Targeting African Innovators

For the fifth consecutive year, Djembe was selected as the African communications and outreach partner and was tasked with developing and implementing a communications program for the Zayed Sustainability Prize (ZSP), which is managed by Masdar, to drive entries from innovative businesses in Africa. As the only African partner of the prize, one major goal for Djembe was to increase the number of submissions in key markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, while also raising prize awareness across the continent.

As a direct result of Djembe’s strategic approach and regional execution, Africa maintained its status as a top region, with Kenya ranking in the top five countries globally. In addition to the number of entries, relationships within the regional innovation ecosystem continued to be strengthened for future editions of the award.

Strategic Execution by Djembe

  • Utilized Djembe’s network of key local innovation enablers (hubs, incubators, academia, investors, large corporates, and global high schools) alongside local media to promote and host a series of strategic roadshows and high-level one-on-one meetings in Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda
  • Promoted regional roadshows through a concerted media and social media campaign, including placing impact stories with past winners in leading African tier 1 media
  • Conducted direct marketing through HTML emailers, phone calls, and WhatsApp outreach, and one-to-one candidate outreach and submission clinics to assist applicants in completing high-quality submissions in time for the prize deadline.

The Prize has received 2,052 innovation submissions across Africa since its inception, with 15 African finalists and a total of $2.9 million in prize funding awarded to nine African SMEs.

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