WINNER: Dr. Chao Mbogho, Founder & CEO, KamiLimu

The Inspiring Leader is the top accolade at the East Africa Com Awards. Formerly known as the CxO of the Year Award, this category includes all leaders (including management, as well as CxO level). The award celebrates individuals demonstrating exceptional leadership, with an outstanding ability to advance technologies, deployments and ecosystems.

Why Chao won: 

Dr. Chao is a Founder, Mentor, Innovator, Educator and one of the few Kenyan women with a PhD in Computer Science. Her prowess in all these areas has made her one of the most inspiring role models of our generation. She has received over 25 awards, fellowships, and grants for her work to date.

WINNER: Nisha Sanghvi, Founder & Creative Director of Khanga Rue

This award will recognise the outstanding achievements of women who are playing a crucial role in driving Africa towards the fourth industrial revolution, as well as underscore the need for increased gender parity within the industry.

Why Nisha won:

Khanga Rue is a majority woman-led agency and Nisha (Tanzanian) is the main creative driver behind some of the most innovative ed-tech tools being used to change behaviors and improve people's lives in East Africa. This includes the "Lenga" app currently used to teach financial skills to low income earners, the "smart duka" app providing business skills to duka owners in Kenya, the "Mjanja Connect" app helping adolescent girls know about contraception and their bodies.

WINNER: Poa! Internet, Poa Home

This award celebrates the network providers and services going above-and-beyond to ensure connectivity in East Africa.

Why Poa! Internet won: 

Poa! internet connects the underserved communities of Africa, improving lives through unlimited access to knowledge and opportunities. For over 5 years, poa! internet has been steadily building it's ambition to be the leading internet provider in Africa.

Poa Home offers unlimited data residential broadband service for half the price of other offerings in the market, to low-income and underserved communities in Kenya.

WINNER: KamiLimu

This award recognises innovation where ICT meets socio-economic development and digital inclusion. This award will celebrate a product, initiative or social enterprise that is having a life-changing impact on individuals or communities in East Africa.

Why KamiLimu won: 

Up to 80% of Kenyan tertiary-level students do not receive mentorship outside the classroom, which leads to insufficient expertise in 21st-century skills. 

KamiLimu, an award-winning non-profit organization, addresses this. Their mission is to bridge the skills gap between classroom learning and global competitiveness for tertiary-level tech students in Kenya.

WINNER: Krypia Finance

This award honours the top companies and products leading in FinTech innovations in East Africa.

Why Krypia Finance won:

Krypia is an easy & inclusive financial platform that empowers millions of people by providing SMEs with quick access to affordable financial services so they can truly flourish and improve their lives.

WINNER: AR Edu

The Most Innovative Product or Service Award recognises a game-changing product or service that provided its target market with significant new opportunities for revenue growth or customer satisfaction.

Why AR Edu won: 

UNICEF identifies poor quality content and poor quality teaching processes as some of the most significant barriers to education in developing countries. AR Edu offers powerful augmented reality technology that requires as little infrastructure as a smartphone, making it easy and enjoyable for students and teachers to access and study learning materials.