Diwa Innovation, Atarec, and Data 354 are the winners of the 5th EDF Pulse Africa Awards

The EDF Pulse Africa Awards Ceremony took place in Paris on Thursday, March 7, 2024, and honored the winners of the 5th edition, in the presence of Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of the EDF Group. The start-ups Diwa Innovation, Atarec, and Data 354 distinguished themselves among the 6 finalists qualified at the end of the "EDF Pulse Africa Tour", preselection round covering the 5 regions of the African continent.

The 6 finalists, who presented their projects to the jury in Paris on Thursday, March 7, were selected at the end of 5 regional stages (East Africa, Southern Africa, North Africa, Central Africa and West Africa) of the EDF Pulse Africa Tour. The 6 finalists were then coached to prepare for their pitches before the grand final.

From left to right: Francis Romano (KNIGHTS ENERGY) ; Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of EDF Group, Béatrice Buffon, Group Senior Executive Vice-President, International Division of EDF Group, Mohamed Taha El Ouaryachi (ATAREC), Didier Dinamou (DIWA INNOVATION) , Therence Temfack (DATA 354) ; Christ Anderson Ahoua Bouha, EDF Africa Communication Manager.

Highlights of the 5th edition

427 start-ups applied for this 2023 edition of the EDF Pulse Africa awards (compared with 79 for the 1st edition in 2017), covering more than half of the 54 African countries.  

Three prizes were awarded to African start-ups and SMEs offering innovative solutions in three categories: Low-carbon decentralized production, Energy efficiency and low-carbon consumption solutions and Decarbonization through Digital solutions.

  • First place went to Diwa Innovation (Cameroon): this start-up designs energy-sufficient refrigerators (using clay and solar PV). It also received the Coup de cœur du jury Prize, in partnership with HEC Paris, for personalized support from the HEC West Africa Hub.
  • Second place went to Atarec (Morocco): this start-up produces renewable energy for ports and their surrounding areas at competitive costs, using "Wave Beat" technology that has been patented in 70 countries and ex aequo, Data 354 (Ivory Coast): this start-up identifies biomass sites by analyzing satellite imagery.

And last, start-up Knights Energy won the jury's Coup de boost Award, for a partnership with EDF Kenya.

Winners were awarded prizes ranging from €10,000 to €20,000, plus a complete support to develop a pilot project with one of the prizewinners and to implement the solutions proposed by the start-up.

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