Africa's female tech entrepreneurs "point to a bright future"
If Africa's burgeoning young population holds the key to the region's economic fortunes the future looks bright, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in a statement on Tuesday, on the eve of the opening of its annual Africa meeting.
The statement pointed in particular to the quality of responses to the organisation's search for the region's best new female technology entrepreneurs.
WEF said its second annual search for Africa's best women technology entrepreneurs had discovered "a wealth of female entrepreneurial talent in the region".
Six of these entrepreneurs have been chosen to participate at the forum on Africa 2017 being held in Durban from Wednesday to Friday, May 3-5, under the theme "Achieving inclusive growth through responsive and responsible leadership".
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The six will join discussions on how to prepare the region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. They will also contribute to discussions - and generate action plans - aimed at boosting entrepreneurship in Africa.
WEF said the women - who have succeeded in areas as diverse as renewable energy, urban farming, fin tech, the sharing economy and agricultural tech - were chosen from hundreds of entries.
The selected entrepreneurs are:
Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja, Fresh Direct, Nigeria. The company pioneered stackable container farms, helping urban populations access high-quality produce, reduce stress on land use and reduce the need to import vegetables.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, LifeBank, Nigeria. The company deploys digital supply chain thinking to deliver blood and other high-value medical products to hospitals and health centres.
Esther Karwera, Akorion, Uganda. The company has developed software that integrates smallholder farmers into digital value chains, helping them sell directly to agribusinesses.
Darlene Menzies, FinFind, South Africa. The company explains and aggregates all sources of SME finance, improving entrepreneurs' access to capital and helping lenders identify a pipeline of quality loan leads.
Aisha Pandor, SweepSouth, South Africa. The company uses sophisticated algorithms to match customers and "SweepStars", creating flexible working opportunities and helping elevate the status of cleaners in South Africa.
Charity Wanjiku, Strauss Energy, Kenya. The company's proprietary solar roofing tiles are able to undercut conventional solar tiles by 30 percent.