 South Africa is struggling through an energy crisis. Scheduled blackouts, known to locals as ‘load shedding’ are crippling South African businesses and the larger economy, but how is this failure to resolve this issue rippling into the rest of the continent and what effect is it having on the startup boom?
South Africa has restrictions on privatisation of energy suppliers with ESKOM being the near-sole provider of electricity for the country at 95% (making up 45% of the continent’s energy supply). You can read at length about how this energy crisis started but we would like to focus on the specifics of how it is affecting the economy and therefore the startup sphere.  The end of 2022 saw the dawn of Artificial Intelligence driven tools set to streamline the modern workforce, tools such as ChatGPT and Dawn AI are now commonly mentioned in conversation around the digital water cooler.
The power of AI lies in its ability to combine and process large amounts of data, allowing it to automatically learn by identifying patterns or features to predictively solve problems before they arise. It is rapidly transforming the tech industry, and according to the African Development Bank 2021 report The Future of Work: Regional Perspectives, Africa is set to be at the forefront of this transformation due to its large youth population and increasing access to mobile and internet technologies.  You Voted for BukyiaThe winner of the most recent AfriTech XYZ Innovation Prize is Bukyia, a food delivery platform from Nigeria.
Out of all our applicants, 4 startups will receive in-depth support that will encourage them to think bigger, build quicker and do so in a sustainable way. After an open call for voting, Bukyia won the additional prize of financial support. A small contribution to helping them achieve their next big goal. The Innovation Prize is delivered by AfriTech XYZ and our expert partner Hogan Lovells.  Vote for the Innovation Prize Winner!
We are pleased to announce the shortlist winners of AfriTech XYZ's most recent Innovation Prize. All winners will receive in-depth support including access to experts and opportunities that will challenge them to think bigger, build quicker and more sustainably. Through the prize, we also offer a small amount of cash to the winner to help them build out their innovative technology even further. Your vote will decide who wins the financial prize of up to £1000. The Innovation Prize is delivered by AfriTech XYZ and our expert partner at Hogan Lovells and seeks to select small groups of startups that have the potential to solve a pan-African or global problem. |
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