The Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation launched it’s first awards for innovation in 2017, supporting awardees to lift barriers to development of future economies in Nigeria. It has been named the Ken Junior Award in honor of Ken Senior’s first son who passed away in October 2016.
There are four prizes for start-up companies in Port Harcourt that illustrate technological innovation in the business model. To support development of their idea, winners receive rent-free office space at the Ken Saro-Wiwa Centre in Port Harcourt, inclusive of electricity and internet, for six months.
The award of residency includes access to all facilities – computer suite, event space, and teleconference room – to give innovators the foundation they need to establish themselves in the global economy of the 21st century.
The 2017 winners were:
SchoolDig
The greatest problem of the education sector in Nigeria is that of responsibility and control. The goal of KayTech’s Schooldig is to digitize the entire school management process and provide a platform that connects the school, teachers, parents and teachers to bring about seamless school management process for all parties involved.
is an online booking platform for repair of all types of home appliances, by qualified and professional service providers. Their digital platform provides easy access to professionals, full appliance diagnosis and seamless payment processes. WeFix offers pick up and drop off services at customer’s convenience.
Afroage
Afroage is Africa’s premium online bookstore. We sell, rent, publish and deliver African books (books written by Africans or that talks about the African content). Simply put, Afroage is building a directory of Africa’s literary and research prowess. The platform aims to serve professional, educationist, historians, researches, those reading for pleasure and everyone else.
Throway @ThrowayNG
Throway is a professional waste pick up service provider that enables convenient waste disposal system for housing, estate communities in Rivers state and beyond. The Throway platform enables users to find agents, subscribe monthly and keep track of waste disposal activities happening in their environments weekly and monthly. Throway personnel arrives at the designated location weekly to collect and dispose waste properly; all done in a hygienic, environmental friendly, safe and professional manner. Wastes are properly sorted and all recyclables are sent to recycling plants
If you are interested in applying in 2018, please follow the Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation supported tech hub twitter handle (@KswfHub) for updates on when the window for applications is open.
For more information visit www.kensarowiwafoundation.org
