Introducing the Innovations Throughout Africa 2020 Winners!

We are delighted to announce the winners of our Women in Tech Africa 2020’s Innovations Throughout Africa – an initiative to celebrate innovative tech achievements from across the continent.

Back in November we launched a call for African-headquartered organisations to submit their innovative achievements to us for the chance to be one of the regional winners of our Innovations Throughout Africa 2020 Initiative.

We had some truly inspiring entries from across the continent – a big thank you to everyone who took part! It was great to see all of the exciting tech innovations being developed ahead of Women in Tech Africa this 18-19 March in Cape Town.

After some careful deliberation, our panel of judges (Antoinia Norman, CEO at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship; Professor Ulrike Rivett, Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town and Nekesa Were, Managing Director at iHub) have decided upon four winners from different geographical locations across Africa.

And the winners are...

Northern Africa

Hana Effat El Sadat, CEO & Founder, Neya (Egypt)

Hana has won for pioneering a start-up that serves as a facilitator and a hub for philanthropy – using technology for the greater good! Her company, Neya, is a network of individuals that believe in giving back to the community. The community ecosystem is composed of individuals, small groups, business and corporate organisation, non-governmental organisations and social service agencies. The purpose of this tool is to build a platform for the development community, where tools for awareness, volunteering, donating, sponsoring and supporting a cause or initiative will be made available.

Neya translated means your 'intrinsic value to do good'; the platform is a tool that generates a more socially sustainable and aware community, growing from a person's individual intrinsic value to do good. A vision-driven platform, Neya builds on the awareness and drive of Millennials and Gen Zs who wish to make a difference and better the standard of living for future generations to come.

Western Africa

Eno Essien, Founder / Chief Executive Officer, Rheytrak (Nigeria)

Eno is both the youngest and only female CEO in the vehicle-tracking industry in Nigeria. She has recovered over 300 stolen vehicles within and outside the Nigerian boundaries.

Under her leadership, Rheytrak has consistently experienced steady and remarkable accomplishments and recorded an exceptionally high success rate in recovery of stolen vehicles. The company, licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has branches in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Akwa Ibom, and boasts an impressive portfolio of clients.

Eastern Africa

Elizabeth Ndunge Mutua, Founder, Joasher Technologies and Consultancy (Kenya)

Elizabeth is a lecturer at Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology, where in addition to teaching, she creates time to mentor her students. Since she was employed by the university, she has worked to transform the students' mindset for science courses and helps them to succeed.

As a result of this, she founded Joasher Technologies and Consultancy in 2016. This programme works to innovate and motivate young girls in ICT. Elizabeth gathers girls from rural areas in primary and secondary schools who have a passion in IT and uses her little income to train the girls in basic IT programmes and software development.

Central & Southern Africa

Anna Collard, Managing Director, Popcorn Training - a KnowBe4 Company (Cape Town)

Anna founded Popcorn Training seven years ago by combining her IT security expertise with her creativity and her contacts in the industry. Despite being 100% bootstrapped, with no office and just five people to start with, she managed to secure long-standing contracts with Old Mutual, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Sanlam, Telkom and many other local household brands.

Popcorn Training was one of the very first companies in the world to use innovative story-based and engaging video and gaming content to teach people how to stay safe online and has won multiple international awards for its content. In 2018 Popcorn Training was acquired by KnowBe4 and proudly represents KnowBe4 on the African continent.

Congratulations to our winners!

Join us at Women in Tech Africa 2020, where we'll be celebrating Innovations Throughout Africa on stage in a special closing panel discussion. Our winners will be uniting to shine a spotlight on the achievements and milestones reached across the continent. They will also engage in a lively debate on the impact of the technologies of tomorrow and forecast Africa’s transition into the next phase of digitisation.

With only a few weeks to go until Women in Tech Africa kicks off, don't miss your chance to hear from world-class industry speakers, learn in interactive workshops and network with 1,200 like-minded peers. There are limited passes still available – secure your seat now!