Botswana to host Pan-Africa’s most celebrated innovation event of the year
Innovation Prize for Africa!
an edited copy and paste by Andrew Segwabe 
The prestigious award marks its 5 year milestone boasting the
“Made in Africa” spirit
The
African Innovation Foundation (AIF)
in a joint collaborative effort with the Government of Botswana (GoB)
represented by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology
and the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) today announced that the next
Innovation Prize for Africa
(IPA) event will be held in Gaborone, Botswana in June 2016. The
decision to host IPA in Botswana received the highest endorsement from
H.E. President Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, the President
of Botswana.
IPA is a landmark program of the AIF, whose purpose is to increase the
prosperity of Africans by catalyzing the innovation spirit in Africa.
IPA celebrates its 5 year milestone in helping to shape the innovation
landscape in Africa. To date, IPA has attracted more than 6 000
innovators from 50 African countries, making it a truly Pan-African
initiative. This year’s event with its “Made in Africa” theme promises
to be ground-breaking, extending beyond the Awards ceremony. AIF is
offering several avenues of opportunity for local, national, regional
and international growth and exposure to Africa’s next cadre of
innovators. The event will provide an unprecedented platform for African
innovators and innovation enablers to network, share knowledge, explore
business opportunities and boost collaboration.
Botswana’s selection as host country for IPA 2016 is seen in its
commitment towards building its national innovation ecosystem. This is
demonstrated by the GoB’s catalytic role in capitalizing on and
supporting the knowledge economy through the development of a 57-acre
Science Park, dubbed the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH). The Icon
Building in the BIH Park will be launched in September 2016, as Botswana
celebrates yet another milestone - 50 years of Independence. “Hosting
IPA 2016 and celebrating African ingenuity in Gaborone will afford
Botswana an opportunity to showcase its commitment to putting innovation
at the center of its development strategy,” says the Botswana Minister
of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Honorable Nonofo Molefhi. He
added: “We are greatly honored to have been selected to host IPA 2016 and look forward
to showcasing the positive strides Botswana and indeed Africa is making
in the innovation landscape.”
IPA is today recognized as Africa’s leading innovation initiative based
on its track record since its inaugural launch with the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the endorsement by Ministers
attending the Africa Union (AU)/ECA conference in 2012. IPA recognizes,
rewards and mobilizes for African innovators through promoting
home-grown, market-driven solutions addressing intractable challenges in
agriculture, health and well-being, manufacturing and service industry,
ICTs and environment, energy and water. IPA has been successfully
celebrated in African major capitals representing African regions: Addis
Ababa (2011), Cape Town (2013), Abuja (2014), and more recently in
Skhirat, Morocco (2015).
This year’s theme for IPA is “Made in Africa”, based on the belief that
Africa can posit itself on the world map through self-innovation,
carving its own success story of growth economies and creating
incentives to commercialize and scale up home-grown innovations. Says Mr
Walter Fust, AIF Chairman of the Board: “We are delighted to
collaborate with the Government of Botswana in celebrating African
ingenuity. With its many inspiring and success stories, Botswana is an
excellent choice to host the 5th edition of IPA, helping us continue to
catalyze the innovation spirit in Africa”. He added, “‘Made in Africa’
heralds a message of enterprise and prosperity for African innovators,
and we encourage more Africans, especially young people and women to
catalyze transformation through innovation - not only in their lives -
but for the broader community and their respective economies.”
Besides a host of exciting side events and brand new initiatives for
Africa by Africans, IPA 2016 will offer the following prizes and
incentives to winners and applicants:
√ Grand prize of US$100 000
√ Second Prize of US$25 000
√ Special Prize for Social Impact US$25 000
√ A voucher for each IPA nominee of US$5 000
√ Business development support for top 10 young innovators selected post Awards event.
√ Business development support for top 10 women innovators selected post Awards event.
The IPA Call for Applications ran from August to October 2015 and
attracted more than 3 600 respondents from 50 African countries, clearly
demonstrating the creative potential that exists in Africa. Proposed
innovations showcased African ingenuity in diverse fields, from
agriculture and technologies to green energy initiatives. The expert
panel of judges will carefully select Africa’s new crop of ingenuity
this year from 985 successful submissions spanning 46 African countries
through a rigorous, transparent process of critique, validation,
interview and consensus.
About the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA)
IPA is a landmark initiative of the AIF with the purpose of
strengthening the African innovation ecosystems and spur the growth of
market-driven African solutions to African challenges.
Data source and image credit:
www.innovationprizeforafrica.org
