The company, which took the coveted prize with value of N2 Million, made up of Kingsley Eze, Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer and Elizabeth Omale, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer, presented an app, which will enhance rideshare and safe delivery of packages to an audience made up of top officials of the Commission, led by the Director of Research and Development, Mr. Ismaila Adedigba who represented the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.

Floews, which comprised established by Bashir Abubakar as Founder and Chief Executive Officer, came second with a prize of N1.5 million while Thronix Lab, comprising three young tech-savvy Nigerians, clinched the 3rd position with a prize of N1 million,. All the contestants were adjudged on the criteria of originality, innovativeness, simplicity of usage and commercialization potential of their IT products, among others.

Floews developed novel and deep-tech all-round solution that monitors and forecasts flood imminence and thereby, disseminate the forecast as an early-warning intelligence, while Thronix Lab developed Proxie, an Internet of Thing (IoT)-enabled smart socket and Wi-Fi hotspot range extender which enables users to switch on/off their appliances connected to it remotely through their phones.

Prof Mohammed Ajiya, President, who chaired the panel of judges for the competition, commended the Commission for providing the opportunity for young Nigerians to achieve their dreams of leveraging digital solutions to address local challenges in Nigeria.

Speaking on behalf of the EVC, the Director R&D, Adedigba, commended all the 15 contestants that participated, and the panel of judges for the “commendable diligence, through and painstaking evaluation carried out by his team of independent judges, leading to the emergence of the three winners”.

He assured of the Commission’s commitment to continue to drive the Federal Government agenda of promoting indigenous ICT solutions development towards strengthening the Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

“It is important to note that this competition is not the end, but rather the beginning of our collective journey towards bridging the digital divide in Nigeria. We must continue to support and invest in local, indigenous digital solutions to ensure that all citizens have access to the technology and opportunities they need to thrive in today’s digital age,” Danbatta said.

Ten innovators from the 15 proceeded to the Pitching Stage, for having developed the best technology solutions, amenable to commercialization and capable of solving identified challenges both locally and beyond in a move to bridge the country’s existing digital divide.

The 15 contestants at the event are Curnance PTY, Floews, Lalita by 02 Innovations Lab, Brilliant ESystems, Afrits Innovation, CitiFlow, Natal Cares, Nairaxi, Rate AM, Fixbot Technologies, Betalife, Cyber Plural, TronixLab, Ntapi Inc., and Bycep by Bedoun.

It was reported on Monday that the two Nigerian startups that emerged as finalists were among the nine that first made it to the semi-final level.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), also, while inaugurating the exhibition pavilion of Nigeria at the Dubai World Trade Centre, confirmed that nine Nigerian tech innovators and start-ups booked their spots in the semi-final of the GITEX tech-invention competition.

He said: “I am confident that the four Nigerian start-ups and innovators will surely give their foreign counterparts a run for their money. And will cart away the prizes at stake, during the grand finale of the exhibition”.

The Nigerian startups to compete for the gold position of the Supernova Challenge Pitch Competition are FLOEWS and ShapShap.

Another start-up from Kenya, Melanin Kapital, is the other African representative in the final of the ‘Mobility and Smart Cities Innovator’ category, that the Nigerian tech firms qualified for.

FLOEWS is a multi-award winningstartup seeking tosolve the persistent problem of climate change and natural disasters likeflooding, by providing an equitableaccess to a democratized, socially-inclusive and gender-responsive disaster risk management together with early warning for vulnerable individuals, business communities and national economies.

While ShapShap provides the best on-demand delivery service in Nigeria for online ordering and same-day delivery of food, groceries, medicines, and packages using a mobile application.

The GITEX 2022 event is currently holding at the Dubai World Trade Centre, in United Arab Emirates, UAE.

Supernova Challenge is the biggest pitch competition in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, where Startups have opportunity to become the next unicorn, with upto $200,000 in cash prizes up for grabs.

As officially announced by North Star Dubai on their website, the Startups are; IdentityPass, 9JaCodeKids Academy, Floews, Medtech, Paddycover, Pricepally, LiveBic, Technyon Technologies, and Wellness Health Technologies.

Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, while inaugurating the Nigerian pavilion, commended the Startups that have so far scaled the competition’s preliminary stages, and expressed confidence in the ability of the team to progress to the finals and hopefully clinch the ultimate prize. 

Prof. Pantami said, “Each and every year, Nigeria has been attending the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition GITEX because of its enormous benefits; these benefits are many, critical among them is attracting foreign direct investment”.

Accompanied by the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, The Executive Vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Engr Aliyu Aziz and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Muhammed Bello Abubakar as well as some Nigerian private ICT entrepreneurs, the Minister expressed delight in the highest number of startups at the 2022 GITEX.

“We have recorded significant milestones and great accomplishments in our bid to drive Nigeria’s economy digitally and our modest successes are verifiable”.

According to Professor Pantami, the federal government, in the last three years launched several programmes, policies and initiatives that are entrenching the trust between the tech ecosystem and the government towards strengthening the Nigerian digital economy sector.

Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of NITDA also shared same optimism with the Minister as he noted that the Nigerian team will ace the competition and once again place the country on the global map.

Inuwa urged the tech innovators to ensure they also learn, unlearn and relearn by participating in other sideline events and conferences in order to build the necessary networks to add value to their craft.

GITEX Global 2022 is a meeting point for technology professionals and enthusiasts. The event is a thrust for the Global Startup Movement attracting world’s biggest technology mentors, angel investors and venture capitalists.

Nigerian startups are showcasing their innovative ideas to the world, interacting with other startups from different parts of Asia, Africa and Europe; luring investors to come to Nigeria and invest money in the country’s fast growing Digital economy.