The Top 45 start-ups chosen for the first edition of the AfricaTech Awards have been revealed by Viva Technology and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This pan-African effort, backed by Proparco, aims to identify and promote emergent start-ups generating innovation and development impact throughout the continent in three primary sectors: climate technology, fintech, and health technology.

The 45 start-ups were chosen from more than 300 entries, with the highest turnout coming from Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, and Morocco. Overall, FinTech received the most applications (124), followed by Health Tech (95), and Climate Tech (95). (93). Almost 60% of candidate start-ups have at least one female director on their board of directors.

“The volume and quality of applications received attest to the energy of the African technological sector, which has demonstrated its resilience even in the face of the various hurdles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of the IFC. “These grants will assist in scaling breakthroughs in vital sectors such as climate technology, health technology, and fintech, which are critical to promoting the continent’s sustainable and equitable growth.”

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The winners in each category will be announced at the inaugural AfricaTech Awards ceremony, which will take place at the 2022 edition of Viva Technology, which will be held in Paris from June 15 to 18. The three winning start-ups will gain access to Viva Technology’s, the IFC’s, and the category sponsors’ networks. They will also be able to meet with leaders and senior executives in the IT sector one-on-one.

“Africa is a breeding ground for talent and new ideas, and we are happy to see so many inventive entrepreneurs competing in this inaugural edition of the AfricaTech Awards,” say Viva Technology Co-Presidents Maurice Lévy and Pierre Louette, as well as General Manager Julie Ranty. “It’s an honor to be able to highlight these high-impact African start-ups and assist in spreading their solutions across the continent and beyond.”

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The top 15 startups in the FinTech category, sponsored by Cassava Technologies, include:
abela — South Africa
Applied Logic Ltd — Nigeria
Click2Sure — South Africa
Crop2Cash — Nigeria
DREAMCASH Cameroon SA — Cameroon
Duhqa — Kenya
eMaisha Pay — Uganda
Franc — South Africa
ImaliPay — Kenya
Lipa Later — Kenya
Neqabty — Egypt
Meals country — Kenya
Premiercredit — Zambia
Proxalys — Senegal
Singpay2022 — Gabon
The top 15 startups in the Health Tech category, sponsored by Orange, include:
Access Afya — Kenya
BokDoc — Egypt
Chefaa — Egypt
Keeplyna — Tunisia
Med — Tunisia
Meditect — Qatar
Primed E-Health — France, Nigeria and Uganda
SonoCare Healthcare — Nigeria
The Aviro Pocket Clinic — South Africa
Vekta Innovations — South Africa
Vula Mobile — Dr W Mapham — South Africa
Wala Digital Health — Ghana
Welnes — Egypt
Zencey — Ivory Coast
Zuri Health — Kenya
The top 15 start-ups in the Climate Tech category, sponsored by New Energy Nexus, include:
AGROTECH PLUS — Kenya
ARESS (Myjoulebox) — Benin
ATLAN Space — Morocco
Bekia — Egypt
Ipren Group — Nigeria
Easy Matatu — Uganda
Eco-V GreenTower — South Africa
Farmtopia — Egypt
iShamba Limited — Kenya
Koolboks — France, Nigeria and 12 other countries
Kumulus — France and Tunisia
Seavo — Egypt
Sunpave — Egypt
The Awareness Company — South Africa
WEEE Center — Kenya

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh