Congratulations to the Semifinalists of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech!
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Vox Africa: Winners of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy Announced During the Opening Session of the Milken Institute Global Conference

Prize program awards Aftrak the $1 million Grand Prize to advance green energy in Africa; OMNIVAT awarded runner-up prize of $250,000; The organisations also launch a new FinTech Award in the next installation of the Prize program; winners will be selected in May 2025.

The Milken Institute (https://apo-opa.co/44yU0nF) and the Motsepe Foundation today announced the winners of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy, a $2 million innovation competition to reward entrepreneurs working to expand access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable off-grid electricity in Africa. The winners were announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

Aftrak (https://apo-opa.co/4bKg4OT), an initiative based out of the UK and Malawi, was awarded the $1 million Grand Prize for its easily assembled solar microgrid and custom-designed tractors, which have tripled agricultural yield, increased farmer incomes, and provided electricity to remote communities. The runner-up award of $250,000 was presented to South Africa-based OMNIVAT (www.OMNIVAT.Tech) for its containerized electricity generation and storage system, which provides clean water, clean energy, and Wi-Fi enriched by virtual reality support for remote communities.

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Engineering News: How an AgriTech Prize Helped Me Realise My Life’s Work

By: Diana Orembe – Founder and CEO of NovFeed When I was a child, I witnessed firsthand my uncle’s struggles as a fish farmer. Growing up on his farm, I saw the immense effort he put into his work, only to be met with financial challenges due to the high cost and inconsistent quality of the feed stock. I later learnt my uncle was not alone, and that African farmers across the spectrum faced similar productivity challenges. This inspired me to find a way to create meaningful change in the African agricultural sector. During my second year at university, while conducting research on the application of microbes as feed, I revisited fish farms and found that the same issues my uncle faced were still around, even ten to fifteen years later. Farmers were investing heavily in feed, often imported and expensive, which cut deeply into their profits. Seeing that these issues

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Vox Africa: Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech Announces 10 Semifinalists

The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation announced the 10 teams advancing to the Semifinalist Round of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech (https://apo-opa.co/3Y0GSEY), with each team receiving $100,000 in funding.   Responding to a global call for applications, this prize supports innovative solutions to expand access to tools necessary for financial inclusion across emerging and frontier markets. The Semifinalists will participate in an Innovation Showcase at the Milken Institute’s Middle East and Africa Summit December 5-6, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. During this event, the 10 teams will pitch their innovations to a panel of expert judges and investors, and three teams will be selected to move on to the final round of the prize. The judges will evaluate the pitches based on the teams’ ability to deliver solutions that improve financial inclusion for under-resourced groups in emerging and frontier markets.   Read the full article here.

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