Africa In Focus

Africa In Focus: "The mainstream thinking now is that Africa is different and we could get it right if we want. The choice is fully ours, and it is now time for us to define what we want."

African Development Bank (AFDB) President, Dr. Donald Kaberuka.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Jumpstart Africa Launch Campaign To Revolutionise How The World Supports Africa


Jumpstart Africa has launched its indiegogo campaign to raise needed funds to complete the build of its revolutionary crowd funding platform, Jumpstart Africa.

Pioneering in every way, Jumpstart Africa is the first to imagine a better way in which the world can lend its support to the continent's brightest minds to help them raise money for their innovative and creative projects.  The Indiegogo campaign, which starts today, has a funding goal of $40,000USD to also provide the needed resources to find and help local African entrepreneurs in making their dreams and projects a reality. 

Bridging the gap between Africa's current banking system that fails to help innovative African entrepreneurs emerge, Jumpstart Africa will operate with complete transparency so that those who contribute via the platform will always know exactly where their money goes – to the African entrepreneurs, innovators and artists it was meant for. 

"Many avid supporters of Africa believe that aid given to Africa actually hurts Africa," said Ahmed Zikrem, CEO & founder, Jumpstart Africa.  "We propose a new way of giving directly to an entrepreneur who is going to start a business that will solve a problem, provide jobs and stimulate local economies.  We want to empower the people of Africa – not give them a fish but help them to fish on their own."

Jumpstart Africa has built strong relationships with top innovation centers, incubators, and associations throughout Africa to help people reach out and support its initiative.  Some of the exciting projects that will be on JumpstartAfrica.com at launch include:
-Unmanned Ariel Vehicle: Moses Gichanga from Kenya has developed a low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology to help monitor and prevent poaching and the slaughter of wildlife in Africa.
-Solar Cooking Stove: Rose Twine from Uganda has developed a low-cost smokeless solar stove that can also charge your phone and light your house for the price of only two months of regular charcoal consumption.
TeaBag Water Filter: Professor Eugene Cloete and his team at Stellenbosch University in South Africa have developed an affordable water filter called a "teabag" that fits into the neck of a standard sized water bottle.

"Did you know that many of the products used on a day-to-day basis by consumers around the world were invented by Africans - the traffic light, the elevator and the pressure cooker?  Obviously, these kinds of ideas have greatly impacted people worldwide and we have noticed that Africa's talented entrepreneurs are growing in numbers and are creating innovative solutions that will propel Africa's future," Zikrem concluded. 



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