The MEST Africa Challenge 2024 winner is SAYeTECH, an agricultural technology company based in Ghana. The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) disclosed this.
Applications from important West African markets, such as Benin, Cape Verde, Côte D’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Togo, were drawn to this year’s event, which was organised in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy in Accra.
This year’s edition, “Find Your Soil,” had as its theme the advancements in agricultural technology throughout West Africa. Additionally, the region’s sustainability and production must be improved by these advances.
Portfolio Advisor, MEST Africa, Ashwin Ravichandran, discussed the main goal of this year’s MEST Africa Challenge, which is to identify the conditions that allow creative enterprises to flourish.
“AgriTech innovation thrives when it’s rooted in the right environment. ‘Find Your Soil’ is about helping innovators find the ecosystem where they can grow. Through the MEST Africa Challenge, we provide the visibility, partnerships, and support to help them succeed,” Ashwin said.
Six exceptional finalists were ultimately chosen to present their innovative agricultural technology solutions at the grand finale. The competition, which honoured creative AgriTech solutions bringing about change in West Africa, came to a close with the grand finale.
SAYeTECH, which stands for sustainable African Youth Enterprise Technology, was founded in September 2018 by Jeffrey Boakye Appiagyei and Theodore Ohene-Botchway. By creating intelligent post-harvest agricultural equipment, the agritech business aims to boost smallholder farmers’ production and create opportunities for young people by fusing the advantages of hardware and Internet of Things (IoT) embedded systems.
After winning the 2024 MEST Africa Challenge, the startup received $50,000 in equity capital, which it plans to use to expand its business.
Ohene-Botchway, co-founder and director, stated, “The funding will enable us to scale production and reduce delivery lead times, providing smallholder farmers with the equipment they need to increase productivity.”
Regarding MEST Africa, the organisation said it will keep expanding its impact on the continent’s tech startup scene. Noting that the MEST Africa Challenge is intended to create the best possible environment for tech innovators and businesses to flourish, it praised the competition as the continent’s top pitch competition for up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs.
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