The AFRILABS Innovation Awards are a premier pan-African initiative that celebrates excellence in innovation, entrepreneurship, and ecosystem collaboration.
Launched by AfriLabs—Africa’s largest network of technology and innovation hubs—this awards program recognizes outstanding hubs, startups, and individuals shaping the continent’s digital transformation and inclusive growth.
With over 470 innovation hubs across more than 50 African countries, AfriLabs has long championed the infrastructure behind Africa’s innovation ecosystems.
The AFRILABS innovation awards represent more than just recognition; they are a rallying point for the builders of Africa’s future—those investing in digital empowerment, climate resilience, fintech inclusion, women-led ventures, youth upskilling, and the creative economy.
As African countries increasingly prioritize knowledge economies, local tech ecosystems are rising to meet global standards.
Through these awards, AfriLabs not only highlights achievements but also encourages capacity building, cross-border partnerships, and shared prosperity across the continent.
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What is AFRILABS?
AfriLabs is the largest pan‑African network of innovation and technology hubs, uniting over 500 member hubs across 54 African countries .
Founded in 2011, its mission is to empower local innovation ecosystems by fostering collaboration, sharing knowledge, and providing support to tech hubs and their communities.
Originally starting with just five member hubs in 2011, AfriLabs has experienced remarkable growth, now spanning urban centers and emerging innovation spaces from North to Southern Africa.
The network supports entrepreneurs and startups by offering capacity-building programs, securing co-investment through initiatives like Catalytic Africa, and organizing flagship events such as the AfriLabs Annual Gathering.
AfriLabs also collaborates with development partners, governments, and entities like Smart Africa and the African Business Angel Network to advocate for supportive startup environments and digital policies.
It plays a key role in enabling women-led ventures through programs like RevUp Women and focuses on bridging regional divides across the continent.
Through its platform, AfriLabs connects innovation hubs, investors, mentors, and policymakers, helping scale impactful solutions and build a resilient African innovation economy.
Purpose and Vision of the AFRILABS Innovation Awards
The AFRILABS innovation awards were created to serve four central goals:
1. Showcase Innovation Leadership
The awards spotlight hubs and startups delivering bold, scalable, and sustainable solutions—from energy-efficient agriculture and health tech platforms to AI tools and digital finance systems.
2. Encourage Cross-Collaboration
With a growing footprint across all five African regions, AfriLabs fosters inter-hub collaboration and knowledge-sharing. The awards amplify partnerships between hubs, startups, corporates, academia, and governments.
3. Promote Inclusion and Equity
Categories focused on gender, youth, and regional balance help ensure that underrepresented voices are given a platform—furthering AfriLabs’ mission of democratizing innovation.
4. Support Ecosystem Growth and Visibility
Winning the AFRILABS innovation awards attracts not just media attention but also mentorship, funding opportunities, and strategic partnerships for winners—fueling further ecosystem development.
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Award Categories
Reflecting the diversity of Africa’s innovation landscape, the AFRILABS innovation awards feature a wide range of categories:
- Best Innovation Hub – Recognizes a hub that demonstrates outstanding impact in community engagement, program design, and startup support.
- Startup Excellence Award – Celebrates a high-growth, early-stage venture showing product-market fit and traction.
- Green & Climate Tech Award – Honors innovation in renewable energy, climate resilience, circular economy, or sustainable farming.
- Blue Economy Innovator – Acknowledges startups or hubs focused on sustainable water and marine-based innovation.
- Gender-Lens Innovator Award – Rewards women-led hubs or startups advancing gender inclusion in technology and entrepreneurship.
- Emerging Tech Leader Award – Highlights innovation in AI, machine learning, blockchain, and other frontier technologies.
- Youth Empowerment Award – Recognizes programs uplifting youth through digital literacy, vocational training, or entrepreneurship incubation.
- Investor Engagement Award – Given to a hub that successfully connects startups with investors and capital programs.
- Community Impact Award – Celebrates grassroots-driven hubs tackling local problems through inclusive innovation.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria of this Award
Eligible nominees include AfriLabs member hubs and startups affiliated with these hubs. Submissions are evaluated on:
- Innovation: Uniqueness, problem-solution fit, and technological creativity.
- Scalability: Potential for growth within and beyond national borders.
