The African Union Commission (AUC) on Friday unveiled the 150 Youth Start-ups winners selected to participate at the AU Youth Start-Up Pavilion in the 2021 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF).
Seven Ethiopian start-ups are among the winners. They will participate in the Pavilion scheduled to take place from November 15 to 21 2021, in Durban, South Africa.
Start-Ups are the critical partners for achieving growth and structural transformation, said the African Union.
The youth Start-ups winners drawn from the continent and the Diaspora will participate and co-exhibit their products and services within the Pavilion.
The 150 participants were selected from about 5000 digital applications submitted in the Continental Competition for Youth Start-Up launched on July 7, last year, as part of the activities on the commemoration of Africa Integration Day 2020.
“The competition focused on among others, innovative ideas in addressing Africa’s value chain challenges, sectoral diversity with a focus on emerging sectors and selection in compliance with gender equality,” the Union said.
The Pavilion in the 2021 IATF is expected to open new business opportunities for each of the Start-Ups with the aim of positively impacting Africa’s productive transformation in the coming decades.
The Second Edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair is a continuation of the first ever Intra-African Trade Fair held in Cairo, Egypt, in 2018.
The event in Cairo attracted over 1,000 exhibitors, over 300 speakers from more than 45 countries, during which US$ 32 billion trade and investment deals were signed.
MG/abj/APA