The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Äänit Prize. Chido Dzinotyiwei (Zimbabwe & University of Cape Town, 2018) and Ismail Dumutu (South Sudan & University of Cape Town, 2022), both exceptional leaders in their respective fields.
Dzinotyiwei heads up Vambo AI, a cutting-edge tech platform dedicated to overcoming language barriers in Africa. Vambo AI offers multilingual AI solutions, including translation, transcription and content generation to enhance communication and empower education, business and government sectors. She explains, ‘While tech companies often focus on access, immediacy and convenience, Vambo AI takes it a step further. We harness the power of AI to build connections and break communication barriers’.
With flagship products like Vambo Translate, a user-friendly translation app and Vambo Studio, a robust API platform for developers, Vambo AI is transforming how African languages are used and integrated in digital spaces. The app currently offers this multilingual solution across 44 African languages and 20 global languages including Swahili, isiZulu, Arabic, French, Portuguese and more.
Dumutu’s venture, Asili, focuses on agricultural impact. ‘In South Sudan, smallholder farmers sell only a third of their harvest, leaving the rest to rot,’ says Dumutu. ‘This loss is devastating in a country where up to 95% of the population relies on farming, herding or fishing. As a result 7,7 million people – more than half the population – experience acute food insecurity.’
Asili (Swahili for original, indigenous or natural) aims to empower smallholder South Sudanese farmers to reduce post-harvest losses by transforming surplus fruit into organic snacks. These products are sold at fair prices, generating crucial income for healthcare, education and other basic needs.
Judy Sikuza, CEO of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation emphasises the importance of young Africa entrepreneurs and extraordinary leaders in driving innovation, creating jobs and addressing the most pressing challenges. ‘Social initiatives such as the Äänit Prize are so important, to enable and support social ventures with the potential for significant impact, scalability and replicability’.
‘I thank the judges for believing in Vambo AI and its potential’, says Dzinotyiwei. ‘The project has a strong personal connection because I struggled with a language barrier during my school years. Our goal is to help people communicate more effectively by bridging language gaps. While we have integrated WhatsApp functionality into our platform, there is much work to be done. This validation will go a long way to help us in scaling the project.’
Dumutu shares, ‘Having grown up in a war-torn country facing numerous challenges, my only hope for a better future was through education and entrepreneurship. Asili is dedicated to helping farmers, who are the backbone of South Sudan, reduce crop wastage and to grow their businesses. This, in turn, will help them earn a fair wage and curb food insecurity within the country.’
During the awards event held in Cape Town on September 14, the additional finalists – Cephas Svosve (EcoWealth) from Zimbabwe and Jordan du Toit (Neuronetwork) from South Africa – were also acknowledged for their remarkable projects. The ‘Audience Choice’ award was presented to Cephas Svosve.
The Äänit Prize not only highlights the social impact projects making a difference across the African continent, but also affirms the efforts of Africa’s change makers and is accompanied by a monetary award in US dollars.