- Impact: Measurable success in user adoption, income generation, or social transformation.
- Inclusion: Emphasis on gender equity, youth empowerment, and community reach.
- Collaboration: Degree of engagement with partners and other ecosystem actors.
A diverse jury composed of innovation ecosystem leaders, investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs conducts a three-stage judging process, including nomination review, semi-final pitch, and final deliberation.
2024/25 Highlights of the AFRILABS innovation Awards
The 2024/25 AFRILABS Innovation Awards, held during the AfriLabs Annual Gathering in Cape Town, South Africa, celebrated groundbreaking innovation, cross-continental collaboration, and ecosystem growth across Africa.
Under the theme “Uniting Innovation”, the event attracted over 700 delegates and featured seven thematic tracks, ranging from sustainability and inclusive innovation to investment, creative digital economy, and AI policy.
A major highlight was the admission of 18 new hubs into the AfriLabs network, expanding its reach to over 500 hubs across 54 African countries.
The awards honored startups and individuals making impactful contributions to social good, gender inclusion, environmental sustainability, and tech for development.
Keynote speeches by regional leaders and global tech influencers emphasized the importance of youth-driven innovation, diversity in entrepreneurship, and ethical data use.
Partnerships played a pivotal role, with organizations like NASENI launching new innovation hubs and international sponsors supporting grassroots innovation.
Hub tours across Cape Town offered immersive insights into how local incubators are transforming communities. The Innovate4Good pitch event, supported by the French Embassy, provided funding to purpose-driven startups.
As the spotlight turns toward the 2025 edition in Nairobi, this year’s awards have reaffirmed AfriLabs’ central role in accelerating Africa’s innovation journey through collaboration, inclusivity, and visionary leadership.
Notable Winners of the AFRILABS innovation awards
1. GreenLoop (Kenya) – Green & Climate Tech Award
GreenLoop is a cutting-edge cleantech startup at the intersection of agriculture, climate resilience, and Internet of Things (IoT).
The company is revolutionizing how smallholder farmers in Kenya and East Africa manage their land by deploying affordable, solar-powered IoT sensors.
These sensors monitor soil moisture, nutrient levels, and environmental conditions in real time.
By analyzing this data through an easy-to-use mobile platform, GreenLoop enables farmers to make informed decisions on irrigation, fertilizer use, and crop rotation.
In pilot communities across Nakuru and Kisumu counties, the startup helped reduce water usage by 35% while improving yields by 22% — key gains in regions battling drought and soil degradation.
GreenLoop stands out not only for its technological innovation but also for its commitment to sustainability and farmer education.
The award celebrates its contribution to building climate-smart agriculture in Africa, supporting food security and environmental conservation simultaneously.
2. OceanSafe (Senegal) – Blue Economy Innovator
OceanSafe is pioneering ocean tech in West Africa with its smart, floating sensor networks that monitor water quality, marine biodiversity, and pollution levels in real time.
The startup collaborates with coastal authorities, universities, and NGOs to deliver timely, data-driven insights that support fisheries management, marine conservation, and coastal planning.
Operating in key Senegalese fishing zones such as Saint-Louis and Dakar Bay, OceanSafe’s sensors track pH levels, salinity, temperature, and plastic contamination.
These metrics are fed into an AI dashboard used by policymakers and conservationists to make smarter decisions.
With oceans under increasing threat from overfishing and plastic waste, OceanSafe plays a vital role in safeguarding marine ecosystems.
Their work has already helped identify illegal dumping hotspots and improve compliance with maritime regulations. The Blue Economy Innovator award acknowledges OceanSafe’s leadership in aligning tech with ecological stewardship and sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities.
3. SheBuildsHub (Ghana) – Gender-Lens Innovator
SheBuildsHub is a women-led innovation space dedicated to closing the gender gap in tech and entrepreneurship across Ghana and West Africa.
Founded by a group of female engineers and developers, the hub runs regular STEM bootcamps, all-girls hackathons, and venture incubation programs tailored to women and girls.
Since its inception, SheBuildsHub has trained over 3,000 girls in coding, robotics, digital design, and mobile app development. It has also incubated 40 startups led by women, covering sectors like fintech, agritech, e-commerce, and edtech.
Their flagship initiative, “Code Queens,” is a 12-week program that takes teenage girls from zero experience to launching tech-based community solutions.
