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Amazon has selected three Nigerian organisations as part of the fourth cohort of its Amazon Web Services (AWS) Social Entrepreneur Accelerator, making Africa the largest regional representative in the global programme.
The nine African organisations chosen come from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon and Tanzania. Overall, the programme includes 42 organisations from 16 countries, including the United States, Australia, India and the United Kingdom.
The AWS Social Entrepreneur Accelerator, organised in partnership with Deloitte, provides technical training, strategic business planning and continued support from AWS and Deloitte to help mission-driven organisations expand solutions addressing challenges in education, healthcare and climate resilience.
Jyoti Ball, General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at AWS, welcomed Africa’s strong representation.
“Africa’s representation in this cohort reflects what we’re seeing across the continent, a generation of founders who don’t wait for conditions to be perfect. They build anyway.
“Our role is to ensure they have access to the same world-class cloud and AI technology as any startup in Silicon Valley and the support to scale impact across borders,” Ball said.
The three Nigerian organisations selected are Sabi Scholar, Kayode Alabi Leadership and Wetech Inc.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Sabi Scholar, Divine Iloh, the organisation is developing an “operating system” for African higher education that enables universities to launch online degree programmes within 30 days, potentially benefiting the continent’s more than 200 million young people.
Kayode Alabi Leadership, founded by Hammed Kayode Alabi, focuses on reducing inequality by equipping underserved young people with leadership, education and technology-based skills to address local challenges and become community leaders.
Meanwhile, Wetech Inc., founded by Gabriella Uwadiegwu, is working to build Africa’s largest pipeline of women in technology through training, mentorship and direct employment opportunities.
Kenya’s representatives are KuzeKuze and STEM Centre Africa. According to KuzeKuze Chief Technology Officer Enock Sangaka Mong’are, the organisation is developing digital “education passports” that create lifelong learning records for students.
Founded in 2017 by brothers Dancun and Denish Akoum, STEM Centre Africa promotes practical STEM education through coding, robotics and 3D design. The organisation has trained more than 18,000 students, with 90 per cent achieving proficiency in Python, Scratch and electronics, and aims to reach 100,000 learners by 2030.
The remaining organisations include BASICS International from Ghana, FunHouse Digital from South Africa, EduCloud from Cameroon and Fiqra Academy from Tanzania.
At the end of the programme, all participating organisations will receive the skills and support needed to scale their solutions using AWS cloud and artificial intelligence technologies alongside Deloitte’s consulting expertise.
