Two High School Innovators Launch Niconect.

Welcome to Build Africa! 👋🏿

Your startup journey starts here.

Beginnings are hard. Launching and scaling a startup is even harder. That overwhelming feeling when you face the unknown - the ideas buzzing in your head, the fear, the excitement…I know it well. That’s why I’m launching this space.

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Deals & Close Ups 🤑🤑

€15,000 Cash Award During Afro Green Demo Day

The AfroGreen ClimAccelerator, rooted in Arusha, Tanzania, is driving the future of climate innovation. Hosted by Westerwelle Startup Haus Arusha this forward-thinking program equips youth-led startups with the tools, training, and market access needed to turn bold ideas into sustainable solutions for our planet. With a focus on entrepreneurship and technical skills, AfroGreen is cultivating the next generation of leaders ready to tackle climate change head-on.

This year's cohort has completed with a demo day. Top 3 winners being Ojanna Foods, Green Foot, and Nana Naturals taking home €15,000 in awards for their impactful solutions.

Top 3 Health Innovations Selected for CHIA Awards Final at Tanzania Health Summit.

In the final round of this year's CHIA Awards, three health innovators will present their innovative solutions at the 11th Tanzania Health Summit. The winning innovation will receive TZS 5 million. The finalists competing for the prize are Akili Yangu, TanzMed, and the Automated Suction Machine.

Since its inception in 2020, the CHIA Healthcare Innovation Awards have been a platform for recognizing and celebrating the most innovative healthcare solutions, products, and services in Tanzania. This annual event provides TZS 5 million in seed funding to support young innovators in developing solutions that address key healthcare challenges, such as infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and limited access to quality care.

The CHIA Awards focus on innovations in the following areas:

• Patient Care

• Health Technology and Digital Solutions

• Health Systems

• Community Health and Wellness

• Health Education and Workforce Development

For more information about the CHIA Awards, please visit the Tanzania Health Summit website.

Startup Spotlight🌟🌟

Two High school Innovators Launch Niconect.

Two form six students from Kibaha Secondary School, Aidan Andrea and Eric Egidius, have launched Niconect—an innovative online platform to help students navigate the challenges of career selection and scholarship opportunities within Tanzania. The platform targeted group is advanced secondary school students, providing them with detailed information about universities and higher learning programs across the country so as to make informed decisions on career choices.

The platform will provide a wide range of information to Tanzanian students including:

• University programmes

• Admission requirements

• Loan applications

• Scholarship opportunities

• Potential career paths

• Pairing with mentors

The launch of this platform is motivated by the increased notable struggle among many students with career decisions due to lack of information, leading them to make decisions influenced by family, firends or other external factors rather than their own interests. This has led to dissatisfaction among students, finding themselves in fields that do not match their interests.

“Our goal with Niconect is to ensure that every student has access to the right information to make informed decisions about their careers and scholarships”, Andrea stated.

This launch marks a significant step in solving one of the major challenges in the education sector that affect the nation’s productivity in the long run. Access to right information at early stages is crucial in creating a pool of more determined, motivated and committed individuals who will contribute to the economy through pursuing careers of their choices with a clear roadmap, opportunities and actions to take accordingly. A support to strengthening this platform is needed to solve one of the major social challenge in our country.

The rate of youth aged between 15 to 29 who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Sub-saharan Africa was approximately 21.9% in 2022, slightly higher than the global average of 20.4%. Most youth make life-changing decisions, especially on their career choices, during this age. Thus, a platform with access to right information can help reduce the number in this group by creating a fully-aware group of young people powered by the knowledge through timely access to information.

Tunzaa Has Surpassed 100,000 Users.

This week Tunzaa has surpassed 100,00 users since it launch.

Tunzaa is a financial app designed to improve financial habits and literacy among everyday Africans. It combines gamification, personalized notifications, and advanced APIs to enhance users' financial management and decision-making. Here's a breakdown of its core features:

• Gamification: Utilizes data-driven strategies and behavioral design techniques to make financial management engaging and motivating.

• Notifications: Provides custom prompts and reminders based on each user’s financial goals and behavior, helping them stay on track.

• APIs: Offers advanced APIs for developers to integrate Tunzaa’s features into other projects, facilitating innovative financial solutions.

Community Highlights 🔥🔥

Falling Walls Lab Tanzania Bootcamp

Over the course of three action-packed sessions, seven outstanding innovators were equipped with the skills needed to present their pitch decks at the prestigious Falling Walls event Tanzania hosted by Lab24 and The Next Hub . The program emphasized a tailored approach, addressing each innovator’s unique strengths and challenges while promoting an environment of creativity and collaboration.

Neema Mfuru founder of KIBUTI BOT emerged as the winner. Neema will now represent Tanzania at the Falling Walls Global Hub in Germany, a tremendous opportunity to showcase local talent on a global stage. 🌍

Event Highlights 🌟🌟

Join the leading tech community in the country this week.

Register Today.

Funding opportunities 🎇🎇🎇

Hello Tomorrow - Global Challenge

Winners get 1-to-1 coaching & personal introductions with potential investors, partners and clients. Receive the Deep Tech Pioneer recognition & get a chance to be featured in reports and invited to speak at future events. €100K Grand Prize, €25K 2nd prize and €25K pre-VC stage prize – all equity-free, no strings attached.

Innovate Africa Fund
Backing innovators committed to solving rather than merely exploiting problems.

SAIS Investment Readiness Programme 2025

🌍 Do you run a scalable #AgTech, #FoodTech, #LivestockTech or #ClimateTech start-up operating in #Africa?💡 Check out hashtag#IRP2025 for scale-ready tech start-ups by GIZ GmbH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)!

 Call for Proposals on Scaling Digital and Green Innovations in Africa 

The Digital and Green Innovation Joint Action is a 24 month programme that aims at operationalising the advancement of the twin transition to a green and digital economy, with a strong focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. It will foster digital solutions that tackle environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, while contributing to circular and resilient local economies with a grant of 150,000 euros per project to five projects.

Deadline: September 4th, 2024
 
Techstars Accelerators

In three-month, entrepreneurs are helped to find product-market fit, get traction, and access capital and mentorship. Get Access to funding, mentorship and Venture capital investor. Deadline 20th November.

Female Foundry

Visionaries AI Incubator | a 6-week programme for post- pre-seed to Series A female-founded companies to help leverage the latest AI.

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