The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Casablanca, Morocco | THE INDEPENDENT | Two Ugandan start-ups Ugabus and Sukuma Dance Fitness will get a $175,000 boost from a $1million prize at the 4th edition of the African Entrepreneurship Award Program.
The BMCE Bank of Africa Group announced 13 winners at the awards ceremony held on Monday, December 10, 2018 at the Bank’s headquarters in Casablanca. The 13 winners, including the two Ugandan start-ups, will share a $1 million envelope to help them scale up their businesses.
Ugabus are an online travel portal where you can book any bus, to travel any where in East Africa while Sukuma Dance Fitness have stormed the Ugandan scene with their programmes in the past year. They promote mental physical health and fitness through dance.
The awards ceremony was the climax of a coaching process for 30 finalists from 20 African countries at a Boot Camp in Casablanca from 5 to 9 December 2018.
According to the maroc-diplomatique website, the coaches from Nigeria, Namibia, Senegal, Cameroon and Australia provided three days of personalized coaching with compelling presentations and business plans put to the test.
In the end, 13 laureates were selected by a prestigious jury composed of 6 members, representing China, America, Ghana, Senegal, Canada and Morocco.
The annual African Entrepreneurship Award 2018 was introduced by the head of BMCE Bank of Africa Othman Benjelloun at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakech in 2014. BMCE Bank of Africa endowed it with $1 million each year.
Winner 9 : Ronald Hakiza from #Uganda#Category : #Innovation pic.twitter.com/ot5rhjlM3D
— AE Award (@AEAward) December 10, 2018
Winner 5 : Ibrahim Musisi from #Uganda
Category : #Sports pic.twitter.com/VepgXHAaIA— AE Award (@AEAward) December 10, 2018
Day1 #bootcamp
The finalists of the fourth edition of #AEAward during the first day of the bootcamp! #casablanca #entrepreneurship pic.twitter.com/N4SWGnu2lb— AE Award (@AEAward) December 6, 2018
According to maroc-diplomatique, “The African Entrepreneurship Award has, since its launch in 2015, attracted more than 17,000 entrepreneurs from 142 countries including 54 African countries, accompanied by more than 500 mentoring partners from Africa, Asia, Australia , America and Europe and rewarded 46 entrepreneurs for a total amount of $ 4 million.
“Thanks to the funding of the award and the mentoring and mentoring support, the 33 winning entrepreneurs from the first three AEA Awards were able to invest in the development of their businesses, create jobs and launch high-impact products and services. through the creation of nearly 2,300 jobs, the acquisition of 264,000 customers, and annual revenues multiplied by 5.”
INNOVATION CATEGORY AWARD
$ 150,000
Jonathan Kornik – South Africa: Plentify , Start Up
Regulation and reduction of water and electricity consumption thanks to a control system connected to the water heaters.
$ 100,000
Awa Caba – Senegal: Sooretul , Start Up
Promotion and distribution of small agro-industrial products through an e-commerce platform
Ronald Hakiza – Uganda: Ugabus , Start Up
Booking bus tickets online by mobile app or website
Lincoln Winimi Peedah – Ghana: Neat Eco-Feeds , Prototype
Transformation of residual values collected from slaughterhouses into animal feed
Hend Riad – Egypt: Reform Studios , Start Up
Creation of haute couture and durable home goods from recycled Plastex material
$ 50,000
Kevin Miengan Cedric Sesse – Ivory Coast: My Artisan , Start Up
Connecting informal sector craftsmen and middle-class clients through an online portal
SPORT CATEGORY AWARD
$ 150,000
Nangado Kauluma – Namibia: PerfectFit , Start Up
Virtual platform with fitness classes accessible via the web and mobile
$ 75,000
Ibrahim Musisi – Uganda: Sukuma Dance Fitness , Start Up
Dance classes taught on the basis of African music
Aderoju Ope-Ajayi – Nigeria: Dolphin Aquatic Center , Start Up
Learning Center for Swimming and Rescue Techniques for Women and Children
PRIZES “HIGH POTENTIAL PROJECTS”
$ 25,000
Ama Dadson – Ghana: AkooBooks Audio , Start Up
Transformation of African literature into mobile audio books
Anass El Hilal – Morocco: Medtrucks , Prototype
Mobile unit that provides medical care in rural areas
Divine Arnaud Kouebatouka – Congo Brazzaville: Green Tech Africa , Prototype
Transformation of invasive water hyacinth into natural absorbents for industrial cleaning
Christian Songwa – Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ndunda Aquaponics , Project Idea Aquaponic Farm for Fish Farming and Vegetable Production
