The programme which was also co–funded by
Bristol Myers Squibb, virtually brough together hundreds of students and recent
alumni from twelve universities across seven countries in Sub–Saharan Africa
for an entrepreneurship bootcamp and innovation competition.
During the innovation competition,
participants formed multi–disciplinary teams, received industry insights,
mentorship, and hands–on training through workshops to generate solutions for
early–stage business ventures. At the end, the teams pitched their ideas to a
panel of judges and were awarded pre–seed investment through cash prizes and
opportunities to advance their careers.
Digital training is crucial to sustainable
development, boosting entrepreneurship and job creation. “By bridging the gap
between education and the current labor markets, entrepreneurship programmes
like Fuel Africa can unlock the tremendous talent universities hold,” said
Futurize CEO Rhea Singhla.
Participants had opportunities to network
with peers and international experts to create a collaborative ecosystem that
can drive innovation to grow the African economy.
Fuel Africa 2022 bought together the
brightest minds across universities in Sub–Saharan Africa to address some of
the continent’s most pressing challenges in healthcare, with impactful
solutions while leveraging the power of cross–collaboration and technology and
according to Mr Rotimi Alakija, Famfa Oil Limited.
The only way one can move forward is
through innovation, and this can only be done by investing in fresh solutions
to solve current problems.
This year’s two topic areas focused on
creating solutions that will enable access to healthcare as well as the
management and early detection of Non–Communicable Diseases. The mission here
was to equip young entrepreneurs with the resources to build high–potential
venture ideas and to contribute to sustainable development globally.
Yacine Barro Bourgault, Enablement Lead:
Africa Transformation Office at Microsoft, disclosed that Microsoft, through
the Africa Transformation Office, is committed to supporting education
transformation across Africa with access to learning tools, resources and
technology.
Barbara Nel, African Cluster Country
President at AstraZeneca pointed out that “Through A Catalyst Network,
AstraZeneca’s interconnected and dynamic global network of more than 20 health
innovation hubs, we are co–creating challenge–based solutions with and for
patients”.
She said according to the World Health
Organization (WHO), Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are steadily increasing in
prevalence in Africa, and they are predicted to overtake communicable diseases
by the year 2030. “Over time, NCDs have grown to become the leading cause of
death worldwide. These numbers demonstrate the urgency in acting on it.
By partnering with Futurize, we wanted to
offer students in Africa exciting opportunities to connect and collaborate with
a truly global network of expertise and experience, helping to accelerate innovation
and ensure that more patients can get access to the latest health tech
solutions”. She concluded.