The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed, via videoconference, the announcement of the results of the third and final edition of the African App Launchpad (AAL) Cup 2021 competition, organised by the ministry’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), and implemented by the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC) in collaboration with IBM.
The AAL is an initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in November 2018, during the World Youth Forum, held in Sharm El Sheikh. The initiative is aimed at building the capacities of 10,000 Egyptian and African youth and supporting the establishment of 100 African startups specialising in app and game development.
The initiative also aims to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in a way that contributes to creating job opportunities and stimulating economic growth.
AAL targets bringing African youth together under the umbrella of Egypt; developing innovative solutions to the challenges facing the goals of development, sustainability, and prosperity in Africa; and raising awareness of the challenges facing the technology community in different African countries.
Talaat underlined that the conclusion of the competition represents the culmination of the tireless efforts made over three years since the launch of AAL presidential initiative. He explaining the boom achieved in capacity-building programmes and initiatives in Egypt and Africa despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Talaat stressed that the initiative was launched with the aim to make optimal use of digital solutions to serve the African continent, and out of believing in the ability of young Africans to harness technology and develop innovative and creative solutions to overcome societal challenges in the continent.
Furthermore, Talaat said that AAL was launched with the aim of sharing capacity building programmes in digital app and game development with brothers in African countries. This will help create job and business opportunities for African youth through supporting the establishment of startups and building educational networks in modern technologies to serve as platforms for technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Talaat pointed out that the initiative is complemented by other long-term capacity building programmes, including the programmes provided by the Egyptian African Telecom Regulatory Training Centre (EG-ATRC), and the Regional Postal Training Centre.
The ICT Minister reviewed the outcomes of AAL, including training about 10,000 young people, students, and graduates, who completed 27,377 training courses in 30 technological tracks and specialisations. The initiative also supported the establishment of more than 100 startups.
Talaat stated that the top participants of the initiative will have the opportunity to present their experience at the World Youth Forum, in January 2022. He thanked the organising team for carrying out the initiative and reaching 22 African countries.
For his part, ITIDA CEO Amr Mahfouz said that AAL is the first of its kind in Africa; it provides early-stage entrepreneurs and startup a key platform to grow and showcase their innovative ideas and projects, along with awards and funds.
Mahfouz explained that the competition features two tracks: Game Development and App Development. He added that 245 startups from 16 African countries applied to participate in the final version of the competition, representing a 30 per cent increase, compared with 2020 applications.
ITIDA Vice President and TIEC Chairperson Hossam Osman reviewed the selection process of the startups that applied for the competition, where 50 startups reached the first qualifying round. They received online technical training in fields including business planning and acceleration, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science. Out of the 50 startups, 28 from eight African countries were qualified for the final round after they pitched their innovative ideas and business projects to a jury including members from Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.
A jury composed of members from Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco supervised the finals of the competition. Six startups won the top three spots in the two tracks of the competition, receiving a total cash prize of $48,000. The other teams that made it to the finals won a cash prize of total $1,000, offered by MCIT.