SheBuildsHub’s work addresses deep-rooted barriers such as limited access to mentors, funding, and representation.
The Gender-Lens Innovator award recognizes their transformative impact in empowering the next generation of female changemakers in Africa’s tech space.
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4. TimbuktuAI (Nigeria) – Emerging Tech Leader
TimbuktuAI is reshaping the accessibility of artificial intelligence for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across West Africa.
Their flagship product is a no-code AI platform that allows users to build and deploy AI-powered automation tools without any programming background.
SMEs in industries like logistics, finance, retail, and customer service are using TimbuktuAI to automate repetitive tasks, analyze data, and boost efficiency.
For example, local businesses in Lagos and Cotonou use the platform to automate inventory management, customer support chatbots, and invoice tracking.
With a user base of over 200 businesses in Nigeria and Benin, TimbuktuAI is playing a vital role in digital transformation among underserved business communities.
The Emerging Tech Leader award celebrates the startup’s role in democratizing AI, accelerating digital inclusion, and enhancing operational productivity for African enterprises.
5. YouthConnect Hub (Liberia) – Youth Empowerment Award
YouthConnect Hub is a trailblazing innovation hub in Monrovia that focuses on empowering Liberia’s rural youth through technology and entrepreneurship.
Its peer-led model includes mentorship, digital training, and entrepreneurial support that caters specifically to young people with limited access to traditional education or employment.
The hub offers hands-on training in areas such as digital literacy, coding, robotics, mobile money, and e-commerce. By using a peer-to-peer framework, they encourage local youth to become trainers and role models within their communities.
In the past year alone, 15 micro-enterprises have been launched by program alumni — including mobile repair shops, online stores, and community cleaning ventures.
YouthConnect Hub also runs a rural tech caravan, bringing mobile training labs to remote villages. The Youth Empowerment Award recognizes their grassroots-driven, impact-oriented approach to preparing young Africans for the digital economy and reducing rural-urban opportunity gaps.
Benefits for Winners of the AFRILABS innovation award
Winners of the AFRILABS innovation awards receive:
- A $5,000–$10,000 equity-free grant
- Inclusion in the AfriLabs Connect database for cross-border collaborations
- Access to Catalytic Africa co-investment fund
- Profile features on AfriLabs’ global platforms and media channels
- Strategic intros to partners, VCs, and grantmakers
In many cases, awardees go on to win continental or global accolades, expand operations, and participate in international accelerator programs.
Strategic Partnerships and Sponsors
The awards are backed by global and regional partners including:
- GIZ (German Development Cooperation)
- African Union Innovation & Technology Department
- Mastercard Foundation
- Smart Africa Alliance
- Tony Elumelu Foundation
These partnerships ensure continuity, visibility, and support for award winners and the broader AfriLabs ecosystem.
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Future Plans for the AFRILABS Innovation Awards
The roadmap for the 2025 and 2026 editions includes:
- Launching regional mini-awards in West, East, and Southern Africa
- Introducing new categories for EdTech, HealthTech, and Creative Tech
- Enabling public voting on select categories via AfriLabs Connect
- Expanding the youth award to include a Junior Innovator category (ages 15–19)
- Deepening collaboration with regional economic communities (e.g., ECOWAS, EAC)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who can apply for the AFRILABS innovation awards?
Only AfriLabs member hubs and their affiliated startups are eligible. Applications are typically submitted during the Annual Gathering cycle.
Is there a cost to apply?
No. Nomination and participation are free.
What support do winners receive beyond the award?
Access to capital, media exposure, invitations to global conferences, co-creation labs, and technical advisory sessions.
Can previous winners reapply?
Yes, previous winners can re-enter in a new category or for a significantly evolved product/service.
When is the next award cycle?
Applications open in July 2025. The awards will be presented during the 2025 AfriLabs Annual Gathering in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Conclusion
The AFRILABS innovation awards are more than ceremonial—they serve as a bridge between recognition and real-world impact.
By highlighting bold innovations and resilient communities, the awards celebrate what’s possible when talent, support, and collaboration converge across Africa.
As innovation hubs continue to unlock talent and startups continue to solve real problems, AfriLabs is laying the foundation for a connected, empowered, and sustainable African innovation economy.
