Senegalese tech incubator CTIC Dakar at the end of December hosted the Jambar Tech Awards, acknowledging the contribution of companies, organisations and entrepreneurs to the growing ecosystem in the West African country.
The incubator, which has been featured on Disrupt Africa on a number of occasions in the past few months, said though its microeconomic mission was to assist local tech entrepreneurs, on a larger scale it worked to improve the local ICT ecosystem and elevate the sector as a whole.
“The two objectives are a lot closer than one may think, not only because a better ecosystem means more opportunities and better markets for the firms we work with, but also because of the financial and non-financial gains CTIC earns through its many sector-enlightening events,” Abdoul Aziz, project manager at CTIC Dakar, told Disrupt Africa.
“The Jambar Tech Awards were one such event, perhaps the biggest ever organised by CTIC.”
Winners were announced in 12 categories, with By Filling winning best ICT startup, Sen News named best mobile application, Diayma declared best e-commerce platform, and 2SI winning in the best softare developer category.
Orange won best tele-services firm for its Orange Money service, Nelam Services emerged victorious in the category of best web services and digital strategy company, while the best higher education school was named as the Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique.
Basile Niane took the best blogger prize, Chérif Tall was named best social entrepreneur, Olivier Sagna emerged as ICT personality of the year, and Chaka Computers took the best ICT firm prize.
Omar Cissé, former director of CTIC Dakar, Fatoumata Sylla, one of the first women to graduate from MIT, and Antoine Ngom, head of the of the Senegalese ICT Business Association, were rewarded with honorary trophies.
“The goal of the event was to highlight the potential and achievements of the ICT sector in Senegal by rewarding the best individuals and firms composing it,” Aziz said.
“During a couple hours, the ICT sector, including the government, the international partners, the old dogs of the ICT sector, the up-and-coming, the richest firms, and some of the poorest firms, was united in the same room to eat and get a glimpse of excellence and the rewards that come with it.”
