An Indian and a Nigerian team have won a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next year, after being declared the winners of the India-Africa Business Venture Competition.
Four teams from India, two from Nigeria and one each from South Africa and Kenya made their presentations before a grand jury comprising of accomplished professionals from Africa and India for the award, sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Each team was tasked with developing innovative ways to benefit communities at large.
The winning team from India, 'Team Life Catalyst Technologies of India', represented by Sagar Laygude from IIT Madras, aims to make innovative products based on advancements in biotechnology.
They focused on blood glucose monitoring for the Indian diabetic population through a simple-to-use low-cost blood glucose sensor called the 'Rubellite Glucose Sensor'.
The other winning team, presented a plan to sell Nigeria's most affordable, culturally suitable, healthy livestock products that can potentially improve the health conditions of underprivileged sections of the Nigerian population.
They have developed an unique alternative source of feeds by using mango seeds, which enables them to produce livestock products at a cost 40 to 60 per cent cheaper than that from farms using regular feed.
The Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and Wits Business School here were the institutional partners for the competition organised by the IdeaWorks, as part of their IndiAfrica: A Shared Future programme.
