2011, a day before the two-day conference from 27-28 October at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa.