African Impact Initiative Challenge 2023 Winners

Kondwani Ngulube

Kondwani, a winner of the African Impact Initiative Challenge 2022, is here in Toronto this summer alongside an exceptional cohort. Studying business and technology in Rwanda, Kondwani's journey is nothing short of awe-inspiring. This extraordinary individual is self-taught in computer science and has competed in multiple hackathons and competitions, netting over $12,000 in the process.

"Healthcare and other industries use AI, why not Agriculture? " In response to this critical challenge, Kondwani founded Shamba Data, an endeavor aimed at revolutionizing the agriculture industry. Recognizing the tremendous difficulty in obtaining agricultural data, he took it upon himself to leverage technology and create innovative solutions. "Shamba" translates to agriculture in Swahili, reflecting his deep-rooted commitment to the industry. His ultimate vision is to transform his platform into an AI service, much like ChatGPT, empowering farmers to make intelligent decisions and optimize their practices. 

While in Canada, Kondwani is eagerly seeking to forge connections with exceptional individuals who can support and contribute to the growth of his startup. He desires to immerse himself in a vibrant community that shares his passion for innovation and agriculture.

Nomboh Evans Kunchu

Evans is an exceptional winner of the African Impact Initiative Challenge 2022! Alongside his esteemed cohort, Evans has made his way to Toronto this summer, bringing his innovative ideas and remarkable talents to the forefront. Representing Cameroon and currently residing in Mauritius, Evans is in the final year of his electrical engineering studies. But wait, there's more! Evans possesses the remarkable ability to wake up at any time he chooses when he sets his mind to it, he’s a human alarm clock!

Evans' groundbreaking venture, Moto, was born out of a personal experience when his friend suffered an injury and couldn't access an ambulance in a timely manner. Recognizing that many people face similar challenges, enduring long wait times and expensive costs for ambulance services, Evans saw a pressing need to bridge this gap. In sub-Saharan Africa, a staggering 65% of the population lacks access to Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Determined to make a difference, Evans leveraged an existing system and created Moto. This ingenious service trains taxi drivers in first aid, empowering them to transport non-emergency patients to hospitals. "Taxis are everywhere. They are in Toronto, and we have taxis in Mauritius," says Evans. The ultimate goal of Moto is to reduce the cost of ambulance transfers from $300 USD to just $8 USD.

While in Canada, Evans aims to garner support and shed light on the immense potential of African ventures. He seeks mentorship and guidance to further fuel the growth of his remarkable initiative.
 

 Pauline Gethi

Pauline founded Doctors Live with the goal of breaking down barriers and destigmatizing access to mental health support in Kenya and across Africa. Doctors Live offers personalized mental health services, providing users with a wealth of valuable resources. Drawing from her own experiences with mental health, Pauline realized the scarcity of accessible resources available to individuals seeking help. Shockingly, in Kenya, only 4000 therapists serve a population of over 50 million people.

While in Canada, Pauline is eager to connect with professionals in the mental health industry. She aims to learn from the existing systems in Canada, with the intention of driving significant change within the mental health sector, both in Kenya and Africa.

Christelle Giraneza

Driven by a heartbreaking case, Christelle founded the Urukundo Life Skills Board Game. This incident occurred shortly after Rwanda legalized abortions for individuals under 18. A young woman sought help from Christelle and her supervisor, complaining of stomach pains. Tragically, she was misdiagnosed due to her age and stigma around sexual activity. This tragedy also highlighted the significant gap in sexual health education among young people. Christelle posed a question to students: "Would you like to play a game about sex?" Their enthusiastic response spurred her to create an engaging board game that would empower youth to learn about sexual health and initiate crucial conversations with their parents. Urukundo, meaning "love" in Kinyarwanda, aptly became the game's name. Over time, Christelle expanded the game's scope to teach life skills and secured support from ministries and schools. Through the Urukundo Life Skills Board Game and its accompanying app, they have successfully educated over 10,000 youth.

Sylvia Nyaga

Sylvia, alongside her esteemed cohort of African Impact Initiative Challenge winners, are currently in Toronto this summer. Hailing from Kenya, Sylvia is a water and environmental engineer with an undeniable passion for social impact work. But wait, there's more! Sylvia's dedication to her cause has led her to engage in urine filtration, further exemplifying her commitment to finding innovative solutions.

Enter Syna Consultancy, the groundbreaking venture founded by Sylvia. The mission? To provide inclusive sanitation services, specifically designed for individuals with disabilities. Sylvia has identified a significant accessibility gap in African bathrooms, leaving many people, particularly the elderly and disabled, with undignified and dehumanizing alternatives to fulfill their basic bathroom needs. Syna Consultancy steps in with a solution. Their portable toilets empower those with accessibility needs to use the bathroom independently, ensuring dignity and inclusion. Sylvia believes that one of the root causes of this issue lies in the taboo nature of discussing something as universal as using the toilet. Motivated by the discovery that an older family member had resorted to unconventional methods, Sylvia aims to raise awareness and initiate a conversation surrounding this critical topic. 

While in Canada, Sylvia is determined to establish connections with accessibility designers and manufacturers, enabling her to enhance the accessibility of her product for those in need. Additionally, she seeks guidance on creating sustainable shipping solutions and general support from our community.

Nikita Muthuuri

Nikita's groundbreaking initiative, Vectorgram, was inspired by a transformative encounter with a colleague from Germany. Together, they recognized the urgent need to address the issue of late-stage breast cancer diagnoses. Motivated to make a change, Nikita and her co-founders who met at a hackathon developed Vectorgram. This AI-powered tool is designed to help doctors identify early symptoms of breast cancer in patients. With Vectorgram, they strive to greatly reduce the instances of late-stage cancer to bring back hope to so many women across the continent. To learn more about this groundbreaking tool, visit their website at https://www.vectorgram.co/. 

