As part of its "Shared Innovation" series, AFD highlights innovative programs created or developed in our partner countries. Every year, the AFD Digital Challenge recognizes ten African start-ups whose remarkable innovations contribute to development. Here are the profiles of the ten winners of the 2021 edition, dedicated to climate and biodiversity on the African continent.
Since 2016, the AFD Digital Challenge has been rewarding the most innovative African start-ups, associations, and research centers in the field of digital technology and support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs
) on the continent. After five years of existence, 35 African start-ups have benefited from financial support and coaching to enable them to scale up. Driven by a new generation of entrepreneurs, the digital revolution is transforming the African continent. These are the women and men who are reconciling innovation, economic performance, and social and environmental impact.
Here are the profiles of the winners from French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa in the 2021 edition of the AFD Digital Challenge, dedicated to climate and biodiversity on the African continent:
Benin – Premium Hortus: the platform specializing in e-commerce for organic products
Like many African countries, Benin is facing rapid growth in its urban population. This increase is accompanied by a strong demand for basic foodstuffs, including fruit, vegetables, and fish. To meet this increase in demand, "large quantities of chemical inputs, mostly imported, are used by the horticultural sector
,"
notes Johannes Goudjanou, founder of Premium Hortus
in 2019. "In addition, the distribution chain remains very long and traditional, with a lack of modern technologies, coupled with price spikes."
Cameroon – Bleaglee: an electronic waste collection and recycling service
"In Cameroon, millions of electronic devices are used every day, but they are not recycled once they reach the end of their life. Every year, the country throws away the equivalent of more than €1 billion worth of precious metals in the form of electronic waste. They contaminate the soil and water due to a lack of organization in the process of tracking, collecting, and recycling this e-waste
,
"
laments Juveline Ngum, founder of Bleaglee.
Founded in 2019, the start-up develops 3D flight planning software for drones. These flights are used to locate electronic waste in landfills and trash cans. At the same time, Bleaglee works with collectors to collect electronic waste and sell it to recycling companies on national and international markets. "Our digital platform ERecycle provides a free on-demand e-waste recycling service to individuals and businesses, and pays collectors via an electronic wallet system."
To date, Bleaglee has collected and recycled more than 300 tons of e-waste and provided employment for more than 300 young people, particularly women.
The start-up hopes to soon expand the platform's services to the capital, Yaoundé. It also wants to increase the number of electronic waste collectors by offering 120 unemployed young people training in recycling and converting waste into eco-friendly products.
Cameroon – Siren: a platform that protects the environment by transferring information
"Imagine if fishermen around the world could take photos of sharks, rays, and dolphins on their phones… Then they could upload them to a platform that scientists could access to analyze the data and share it with local governments to create marine protected areas and preserve these species! "
This was Aristide Takoukam Kamla's dream when he created the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO)
in 2014.
To achieve this goal, AMMCO created Siren. This collaborative citizen science app helps local coastal communities, scientists, governments, and NGOs understand data on marine mammal populations and preserve them. The platform has one goal: "To make the African coastal and aquatic environment a safe haven for manatees and other marine wildlife, while taking into account the best interests of local populations."
Source: press release