Legatum, a private international investment group and Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, announced the selection of 10 companies as finalists of the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship of which 5 are Technology companies hailing from various parts of Africa.
The selected 5 Tech companies for the finals are:
Unique Solutions Company Limited from Gambia, Expand Technology from Mauritius, First Atlantic Semiconductor & Microelectronics from Nigeria, Cellular Systems International from Senegal and Securico from Zimbabwe.
The winner of the Grand Prize will win a reward of US $100,000 and rest top six other will win prizes of US $50,000 each which is to be held on December 8th in Nairobi.
The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship recognises and rewards business leaders who embody the entrepreneurial spirit and qualities required to succeed in business and who are the inspirational role models for the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
“The Africa Awards celebrate business excellence within Africa, helping to build a strong network of African entrepreneurs, and our 10 finalists demonstrate the breadth and depth of entrepreneurial talent across the continent today. Such diversity shows that Africa’s outstanding business leaders are not constrained by geography, gender or ambition.” said Alan McCormick, Managing Director of Legatum.
The finalists will make formal presentations to an international jury of business leaders chaired by Malik Fal, Managing Director of Endeavor. The jury will also include some of Africa’s most prominent entrepreneurs and investors, amongst whom are Kamal Budhabhatti, Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 Africa Awards; James Manyika, Director of the McKinsey Global Institute; and Ayisi Makitiani, the CEO of Fanisi Capital.
