Zimbabwe’s Chido Dzinotyiwei from Zimbabwe and South Sudan’s Ismail Dumutu, both of whom are pioneering transformative projects, have been awarded the 2024 Äänit Prize by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
Dzinotyiwei, founder of Vambo AI, has developed a multilingual AI platform that bridges language barriers in Africa.
Her venture transforms how African languages are used and integrated in digital spaces by offering translation, transcription, and content generation services across 44 African and 20 global languages, including Swahili, IsiZulu, Arabic, French Portuguese and more.
“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. This validation will go a long way to help us in scaling the project”, she added.
Dumutu’s initiative, Asili (Swahili for original, indigenous or natural), addresses food insecurity in South Sudan by helping smallholder farmers turn surplus harvests into organic snacks that they sell at fair prices. This reduces waste and creates a sustainable income for farmers.
“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,” shares Dumutu.
The $80,000 (R1.4 million) prize supports for-profit and non-profit initiatives, at start up or mature phase, helping increase social impact in both alumni communities by supporting efforts to reduce inequality in Africa.
Judy Sikuza, CEO of Mandela Rhodes Foundation, praised the impact of social ventures like the Äänit Prize, stressing the importance of young African entrepreneurs who can drive innovation, create jobs and address Africa’s 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,” said Sikuza.
Finalists Cephas Svosve (EcoWealth) from Zimbabwe and Jordan du Toit (Neuronetwork) from South Africa were also recognized, with Svosve receiving the ‘Audience Choice’ award.