Thirteen African private sector companies are among the twenty-nine finalists competing for the 2020 Transformational Business Awards. IFC and the Financial Times announced the companies as the world’s most innovative, forward-thinking companies that are moving the world closer to reaching sustainable development goals and creating equitable prosperity for all.
The Transformational Business Awards is a premier global program recognizing private sector companies that make a difference in addressing development challenges and in helping the world achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s edition marks 15 years of collaboration between the FT and IFC that made a substantial impact on the way the global community approaches impact investing and private sector development.
These organizations and the initiative will be promoted in an advertisement in the global FT newspaper and through FT Live social media channels. They will also be invited to attend the FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards dinner, where the winners in each category will be announced.
In addition, all short-listed entries will be presented in detail at the Awards dinner before the winners are revealed.
The African finalist companies’ that will receive global recognition include:
- Jibu franchised drinking water treatment (Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, DR Congo, Burundi, Zambia)
- SOSO CARE waste recycling and health insurance programme (Nigeria)
- EZCond off-grid atmospheric water generator (Africa)
- Refrigeration as A Service renewable energy-powered cold room (Nigeria)
- Flare emergency response vehicle dispatch system (Kenya, Ghana)
- Leap and M-Jali platforms for health worker training and household health data (Kenya, Malawi)
- Rology tele-radiology platform for rapid, remote diagnosis (Egypt, DR Congo, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Maldives)
- Simprints biometric ID technology for impact verification (Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia)
- Bookers entrepreneurial and apprenticeship programme (Nigeria)
- Vodafone Foundation Instant Network Schools for refugees (Kenya, Tanzania, DR Congo, South Sudan)
- Boresha Technologies financial services for smallholder farmers (Uganda)
- IKEA Foundation livelihood development programme for Somali refugees (Ethiopia)
- Atlas critical sanitation facilities for primary schools (South Africa)
Twenty-nine finalists selected from the pool of 179 entries are creating jobs, tackling the challenges of urban infrastructure, growing food in tough places, delivering clean water, helping refugees integrate into society, and much more.
The aim of the award is to recognize, showcase and reward private sector innovation, impact, replicability, financial viability and sustainability across a number of key areas identified in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Special attention will be given by the judging panel to initiatives that address climate change, and/or harness disruptive technologies and business models to achieve impact and scale. Innovative financing solutions, including best practice in impact investing, will also be recognized.
Projects or transactions must have passed the implementation stage and result in measurable impact. They must be financially viable now or potentially within five years of implementation. Only initiatives that have been implemented since 2014 will be eligible.
Winners will be announced on October 8th, during the all-virtual FT/IFC Transformational Business Conference, a gathering of global thinkers, senior journalists, and business leaders. He winning organization and the award-winning initiative in each category will be promoted in an advertisement in the global FT newspaper and through FT Live social media channels
In addition, a summary of the entry will be featured on the Awards website
The event will be broadcasted live and the public can virtually meet the winners in real time.
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