The winners will be announced on 13 February 2025 during the seventh edition of Africa Tech Summit Nairobi.

Scheduled to take place on 12–13 February 2025, the summit will bring together over 2,000 industry leaders and more than 1,000 companies, enabling networking, collaboration, and discussions on Africa’s digital transformation.

This year, 55 companies have been shortlisted across 11 industry categories and two individual categories. The finalists were selected from over 300 applications, with an independent panel of judges evaluating each entry based on innovation, impact, scalability, and relevance to the African market.

Lauren Adair, director of Africa Tech Summit, said, “We’re delighted to announce the finalists for the inaugural Africa Tech Summit Awards. With over 300 entries, our judges had the tough task of narrowing it down to only 5 finalists in each category. All the finalists are transforming their sectors and driving growth across the continent, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements in Nairobi next month.”

Nigerian Startups and Other Finalists by Category

• Agritech: AFEX (Nigeria), ChipChip (Ethiopia), Mazao AgClimate Limited (Tanzania), Keep it Cool (Kenya), Winich Farms (Nigeria).
• Artificial Intelligence: Cassava Technologies (South Africa), Chpter (Kenya), NextAV (Tunisia), Tawi Fresh (Kenya), ToumAI Analytics (Morocco).
• Climate Tech: Afrilogic Solutions (Ghana), Innovex (Uganda), Instollar Technologies (Nigeria), Sabi (Nigeria), Takazuri (Kenya).
• Cross-Border Payments: Aza Finance (Kenya), Flutterwave (Nigeria), Grey (Nigeria), WeWire (Nigeria), Yellow Card (South Africa).
• Digital Commerce: OmniRetail (Nigeria), Sendmercury (Nigeria), SwiftVEE (South Africa), Tawi Fresh (Kenya), Tola (Ireland).
• EdTech: Cassava Technologies (South Africa), DirectEd Development (Kenya), Hermplify (Nigeria), Ikusasa Technology Solutions (South Africa), Laboussole (Cameroon).
• Enterprise: Andela (United States), Beacon Power Services (Nigeria), Froid Energy Ltd (Kenya), Incentro Africa (Kenya), Smile ID (Nigeria).
• FemTech: Babysteps (Kenya), Hermplify (Nigeria), Mara Scientific (Uganda), My Pregnancy Journey (South Africa), Sanicle Digital Health (United States).
• Fintech: Flow (Uganda), HUB2 (Mauritius), Peach Payments (South Africa), Valu (Egypt), Yellow Card (South Africa).
• Health Tech: Antara Health (Kenya), ION Kenya (Kenya), OneHealth (Nigeria), Remedial Health (Nigeria), Zuri Health (Kenya).
• Web3: ICP Hub (Kenya), Investa Farm (Kenya), MiniPay (Nigeria), Sabi (Nigeria), Yellow Card (South Africa).

Finalists will receive complimentary access to Africa Tech Summit Nairobi, getting visibility within the industry. Award winners will be presented with a physical Africa Tech Summit Award, a recognition expected to create new opportunities for partnerships, investment, and expansion.

The summit will include panel discussions, keynote speeches, masterclasses, and the Africa Tech Summit Investment Showcase, making it an important event for stakeholders impacting Africa’s tech sector.

This project, which has received approval from the Federal Ministry of Environment, is named the Oyo State Aggregation Initiative and will manage 250,000 hectares of the Opara Forest reserve in Oyo State. 

The collaboration between the three companies involves an investment of ₦52 million over the next year.

With the goal of creating jobs for at least 350 people by the end of the year, particularly in the communities of Saki, Otiki, and Agbugudu, the project will have a centralized warehouse constructed in Saki to ensure proper storage for export-ready commodities.

This partnership comes at a time when Nigeria faces its highest food inflation in nearly three decades, with rising food prices threatening millions with malnutrition. 

The agricultural supply chain has been under strain due to climate change and security challenges, which have increased transportation costs. Experts reveal that technology and technical expertise can help address these structural issues.

The project is set to produce 30,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts and 10,000 metric tonnes of shea nuts. Ademola Adesina, president and co-founder of Sabi, emphasized the project’s potential impact: “By empowering small farmers and providing them with the resources and market access they need, we are fostering economic growth and community development in Oyo State.”

Meadow Foods, a local subsidiary of Dutch company Acrosstrades, will oversee project development, management, quality assurance, and technology integration. 

Nectar Fresh will work with community leaders in the Opara Forest to ensure the development and support of farmers and their crops.

