2018 African Innovation prize opens, dangles $185,000
The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) has opened calls for the seventh edition of the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) with the theme “investing in inclusive innovation ecosystems” dangling US$ 185 000 as reward on offer,
With this call, the organisers are inviting submissions to reward the best home-grown innovations on the continent, which seeks to celebrate outstanding breakthroughs that deliver practical, and commercially viable African solutions that are innovative and sustainable.
Confirming the call, the IPA Director, Pauline Mujawamariya Koelbl, said they were pleased to launch IPA 2018, expressing confident that this edition will prove bigger and better in terms of participation and quality of submissions.
“With each edition, IPA has gone from strength to strength attracting innovators across disciplines and with outstanding solutions to African challenges. For this seventh edition, we also look forward to expanding our ever-growing network of innovators, enablers and partners in order to join hands and build stronger, more sustainable innovation ecosystems that will propel the continent forward,” she said.
Koelbl explained that the call for entries will run for three months starting from 10 October 2017 with a submission deadline of 10 January 2018, adding that IPA’s goal is to strengthen African innovation ecosystems by supporting a culture of innovation and competitiveness, whilst spurring growth of innovative, market-driven African solutions to African challenges.
“Specifically, IPA honours and encourages pioneering achievements that contribute towards developing new products, increasing efficiency and or saving cost in Africa. Applications will be accepted from all Africans including those living in the diaspora. This edition encourages greater participation from women innovators who are increasingly playing a key role in driving African economies forward through business and entrepreneurship,” Koelbl said.
She said that the submissions will be judged on the backdrop of IPA’s themes supporting social and economic innovation in the following five categories: manufacturing and service industry; health and well-being; agriculture and agri-business; environment, energy and water; and ICT showcasing ground-breaking innovations.
Just as the IPA 2018 winners will be unveiled at an annual ceremony in July 2018, she pointed out that award is the leading innovation event on the African calendar, bringing together some of Africa’s most inspiring innovators and entrepreneurs, leaders of hubs and accelerators, angel and venture capital investors, development institutions, government leaders, media practitioners and other game changers.
