The African Development
Bank and its partners want your ideas for beating the COVID-19 pandemic
Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire, 10 April 2020- The African Development Bank and partners are
set to host an online #AfricaVsVirus Challenge from 16 to 19 April 2020. The
72-hour competition is a global hackathon – or “ideathon” – to develop
effective solutions to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Challenge is open to
entrepreneurs, companies, civil society organizations and governments with
bankable solutions or ventures to address the pandemic. The top pitches will be
eligible to win thousands of dollars’ worth of financial, technical and
skills-learning support to advance their implementation. Details on competition
qualifications and methods of participation can be found here:
“COVID-19’s impact on the
global economy is pushing millions of people, especially women and young
people, into unemployment, underemployment and working poverty. Part of our
response is the #AfricaVsVirus Challenge,” said Tapera Muzira,
Coordinator of the African Development Bank’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy. “This online Challenge
will channel youth creativity and innovation to real life solutions that
mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on health, the economy, SMEs and jobs,”
he added.
The #AfricaVsVirus
Challenge opens on Thursday, 16 April at 6:30 pm CET and runs non-stop through
to Sunday, 19 April at 6:30 pm CET. Entrants can choose to submit ideas under
one of the following sectors: public health and epidemiology; vulnerable
populations; businesses and economy; community; education; entertainment;
government support; environment and energy; and food security. Alternatively,
they may choose their own theme.
An expert panel will
select the twenty best solutions submitted, and these finalists will be invited
to take part in a one-month educational program by Seedstars. The top three winning ideas will
receive up to $50,000 worth of in-kind prizes.
#AfricaVsVirus Challenge
is part of the Bank’s strategy to support young African entrepreneurs –
especially young women entrepreneurs – and their SMEs and startups by providing
an enabling environment to innovate appropriate solutions to the COVID-19
crisis. The Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, working closely with
the Youth Entrepreneurship & Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund is
hosting the ideathon, with partners Seedstars, digital agency WAAT and development consultants Luvent Consulting.
Rollout of the Challenge
follows the African Development Bank’s launch on 8 April of a $10 billion
COVID-19 response facility, and the sale of a record $3 billion debt issue last
month to raise financing to help African countries confront the pandemic, which
is already wreaking havoc on their economies.
Interested parties can
follow the global conversation about the competition by following
#AfricaVsVirus on social media, or by logging on to www.africavsvirus.com.
Media Contacts:
For the Bank: Gershwin Wanneburg, Communication
and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: g.wanneburg@afdb.org
For Seedstars: Saad Zgaoui, Regional Marketing Manager for Africa at Seedstars, email: saad@seedstars.com.
AGM
..Un pas vers l'unité véritable des africains.Il est temps que les africains prennent en main leur destinée. Beaucoup de compétences dans tous les domaines et d'idées novatrices attendent d'être utilisées et vulgarisées.La médecine africaine par les plantes doive aussi être exploitée scientifiquement.En tout cas nous saluons vivement cette initiative.
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