BQ Reporter 
The Summit is hosting over 2,000 stakeholders, from 50+ countries around the World, including participants from 30+ African countries.[Photo/INTELLECAP]
Sankalp Forum, an initiative of Intellecap, is hosting its 9th Edition of the Sankalp Africa Summit, one of Africa’s largest inclusive networking platforms focussed on entrepreneurship and the impact investing ecosystem, in a hybrid format, from the 1st to 4th March 2021.
This year, the Sankalp Africa Awards 2022 winner is Zuri Health a healthcare startup from Kenya. Zuri Health brings to its customers, an innovative virtual hospital that allows patients to talk to a doctor, purchase medication from a pharmacy, schedule lab and diagnostic testing, and have a doctor come to their home. So far, they have clocked impressive numbers with over 20,000 doctor engagements and 250+ onboarded doctors.
The very idea of using innovation and technology in improving access to healthcare in Africa through mobile phone applications and services, against the backdrop of the pandemic, is yet another testimony to the promising innovators who are solving complex problems.
In Africa 30% of the waste and in Kenya over 38% of the waste remains uncollected due to population growth, costs of waste disposal and lack of necessary infrastructure. This presents a significant opportunity and the First Runner Up is Ecodudu, a Circular Economy startup in Kenya.
This waste-to-value company again brings innovation to the fore, making bio fertilizer and insect feeds for chickens, pigs, and fish using the black soldier fly. The company employs a circular production approach that makes use of small-scale farmers’ capability in the production process.
The Second Runner Up was Mobility for Africa, a Clean Energy startup from Zimbabwe, provides fully serviced three-wheeled electric vehicles (Hamba) that can travel up to 100 kilometers and carry up to 400 kilograms on a single charge. The vehicles are equipped with purpose-built batteries, and MFA provides on-site charging stations for battery swapping, as well as after-care services to ensure that small-holder farmers and other users are always on the move.
Renewable community-based transport solutions for Sub Saharan Africa that are affordable, efficient, and environmentally friendly is an idea which serves a dual purpose on both energy efficiency and the need for transportation services that serves the multitude.
Each year, the Sankalp Summit recognizes and rewards high impact enterprises in the Africa region which are keen to tackle key development challenges. The finalists get the opportunity to pitch their enterprises to a jury panel comprising of eminent business leaders and investors, as well as global investors around the world.
They also instituted a new innovative category, the Sankalp Africa Ecosystem Award. The winner was chosen by voting by stakeholders and ecosystem players, and the winner was Greenpot Enterprises, an environmental startup from Kenya and an integrated bamboo company that operates large-scale nurseries, establishes bamboo plantations, and processes the bamboo into products used in the construction industry.
Speaking about the Sankalp Africa Awards, Arielle Molino, Sankalp Lead and AVP Intellecap Africa, said “Sankalp Forum is one of our largest initiatives that aim to bring the community together to help solve the problems that face us through cutting edge innovation and high potential entrepreneurship. Sankalp Awards and the Africa summit, today, in its 9th year in Africa, continue to showcase some of the most innovative and game changing ideas that have shown immense promise and ability to scale, disrupt and transform their respective sectors.”
Overall, the finalists highlighted some interesting ideas from innovators which include Crop Nutrition Laboratory Services (Cropnuts), an agricultural, food safety, and environmental laboratory and agronomy advisory service company that helps farmers achieve long-term profitability by rebuilding and restoring soil fertility, Vintz Plastics, a waste recycling company that turns plastic trash into Plastic pellets, Steamledge which provides Primary and Secondary School learners early and affordable access to Technology skills that match the needs of the changing workforce, Natal Cares which combines mobile technology, machine learning and low-cost innovation to combat maternal and infant mortality, The Pathology Network (TPN) which has an online platform-based operations enabling on-demand access to standardized specialized lab diagnostic tests for rural and urban hospitals and Swiftlab Limited, a Kenyan manufacturer and operator of drones for medical deliveries to increase access to safe, effective, high quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
The Summit is hosting over 2,000 stakeholders, from 50+ countries around the World, including participants from 30+ African countries.
