Three African Startups Named Winners Of 1st Kofi Annan Award For Innovation

Three startups from Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe have been named winners of the first Kofi Annan Award for Innovation in Africa, and will each receive EUR250,000 (USD 250 K) in grants, international visibility, and long-term mentoring.

The Kofi Annan Award aims to contribute to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal 3, “Good Health and Wellbeing. It challenges more traditional developmental approaches and focuses on innovative, disruptive, and entrepreneurial approaches to overcome global challenges. 

The three startups named winners were Kenya’s Flare, which uses a digital platform to coordinate ambulance services within minutes; Nigeria’s MOBicure, whose myPaddi service is a discreet counseling network that aims to increase the sexual health of young people; and Zimbabwe’s Vaxiglobal, an online solution that aims to facilitate broadly effective vaccination campaigns.