Africa Tourism Partners has announced the top five finalists for the sixth Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge.
Entries for the Challenge opened on November 1 and closed on March 1, and attracted over 154 admissions from innovators across Africa.
As part of the process, the projects were submitted to the judges for adjudication to determine the qualifying projects.
The top five continental finalists – Devin Itaagie from Uganda, Kedumetse Liphi from Botswana, Joseph Owiredu from Ghana, Ajena Jafar from Uganda, and Gerald Muema from Kenya – qualified to proceed to the next level of adjudication.
The shortlisted innovators will present their demo/Minimum Viable Product at the Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit scheduled to take place in Windhoek, Namibia, from May 28-31.
Namibian innovators were also recognised and given the opportunity to compete amongst themselves. Sarome Natalia Nalooliwa Hamata, Sarah Anghuwo, and Rosalia Laudika are the top three domestic finalists for this year’s Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation challenge.
The countries that participated in the Innovation Challenge are Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Challenge is an exclusive platform being provided to innovative African youth in travel and tourism looking for funding, partnership, and mentorship opportunities to present their projects to the global marketplace to find the required support for their programmes.
The Challenge and Summit are hosted by the Government of Namibia through the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism in collaboration with Africa Tourism Partners, UN Tourism, BDO, and other partners.
Registrations for both physical and virtual participants for the Summit are still ongoing. Interested persons can visit www.youthtourismsummit.com for more information.