Entries open for fifth annual AppsAfrica Innovation Awards

Think your firm’s products are among some of the best mobile and tech solutions from across Africa?

Entries are now open for the fifth annual AppsAfrica Innovation Awards which aim to showcase the continent’s most innovative mobile and tech ventures.

The awards provide winners with industry recognition, global publicity and networking with over 300 industry peers expected at the awards’ party in Cape Town on 12 November — on the eve of AfricaCom.

The AppsAfrica Innovation Awards celebrate the best in mobile and tech in Africa

Winners of the awards will also be invited to Africa Tech Summit Kigali 2020 where they will join over 400 tech leaders from across the continent.

The awards are open to corporates, established ventures or startups who have launched their tech services in at least one African market across 14 categories.

These categories are:

• Disruptive Innovation Award: Seeks to recognise the disruptive innovations and new business models that are changing Africa. Entries are open across all sectors.
• Health Tech Award: Celebrates the use of technology to improve health services in Africa. Entries may include a new service, device, software, hardware or use of apps, SMS, interactive voice response (IVR) or social media.
• Best African App Award: Recognises the best applications successfully launched on any platform to target African consumers or businesses. Entries are welcome across all sectors and platforms.
• Enterprise Solution Award: Celebrates enterprise services across Africa. Entries are welcome from innovative ventures and mobile services that streamline, improve and help businesses across Africa.
• Blockchain Award: Recognises initiatives that are utilising blockchain technology to increase the speed, efficiency, accuracy, transparency or cost-effectiveness of any sector in Africa.
• Media and Entertainment Award: Seeks to recognise the best news and entertainment innovations. Examples include music, literary, gaming, children’s entertainment, lifestyle and video.
• Edtech Award: Recognises services which are striving to improve education by utilising mobile or other technologies.
• Fintech Award: This award recognises the best fintech innovation including digital currency, bitcoin, mobile money, wallets, P2P, money remittances and transfers, point of sale or funding platforms.
• Agritech Award: Aimed at the best tech innovations driving agriculture across the continent. This includes but is not limited to hardware, software, drones, big data, IoT services, mobile services or any technology supporting farmers, improving yields or supply chains in Africa.
• Internet of Things (IoT) Award: Recognises the most innovative internet of things (IoT) applications, devices, products or services from brands, companies, agencies or platforms that have excelled in utilising IoT across Africa in any sector.
• mCommerce Award: Dedicated to celebrating the new wave of mobile commerce initiatives across Africa. Entrants might include online platforms, retail brands, portals, apps, classifieds, comparison sites and many more driving mCommerce across Africa.
• Mobility Award: This award seeks to recognise the leading ventures using technology such as hardware, software, robotics, drones or innovative mobile services that improve mobility, logistics or supply chains in an African market.
• Social Impact Award: Recognises an inspiring use of technology that has a positive social impact for an African community while contributing to economic and social development.
• Changing Africa Award: This award seeks to recognise leading companies that are driving game-changing initiatives across Africa for the masses. Entrants might include mobile network operators, leading tech platforms, hardware providers, banks, connectivity providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) or any tech company driving progress across multiple African countries in any sector.

Criteria

A team of expert judges — selected based on their knowledge, influence and contribution to the improvement of technology in Africa — will assess submissions.

To be considered for the awards, applicants must:

• Be a startup or incorporated companies
• Have launched a product or service in at least one African market
• Have launched their service or product at the time of judging
• Address specific African needs as detailed within their specific category
• Have any product or service utilising any technology
• Have launched the entry in at least one African market to date
• Have specific applications which are relevant to the category entered

Entries will close on 11 September and each application will be charged at $125 per category entered. Startups that are less than 18-months old will not be charged, subject to approval. Qualifying startups can contact the awards for a discount code.

Shortlisted finalists will be announced in October.