Premier Innovation and Technology hub, Swahili Pot, has launched the Kenya WhatsApp Impact Recognition Awards which will be one of the many awards to be won during the Pwani Innovation Week (PIW) that is set to take place from October 2 to 6 ,2023 under the theme ‘Selling Beyond Borders’. The main sponsors of the event are the 4gotteen Bottom Millions 4BM, Kenya’s largest digital disruptor which has been empowering African youth with opportunities since 2016 in collaboration with Kayana, a Kenyan Community of female entrepreneurs of abundance that come together to move their businesses from ideation to start up. PIW provides a platform where Tech Entrepreneurs and innovators can participate, grow their connections, and make their ideas come to life with the boost of the rapid advent of the Industrial Tech Revolution, the flexibility to integrate, and the speed to market. PIW also collaborates with the government, academia, and industry to build an African system for innovation on a practical level by providing curated networking with technology leaders and founders, trend specialists, and policymakers. Speaking during the launch of the WhatsApp Impact Recognition Awards, Swahili Pot Founder and Chief Mentor, Mahmoud Noor said that they are working to make this year’s PIW edition bigger and better as they are attaining more collaborations as the set dates draw in. Noor said that they are targeting cities and towns across the coastline; from Lamu to Zanzibar for the participation of this year’s PIW edition. ‘Eventually we are looking forward to hosting all Swahili-speaking countries across the coastline of Africa to participate in this event’ Noor added. The Founder of 4BM who is also The Chairman of the PIW, Michael Onyango expressed his gratitude to be part of the event yet again as both the chairman and main sponsor. 4BM seeks to provide young people in Africa with Access to a variety of opportunities through the use of digital technology (WhatsApp Groups). By using a digital medium, the programme aims to make different opportunities accessible to young people from any location in Africa regardless of where they live or how remote their location may be. This entails scholarships, grants, job opportunities, and also fellowships. Barbra Teregon, Founding Member of 4BM said that they have so far spread across the 47 counties in the country and that they have one main WhatsApp group that is used as the medium to share business ideas and implementation. She said that the 114 group admins in the platform are able to share information to other groups of their individual counties enabling them to reach 5000 people per day. ‘The Kenya WhatsApp Impact Recognition Awards is a resilient recognition award that aims to honor and acknowledge individuals and communities from the bottom millions who have overcome adversity and achieved remarkable accomplishments despite marginalization and limited resources,’ she said. She added that this award is aimed to highlight their strength, determination, and transformative impact in society. The Co-founder of Kayana Patricia Okello said the foundation and basis of the WhatsApp Awards is to give well-deserved recognition of the small businesses that are conducted through WhatsApp. ’92 percent of all people in Kenya are actually employed by Micro and Small Businesses and that’s where Kayana sits,’ Okello said. ‘WhatsApp has been a great safe space for women to conduct their small business like clothes, shoes, food and hair hence we really need to grant it the recognition it deserves,’ she added.
Source: Kenya News Agency