Organizers of Africa’s major startup event DEMO Africa yesterday revealed the 30 finalists that will be pitching at DEMO Africa holding September in Lagos, Nigeria. The list showed 8 of the finalists are from Nigeria.
The Nigerian startups are Mavis Computel Limited, OgaVenue, Talking Bookz, Carparts Nigeria Automobile Ltd, Zuvaa, SmarrtEdu, PoshRite, and iKon Tracker.
Just like last year, Nigeria topped the list again with 8 representatives followed by Kenya with 6. South Africa is third with 3 representatives while Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon and Zimbabwe each have two. Uganda, Tanzania and new comer, Ivory Coast, will each be represented by 1 start-up.
Organizers believe the presence of Ivory Coast on the list of giants is a strong signal that more African nations are warming up to the ability of the continent to craft her own solutions to various needs.
The highest represented category on the 2015 list is Finance and Banking with 8 products. Other popular categories include Education, Transport and Logistics, Retail, Communication and Media and entertainment.
The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr. Peter Jack warmly congratulated the start-ups and welcomed them to Nigeria for the epic Pan African technology event. “We are excited at the opportunities that technology has presented to our African youths in creating jobs and wealth. This is a great moment in the history of Africa, steadily rising to establish its digital footprint in the world. Congratulations to the finalists,” Mr Jack emphasized.
