Over the past 10 years Africa has been producing a stream of great technology companies and the goal of #Africatech50 is to showcase some of these companies to the rest world. Africa’s challenging environment often leads to people coming up with exciting solutions.
Technology affects all areas of our lives, from healthcare,financial services,education,agriculture,mining, architecture, sports,media,entertainment etc. The accompanying report will look at how Africa is changing technology and how technology is changing Africa.
Producing a list of Africa’s top technology entrepreneurs is no mean feat. Working with leading incubators,accelerators, investors and other key stakeholders , nominations are being sought from across the continent, sent in by people affiliated with various networks of entrepreneurs, leading tech industry executives and investors, technology blog readers and members of the public through Twitter and Facebook.
To be eligible, entrepreneurs must be African nationals or have made Africa their home in running a tech business. They must also be the chief executive or part of the founding team of a technology company, remaining actively involved in the organisation or in related entrepreneurial endeavours.
The judges are influenced by a number of factors, including the current impact of an entrepreneur, the innovation of their work and whether they have global standing or potential to grow into a global brand. With this in mind, the judges each vote on their preferred candidates, which creates a final ranking.
We also want to shine a spotlight on young tech entrepreneurs, people at the start of their careers but beginning to make a major impact. Accordingly, our judges will also vote on candidates aged 30 or under to create a Top 10 ranking. However, some of these young founders have already achieved so much that they may also deserve entry on to the main Top 50 list.
The goal is to create a perfect blend of high growth startups and fast growing Scaleups and a definitive guide to investors and policy makers for one of the world’s most fascinating ecosystem.
The AfricaTech50 #Africatech50 Programme is the region’s most objective industry ranking to focus on the technology space, recognising companies that have achieved the fastest rates of growth in Africa and those likely to impact African growth over the next 5 years.
The final list and ecosystem report will be published during the upcoming Africa Technology Week taking place on 21–25th September 2015. #Africatechweek #Africatechnologyweek
Nominate by tweeting #Africatech50