AfricaCom Awards 2014 shortlist released

In 2014, 161 entries were received. "The overall quality of the entries this year surpassed expectation," commented Adam Thompson, Research Manager, Informa Telecoms & Media. "The innovation taking place in the digital ecosystem across the entire continent is heartening and also world class. Many are leaders in their fields and pioneers of new technology and services answering the needs of emerging markets that more traditional markets can and should take note of."

The shortlisted contenders or the various categories in 2014 are:

Best App for Africa

• Orange - Libon
  
• Orange - Orange Self-care Application: My Orange
  
• Kirusa - InstaVoice
  
• Bharti - Airtel Internet.org App
  
• Spice - Mziiki

Best Connectivity Solutions for Africa

• Orange - My Social WiFi
  
• Liquid Telecom - 100Mbps FTTH Service
  
• Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs - New Inter-city VoIP Routes in Nigeria from Breeze Micro and World Telecom Labs
  
• WIOCC - Connecting Somalia - closing the final link
  
• Sky Vision - SkyVision Hybrid Satellite and Terrestrial network solutions

Best Cost Efficiency Solutions for Africa

• TKM Maestro - TKM Cost Efficiency Solution
  
• Nomanini - Nomanini payments platform
  
• Digital Route- Mediation Zone
  
• Afrigis - Voting Station Monitor USSD Solution
  
• Huawei - Africa's 1st SDN Innovation
  
• Opera Software - Opera Web Pass
  
• Fairwaves - Mobile network which you can build yourself

Best Device for Africa

• Solarway - Solar Powered Mobile Phone Charging Station
  
• Solarway - Solar Kiosk
  
• Equatel - Equatel SIM Payphone
  
• Nomanini - Nomanini payments platform
  
• Bharti Airtel - Airtel Red

Best Marketing Campaign

• MTN - MTN Corporate Campaign
  
• OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Zambia - Go For It : Be Whatever, Do Whatever
  
• Orange - Emergency Credit Campaign
  
• Orange - Orange Football Club Campaign
  
• Huawei - MTN's Mandela Birthday' 67 Minutes
  
• Onlime - Marketing Campaign - Rebrand
  
• Millicom Tanzania TIGO - Free Facebook in Swahili
  
• Bharti Airtel - Mr Money Campaign

Best Mobile Money Solution

• Orange - Mobile Travel Tickets
  
• Orange - Mobile Pensions
  
• eTranzact - PocketMoni Mobile Money Service
  
• Bharti Airtel - Airtel Money
  
• Mahindra Comviva - Mahindra Comviva mobiquity Connect

Best Network Improvement

• Ericsson - Unitel Angola, Smile Nigeria, TiGO Senegal
  
• World Telecoms Lab - Nigeria's new interconnect exchange carriers and World Telecom Labs' 2nd Generation VoIP Switches
  
• WIOCC - Extending WIOCC's Pan-African Network into Somalia
  
• Tigo Rwanda - Tigo Voice and Data Mobile Services
  
• Bharti Airtel - Nigeria Data Service Improvement
  
• Liquid Telecom - Upgrading and improving the fibre network of Liquid Telecom Kenya

Best Pan African Initiative

• MTN - MTN GLOBAL MPLS VPN
  
• PCCW Global - High-Quality Calling with Direct Routing in Africa
  
• Orange - Pan-African Partnering Play Store
  
• Liquid Telecom - East Africa Fibre Ring
  
• Airtel Africa and IBM - Business Intelligence Solution (based on Cognos, DB2, Websphere, AIX and IBM Blade Center)

Breakthrough LTE Development

• PCCW Global - Global LTE Roaming for African Mobile Subscribers
  
• Ericsson - LTE Market Impact
  
• Ericsson - Breakthrough LTE Development - Unitel
  
• Orange - LTE for fix
  
• Huawei - Innovative LTE Rollout
  
• Smile Communications - SmileON and Data Management
  
• Telkom - LTE
  
• Surfline - Deployment of 4G LTE network in Ghana

Changing Lives Awards

• Afrigis - Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (GBVCC)
  
• Orange Digital School Project
  
• WIOCC - Closing the final link - connecting Somalia
  
• afb Mauritius Ltd - Mobile Consume and Businesses Unsecured Credit
  
• TXT Ghana - JOB 1917
  
• Bharti Airtel - Ebola Initiative
  
• Sky Vision - Ghana Crossover Academy
  
• Telekom - TNM Moyo Cover

Excellence in Customer Experience Management

• Procera - RAN Perspectives
  
• OgilvyOne Africa /Airtel Ghana - Uncle MB | Sorting data drama
  
• SafariCom - Customer Care support for M-PESA product - the leading mobile money transfer service in the world
  
• Orange - '100% Successful Calls' Suites of services
  
• Bharti Airtel - Airtel Premier

Most Innovative Service

• Huawei - Huawei's Digital Music Service for MTN
  
• Millicom Tanzania TIGO - Tigo Pesa - International Mobile Money Transfer
  
• Econet Renewable Energy Systems - Titan - Home Power Station
  
• Opera Software - Opera Web Pass
  
• Orange - Facebook Partnerships
  
• Kifiya Financial Technologies - Digital Finance and Payment Service

VSAT Innovation for Africa

• Afrique Telecom - Full VNO OSS/BSS for VSAT Industry and Customers
  
• Liquid Telecom - Shared MPLS Satellite service
  
• EMC - Fully managed VSAT services
  
• Sky Vision - Sky Vision Active Series