By Kwanta Douglas –
Kenya’s Tekizo Africa Limited, was one of the winners of the recently finished Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Caravan Prize competition.
The company, which manufactures and distributes solar freezers to small-scale fishers, came in second place in the final competition results, which were released on Friday.
Matontine, a Senegalese company that provides digital financial services, and Medics2You, a Nigerian company that uses technology to provide healthcare, were among the winners. The grand prize went to Matontine, while the commendation prize went to Medics2You.
Other winners were Kudoti from South Africa that has tapped into e-waste management infrastructure enabling the digitisation of waste value maximisation, and Africa Free Trade Area (AFTA) Cargo from Zimbabwe which has developed strategic units in efforts to grow Africa’s stake in the global cargo market. They both carried home a commendation prize each.
The AfCFTA Caravan Prize is aimed at boosting small and medium African enterprises through the provision of soft infrastructure that helps them expand beyond their home countries. The prize targets a select few of the Caravan Initiative-supported enterprises and offers them more intensive support and cash grants.
The initiative also powers the “jobs in green tech” programme, the Digital Green Corridor, designed to promote a trade and investment corridor for Africa’s cleantech entrepreneurs to benefit from AfCFTA and the ongoing global green shift simultaneously.