During her time in Canada, Nikita is eager to expand her network with compassionate individuals. For her, it is the people who matter the most. She hopes to connect with those willing to support her startup, offering advice and potential partnerships that can drive her mission forward.

Shikama Dioscore

Shikama's groundbreaking venture, Food Bundles, aims to tackle the challenges of food affordability and accessibility in urban areas. Recognizing the need for technological innovation in the agricultural industry, Shikama seeks to bridge the gap between farmers and the market. Shikama says “despite the agricultural sector's trillion-dollar potential in Africa, it lags behind in terms of innovation.” Food Bundles, an innovative app, connects consumers with smaller farmers, enabling them to purchase food at more affordable prices. To delve deeper into this exciting initiative and download the app, visit their website at https://www.food.rw/.

During his time in Canada, Shikama is eager to connect with individuals who share his passion for the agricultural industry and are willing to support his venture. He seeks strategic partnerships that can contribute to his research efforts, propelling Food Bundles to even greater heights.

Menyo Innocent

Innocent's groundbreaking product, the iWell Bio Tracker, aims to raise awareness about high blood pressure and the need to prevent complications before they arise. He rightly emphasizes that “the real risk lies in not knowing one's blood pressure status”, as many patients only seek medical attention when complications have reached advanced stages. The iWell Bio Tracker is a revolutionary watch that continuously monitors users' blood pressure, enabling individuals to proactively manage their health. Moreover, it facilitates a more efficient patient monitoring system for doctors and reduces the occurrence of "white coat hypertension," often brought on in medical settings. Leveraging the power of AI, iWell empowers doctors to review comprehensive graphs of an individual's blood pressure trends. For more information about the remarkable iWell Bio Tracker, visit their website at https://i4wellhealth.com/. 

During his time in Canada, Innocent is eager to gain support and explore opportunities to incorporate their business into the Canadian market, harnessing the potential for growth and collaboration.

Johnson Thomson Daniel

Johnson, aka JT, is a winner of the African Impact Initiative Challenge 2022. He is currently in Toronto this summer, alongside an outstanding cohort. Hailing from Tanzania, JT is determined to give back to the community. But there's more to JT than meets the eye – he's an absolute food enthusiast, a true foodie at heart.

Medpack is a game-changing solution designed to address the healthcare access challenges faced by countless individuals. It is a digitalized pharmaceutical marketplace that ensures the swift delivery of medications right to your doorstep. JT's motivation stems from a frustrating experience of searching multiple pharmacies to retrieve necessary medications. He soon realized that this issue extended beyond insurance limitations. Shockingly, in Tanzania, approximately 43% of medications are frequently out of stock in pharmacies. With Medpack, this problem is significantly alleviated, transforming the lives of those in need. Check out their website here for more info: https://www.medpack.co.tz/

While in Canada, JT seeks to embrace this experience with an insatiable curiosity, leaving with more questions than he arrived with. His goal is to secure a spot in the Black Founders Network Accelerate Program, allowing him to apply the wealth of knowledge and wisdom he acquires along the way.

Eng. Depute Alphonse Ndayizeye

“How do we help small and medium businesses, which are many, penetrate the market?”  In response to this challenge, Depute founded ATradezone, an initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the market and these small and medium manufacturing businesses. His ultimate objective is to empower them to generate sustainable revenue. ATradezone functions as an online marketplace, facilitating businesses to showcase their products to a wider community. Furthermore, it enables small and medium businesses to establish supply connections with larger manufacturers. This marketplace also serves as an invaluable platform, granting businesses access to other suppliers. 

During his time in Canada, Depute has set his sights on securing a co-founder. Together, they will incorporate and expand his business into the Canadian healthcare sector. In the meantime, he would value any knowledge gained. An extraordinary opportunity awaits! 

John Francis Okonye

John Francis's visionary initiative, Medical Street International Ltd, aims to revolutionize the way patients interact with medical services. Recognizing the challenges faced by Ugandans in accessing healthcare, Medical Street offers innovative solutions. By addressing the inefficiencies in the prescription process and the lack of digital trails for accurate health records, Medical Street aims to enhance the overall medical experience. Moreover, the team at Medical Street has developed a smartphone app to make healthcare services accessible to healthcare providers with limited access to computers, ensuring convenience and efficiency. To prioritize privacy concerns, John Francis is collaborating with a legal team to ensure the utmost safety and protection of sensitive information.

During his time in Canada, John Francis is eagerly seeking mentorship from experienced professionals and establish meaningful connections that can contribute to his ongoing journey.

Peter Musyoki

He founded Lima Technologies with a mission: to ensure that small farmers receive the revenue deserving for their tireless efforts. Peter believes the amount of food produced in Africa is more than sufficient to feed its population, however, a significant challenge lies in post-harvest food waste. With many farmers operating individually, they must handle farming, harvesting, and selling their produce entirely on their own. The predicament arises from farmers lacking knowledge of where to sell, while consumers struggle to find reliable sources for their purchases. This is precisely where Lima Technologies comes in. It is a software system that serves as a bridge, connecting farmers directly to markets and effectively eliminating this barrier. 

During his time in Canada, Peter is determined to learn extensively, particularly about the startup ecosystem. He aims to foster mutually beneficial relationships by sharing his own expertise and experiences. Most importantly, Peter says he wants to have fun and make the most of this incredible journey!