AFIF Entrepreneurship Award 2017

APPLICATIONS CLOSED. Thank you to all those who applied. We receive over 50 excellent applications from all over Africa, and we are now glad to announce the 6 finalists that will have the opportunity to pitch their projects during Africa Finance & Investment Forum * 13-16 February * Nairobi, Kenya

Congratulations to our 2017 Entrepreneurship Award Finalists:

Aybar Engineering from Ethiopia – The company has developed the “Aybar BBM”, a technology that prevents excess water from suffocating crops and stores it for later use. There is no other similar technology in the market.

R n G Company limited from Kenya – The company sells packaged Rhizo-fix (groundnut inoculum), a biofertilizer that ensures a more efficient groundnut production. It also collects the groundnuts from local farmers to produce affordable cooking oil.

EuroFresh Exotics from Kenya – The company produces and exports fresh fruits and vegetables using innovative farming techniques. They also organise capacity building trainings for smallholder farmers.

First Atlantic Semiconductors & Microelectronics from Nigeria – This company has developed the “Zenvus”, an intelligent solution to collect soil data using a system of electronic sensors. Its mission is improve farming productivity.

Kimolo Super rice from Tanzania – The company is specialized in processing and marketing branded rice and sunflower oil. The project is environmentally friendly since smallholder farmers produce paddy using water run-off from nearby hills.

Eco Act from Tanzania – The company was established to address the challenges of urban waste management, plastic pollution, deforestation and climate change. They recycle and transform post-consumer waste plastic into durable and environmentally friendly plastic lumber.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

EMRC launched the first Awards in 2008 at the FAO Rome, with the objective of encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa amongst forum participants. The EMRC Awards (Project Incubator Award and AFIF Entrepreneurship Award) are presented at EMRC two main business forums: Agribusiness & the Africa Finance & Investment Forum. A call is sent out for entrepreneurs to put forward their project proposals. Finalists present their business projects during the forum’s plenary session and the winning project is announced at the gala / networking event. Previous editions of EMRC Awards were organized in collaboration with Rabobank, HIVOS and the African Development Bank.

Winners of the AFIF Award include Lazaro Mwakipesile, from Tanzania (2015), Magloire N’Dakon, from Ivory Coast (2014), Marie-Claire Matamba, from Gabon (2013), Roque Gonçalves, from Angola (2012), Suzanne Belemtougri from Burkina Faso (2011) and Derek Kwesiga from Uganda (2009).

ABOUT AFRICA FINANCE & INVESTMENT FORUM

The Africa Finance & Investment Forum (AFIF) is an annual business platform initiated in the framework of EMRC international activities, aimed at strengthening Africa’s private sector and attracting investment to the Continent. Initiated over a dozen years ago in Brussels, AFIF has been held in Europe: Cologne, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Geneva, Lisbon and Paris. And for the first time in Africa in Cape Town, South Africa in 2015. The 2017 edition of the Africa Finance & Investment Forum will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 13th to 16th February 2017. 

For more informations about AFIF 2017 please visit: http://www.emrc.be/our-platform/forum-b2b/afif/2017/about