UK announces winners of the 2019 Go Global Africa Competition
The British Deputy High Commission has hosted the Nigerian leg of the 2019 Go Global Africa Programme. with 15 start-ups, selected from an unprecedented 340 entries, that presented their pitches to a combined Nigerian and British panel of tech experts at the British Deputy High Commissioner’s Residence in Ikoyi, Lagos. The winning entries will now travel to the UK in late March for a two-week intensive programme of support.
The businesses that pitched are all active in fields aimed to create a better future for Africa, with specific focus on Water, Connectivity, Digital Health, Fintech and Agritech.
UK Deputy High Commissioner Laure Beaufils said: I am delighted to host the 15 pitches today. The huge Nigerian interest in Go Global shows just how much huge entrepreneurial talent and potential already exists in Nigeria’s digital economy. I’m committed to bringing together the best of the UK’s tech sector with Nigeria’s tech entrepreneurs. This is a win-win for both our economies. The Go Global programme is the first of many support programmes, particularly in the areas of tech and financial inclusion that we will be working with Nigeria, following the commitments made last August when the Prime Minister visited Nigeria.
She also added that due to the volume and quality of applications received in Nigeria, the number of Nigerian, two additional slots had been awarded, bringing the number of winners up to 7 from 5.
The winning Nigerian entrepreneurs are : RemindMe, an app by Innovation corner that would use USSD and text to remind new mothers of vaccination dates, Piggybank; an automated savings and investment solution, Social Lender; a money lending solution that uses social media platforms, Thriveagric; a programme that lowers the entry barrier for people willing to invest in agriculture by connecting farmers to crowdsourced finance, Helium Health; a hospital management software, Helpmum; an app that provides healthcare information to combat maternal and infant mortality, and eTrash2Cash; an online platform that will help low income & marginalised women earn & save cash benefits for gathering trash for recycling.
– SUNNEWSONLINE
