Dakar, Senegal, 13 September 2021– The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa (SUA) will announce the fist-ever winners of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award at the official virtual ceremony on Thursday, 16 September from 09:30 GMT online (Register here).
The three winners will be revealed live at the Award Ceremony, where health leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs gather online to celebrate African innovation. And to highlight the vital role innovation plays, especially amongst young people in Africa, in tackling some of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing healthcare workers on the continent.
Award winners will be joined by high-profile personalities making an impact on the continental healthcare landscape through policy, innovation, and business. These include (in order of appearance); Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Minister of State of Senegal; Thomas B. Cueni, Director General of IFPMA; Yacine Djibo, Executive Director, Speak Up Africa, Sobel Aziz Ngom, Executive Director, Consortium Jeunesse Sénégal; Vèna Arielle Ahouansou, CEO of KEA Medicals; Dr. Lindiwe Makubalo, Assistant Regional Director, WHO AFRO and Dr. Margaret Agama-Anyetei, Acting Director of Health and Humanitarian Affairs, African Union Commission plus many more.
The Award is IFPMA and Speak Up Africa’s flagship program, focused on supporting pioneering young health entrepreneurs across Africa with financial and in-kind opportunities to develop their business ideas. And also advance promising solutions to support, equip, protect, and train healthcare workers who have been working tirelessly to protect and treat the public amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners will receive financial support worth a total of $75,000 (first prize: $40,000; second prize: $20,000 and third prize: $15,000); a three-month business mentorship programme, media training, expert advice on Intellectual Property protection, where relevant, as well as access to a network of supporters and partners working across digital, healthcare, and media.
In congratulating the winners, Partners IFPMA’s Director-General, Thomas B. Cueni, explained the importance of the Award. “Since Africa is the youngest continent in the world – in part due to progress in health outcomes – it is very exciting to contribute to an Award that fosters and honours the spirit of innovation among young Africans. We hope that our winners will be instrumental making a difference to the lives of healthcare workers who have been working tirelessly to protect and treat the public amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.” said Thomas Cueni, Director-General of IFPMA.
“As a Jury member, I know the road to winning this competition was extremely demanding, competitive, and rigorous. We have seen immense creativity in the innovations reviewed – showing that Africa’s greatest assets are its young people and their entrepreneurial spirit.” Explained Yacine Djibo, Executive Director, Speak Up Africa, “Local solutions, designed by Africa’s youth, signal to the world their role in shaping and improving health futures.”
The Africa Young Innovators for Health Award is supported by AMREF Health Africa, BroadReach, Ecobank Academy, Forum Galien Africa, IntraHealth International, Microsoft4Afrika, the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, and Social Change Factory, alongside our media partners: Africa.com, Télésud, and SciDev.Net.
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Notes to Editors
To learn more about the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award, please visit https://africayounginnovatorsforhealth.org/
For all other media enquiries and further details, please contact:
- Award Secretariat: Uzoamaka Madu, press@whatsinitforafrica.com
- IFPMA: Paloma Tejada, p.tejada@ifpma.org
- Speak Up Africa: Maelle Ba, maelle.ba@speakupafrica.org.
You can find access to multimedia assets here
About the Partners
IFPMA represents research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations across the globe. Research-based pharmaceutical companies make a unique contribution to global health as innovators of lifesaving and life-changing medicines and vaccines, which improve millions of lives around the world. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help the global health community find solutions that improve global health.
Twitter: @IFPMA
Speak Up Africa is a policy and advocacy action tank dedicated to catalyzing leadership, enabling policy change, and increasing awareness for sustainable development in Africa. Through their platforms and relationships, and with the help of partners, Speak Up Africa ensures that policy makers meet implementers; that solutions are showcased, and that every sector – from individual citizens and civil society groups to global donors and business leaders – contributes critically to dialogue and strives to form the blueprints for concrete action for public health and sustainable development.
Twitter: @SpeakUpAfrica1