The African Digital Art Challenge “#AfrinnovChallenge”

By on 28 January 2015
in Featured, News

Guest blog by  The African Innovation Foundation

The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) is pleased to announce its launch of the African Digital Art Challenge. The purpose of AIF is to increase to purpose is to increase prosperity of Africans by catalysing innovation spirit in Africa.

Through its landmark initiative, the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA), AIF catalyses African stakeholders to invest in emerging ideas by Africans to ensure a sustainable, prosperous Africa. Targeting innovators in the 5 priority areas, and with a total prize share of US$150 000 awarded to the best African innovators, this year’s IPA edition (#IPA2015) was open between August and November 2014.
While the IPA screening process is underway to select the nominees for the IPA 2015 edition, we are proud to launch the African Digital Art Challenge (#AfrinnovChallenge) to engage with our community and better understand how Africans perceive innovation across Africa.

Why the African Digital Art challenge?

At AIF, we strongly believe that the social, technological and economic well-being of Africans can be realised by driving innovation, transparent processes and social development, across the continent. We view innovation as a catalyst of change to better the lives of Africans.

Through the African Digital Art Challenge, we would like to pay tribute to the indispensable work of digital artists across Africa in documenting the innovations and in changing the rhetoric about the continent.

In synergy with AIF’s objectives of mobilizing innovators across Africa to release untapped potential in Africa and IPA’s goal of promoting innovation in key sectors, we would like to inform and raise awareness on innovation in Africa and what it means to Africans.

Through this initiative, we want to promote innovative solutions to development challenges within Africa while understanding African perspectives on innovation, showcasing its transformative power and empowering nature.

Your challenge

Can you develop a video showcasing innovators or the innovation ecosystem around you? Or, can you illustrate with an image what African innovation means to you? Here is your invitation to participate…
1. What? Submit a piece of digital art1 answering what “innovation in Africa” means to you or what comes to your mind when we talk about African innovation, with a focus on (but not limited to) the #IPA2015’s 5 priority areas
2. Who? Make sure to incorporate in your work – “Your_Name/African Innovation Foundation’s African Digital art challenge”. All submissions without the above information will not qualify.
3. Where? E-mail us the filled out and signed entry form, and send your completed work to [email protected].
4. When? Submit your entries before February 15th 2015 at 11:59pm GMT and get ready for the voting period!
5. How? We will share the pictures on our Facebook album and the videos on our Youtube channel, with the hashtag #AfrinnovChallenge. Your challenge now is to get votes. You must have more than 150 votes/likes to be considered a finalist!
Selection process
1. Round 1: The first ten (10) finalists will have the most likes. Only those with more than 150 likes/votes will be considered – Don’t forget to ask your friends to vote for you!!
2. Round 2: The final two (2) winners, will be selected from the ten (10) finalists – 50% by public voting and 50% by the AIF core team. Once you are selected as a finalist, you will be informed and will need to ask your friends to vote for you again.
11 things we are looking for…
1. This challenge is exclusively open to Africans: Individuals in Africa or those living abroad – Teams are allowed, but, if you win, only 1 representative will be allowed.
2. One submission per contestant/team.

3. Relevance: Clearly answers the question: What does African innovation or innovation in Africa means to you?

4. Africa-focused: Make sure your work reflects Africa innovatively.
5. Vision: Reflect AIF vision (see above)
6. Originality/Creativity: The idea MUST be original (no plagiarism)
7. 5 priority areas: Special focus given to one of the following: Agriculture/Agribusiness, Environment/Energy/Water, Health/Well-being, ICT, Manufacturing/Service Industry
8. All submissions must be in English or have English subtitles
9. Images must be in an easily downloadable format.
10. Videos must be 1 to 3 minutes maximum
11. Agree to share your work under a creative common licence – Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives, with the credit to you and the African Innovation Foundation.

What’s in it for you?

The 2 winners will be invited to attend the #IPA2015 awards ceremony, where you will have the chance to network with innovators and leaders in their field. You will also have your videos/images shown at the IPA awards event venue in Morocco, as well as the chance to continue working with AIF on the Foundation’s creative material, should you wish to.

By being part of the event, you will gain recognition via our AIF and IPA brands, increased opportunities to attract investments, media and social media coverage attention, and the chance to positively contribute to the African innovation landscape.

We look forward to receiving your videos and/or images before February 15th 2015 (11:59pm GMT), at [email protected] can find the entry form here. Feel free to email us if you have any questions!

Oh and… Don’t forget to follow us on social media!