Present in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, Sabi helps informal businesses scale by providing required infrastructure needed for their growth. The company empowers a broad ecosystem of users, allowing merchants, importers, exporters, distributors, and manufacturers to expand their capabilities and grow their businesses using Sabi’s technology rails.

Investors present in Sabi’s Series B round were Frankfurt-based specialist fintech investor CommerzVentures, Africa-focused growth-stage investor Norrsken22, U.S.-based growth-stage funds Fluent Ventures and Proof VC as well as pan-African early-stage investors CRE Ventures and Jaango.

Sabi’s platform revolutionizes the way businesses engage with distributors and producers, enabling seamless online transactions for buying and selling products and services. Designed with a user-friendly interface and tailored to suit local environments, Sabi’s marketplace empowers small businesses to extend their influence and unleash their full potential.

The cutting-edge inventory management tool provided by Sabi empowers businesses to monitor their inventory levels in real-time, guaranteeing that they always possess the necessary products to meet customer demand.

Efficient sales order management and digital ledger tools offered by Sabi empower businesses to effortlessly handle orders and payments, streamlining the transaction process and optimizing cash flow.

Sabi’s payment reconciliation tool simplifies payment processing, ensuring that businesses receive prompt and accurate payments for their offerings.

By leveraging Sabi’s comprehensive suite of business tools, small businesses can elevate their operations, enhance efficiency, and discover new avenues for growth.

The experiences and networks of these new members will support Sabi in its mission to resource and grow SMEs in the informal sector.

The advisory group has been established to inform the strategy and implementation of Sabi’s vision as the company continues its growth trajectory. The group consists of Vidit Aatrey, Founder & CEO of Meesho, Ian Black, Managing Director of Shopify, Sapna Goyal, Corporate Development Director of Udaan, and Bame Pule, Founder of Africa Lighthouse Capital.

Vidit Aatrey, one of the leading Indian entrepreneurs of his generation, is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Meesho. Vidit, an alumnus of IIT-Delhi embarked on the journey of creating Meesho back in 2015, together with his college batchmate and friend Sanjeev Barnwal, with an aim to build an ecommerce start-up for small businesses at a time when everyone told them that ecommerce is saturated. 

Seven years later, they have today built India’s largest social commerce platform at Meesho. Meesho has already empowered 2 million+ entrepreneurs, mostly women, and is on its way to create more. Through its platform, it enables entrepreneurs to start an online-business with zero investment and provides them with the resources, tools, logistics and payment capabilities to run their business. Prior to Meesho, Vidit worked with ITC and Inmobi.

Ian Black is the Managing Director of Shopify Canada. Prior to that, he was the Director of Retail at Shopify. In that role, Ian managed the business and go-to-market strategy for Shopify Retail in Toronto, by overseeing sales, solutions, partnerships, and operations, working alongside marketing and R&D leadership. 

Prior to joining Shopify, Ian was head of UberEATS’ American and Canadian divisions. He was also a management consultant with Bain & Company in Toronto and New York where he advised companies and private equity funds on strategy and growth.

Sapna Goyal is the Corporate Development Director (strategic investments, partnerships, and M&A) at Udaan, a leading B2B e-commerce platform in India. For over ten years, she has investing experience in early and growth-stage internet start-ups in India. Prior to Udaan, Sapna worked with Goldman Sachs Investment Partners VC & Growth Equity Fund and was responsible for investments in the Indian internet space. 

She also has investing experience in Indian Public Markets as part of a hedge fund at Goldman Sachs. She is passionate about the power of digital transformation on the Indian economy and how it is a great leveller. She is an active angel investor.

Bame Pule is the founder of Africa Lighthouse Capital, an independent private equity firm founded in 2012 to invest in and nurture businesses into African champions. 

The firm has a particular focus on helping investee companies adopt global best practices regardless of sector, attain benchmarks equivalent to those of global peers, and expand into multiple key African markets. Prior to founding Africa Lighthouse Capital, Mr. Pule worked at Actis Capital, ShoreView Capital, Goldman Sachs & Credit Suisse in New York and Salomon Brothers/Citigroup in Los Angeles.

Commenting on the appointments, Anu Adasolum, Co-Founder & CEO of Sabi: said “Our goal has always been to build and establish a robust team of experts – from our leadership team right down to our agent network – that lives and breathes our core values and mission to transform the B2B commerce industry in Africa.”

“We’re extremely pleased to announce that the four members are talented and strategic business leaders whose broad experience will further strengthen our commitment to enable financial inclusion within the B2B community in Africa’s growing informal economy, while providing world class solutions for our merchants. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive forward the next phase of growth,” the Co-Founder of Sabi concluded.