BasiGo Claims Top Prize at Global Startup Awards Africa Summit
Edward Opoku - November 4, 2023 - RydeChannel.com
African EVs, BasiGo, Electric Buses, EV, Kenyan EV startup, Moses Ndiritu
Moses Nderitu, BasiGo’s Chief Revenue Officer, accepting the top prize at Global Startup Awards Africa for the Mobility and Logistics Category.
In a remarkable celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship, the Global Startup Awards (GSA) Africa Summit concluded with Nairobi-based BasiGo leading the charge in the Mobility and Logistics category. The summit, a conglomerate of tech visionaries and innovators, was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and witnessed BasiGo winning the prestigious award for electrifying public transport while championing environmental sustainability.
The GSA Africa, in alliance with the Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), the Ethiopian Ministry of Labour and Skills, and the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, with support from the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of Ethiopia, announced BasiGo among 16 overall African category winners.
BasiGo’s innovative business model, featuring its Pay-As-You-Drive financing solutions, aims to make electric buses widely accessible by mitigating the prohibitive upfront costs often associated with e-bus ownership. This approach not only promises to revolutionize public transportation but also to actively fight climate change—a battle Africa is on the frontline of.
Moses Ndiritu, BasiGo’s Chief Revenue Officer, shared his vision at the summit, outlining an ambitious goal to deploy 1,000 electric buses across East Africa within the next three years. Ndiritu expressed his profound gratitude for the recognition, which validates the company’s efforts to facilitate a significant transition in Africa’s public transport sector.
This year’s competitive field included 2,682 entries from the region, with a staggering 8,200 entries overall for GSA Africa. The year-long competition funneled national entrants to vie for regional finalist spots, culminating in a selection by an independent panel of judges to offer a well-rounded perspective of Africa’s tech ecosystem.
Jo Griffiths and Caitlin Nash, co-founders of GSA Africa and GIIG, emphasized the importance of such platforms in elevating African innovation, fostering collaborative transformations, and supporting young leaders and innovators poised to sculpt the continent’s future.
His Excellency Dr. Belete Molla Getahun, Minister of Innovation and Technology, and Her Excellency Muferihat Kamil, Minister of Labour and Skills, both conveyed strong messages of encouragement to the summit’s attendees. They spoke of a shared African ambition to craft a new narrative for the continent, one defined by equity, humanity, innovation, and economic vitality.
In addition to the accolades, winners of the summit like BasiGo will have the exclusive opportunity to engage with GIIG, the competition’s dedicated investment partner. The GIIG Africa Fund and Foundation aim to discover, fund, and grow African solutions to challenges with global relevance.
The GSA Africa Summit was not just a celebration of current successes but also a platform for future collaborations. Alongside key partners such as UNICEF, UNDP, and various Ethiopian institutions, the event set the stage for the continent’s emerging startups, founders, and communities to leverage Africa’s growing influence on the global stage.
As the Global Startup Awards Africa Summit closed, the message was clear: Africa’s time is now, and its innovators, like BasiGo, are ready to drive the continent towards a future of innovation and sustainable development.