The Africa Digital Festival has recently published the official list of 50 digital champions who are making a difference in their respective countries.
Submissions of five people were presented to a nine-member selection board by the various digital ecosystem which assessed the works of these innovators based on four criteria.
However, on what basis were the 50 shortlisted among the thousands, if not millions of changemakers in Africa?
Read on to find out.
First off, the impact of their works was put under scrutiny.
Considering the tons of already existing innovation across a continent with over 1 billion people, this in itself was an arduous task.
This was based on how much influence they had on the people in their country of operation.
The selection board cut down innovations that didn’t make as much impact as those who made the cut.
Another criteria that was considered was the criteria that these 50 met was creativity. Aside having an impact with ideas, their digital solutions were out standing and creative.
Afterall, that is a main characteristic of solutions – they are original ideas used to solve problems
The board also considered what kind of creative business models they were using to make their impact. They also looked out to see whether their businesses were social enterprises or for-profit organizations.
Last but not least, the people who made the list are deemed to have very innovative solutions. Their service, project or startups were noted to solve a problem while creating jobs.
Digital Foundation Africa in partnership with Turn Left Media and Africa Fintech Forum launched the Africa Digital Festival to recognise and celebrate 50 digital innovators across the continent who have just been announced.
The festival was launched on Zoom, Friday, July 31, 2020, with its Chief Vision Officer Foster Kofi Sam addressing various digital enthusiasts and all key stakeholders in Africa’s digital ecosystem.
The online launch which was streamed on the Facebook page of the festival was attended by participants in Africa and beyond.
The youngest African to make this year’s list is the Sierra Leonean founder of a rider service app, TapTap, Mohamed Sheriff Bah.
This years list featured popular innovators who are considered household names such as Regina Honu (Soronko Solutions – Ghana) Olugbenga GB Agboola (Flutterwave – Nigeria), Aisha R. Pandor (SweepSouth – South Africa), Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou (ICT Activist – Togo), Strive Masiyiwa (Econet Global – Zimbabwe), Benjamin Fernandes (Nala – Tanzania), among a host of others.
Some of the Pre-festival activities are; GLITCH, a Gaming and Music Experience that audience of the festival would enjoy when the host country is announced later in the year.
Here, 24 African Nations will be competing to qualify for the Grand Finale starting with qualification stages in September 2020. This also features a digital debate with host of activities lined up by the team.
Live sessions and detailed profiles of the 50 Africa Digital Champions 2020 list will be officially published on www.digitalfestival.africa as well as other news channels.
Below is the full list of selected champions:
