This archive report was first published on 17 December 2019.
Published on December 17, 2019, five African startups have been selected to pitch at the Seedstars Migration Challenge Start-up Competition in Ecuador in January 2020.
The competition aims to promote well-managed migration as a positive force for change by rewarding innovative solutions to the information divide between employers and migrants through skills and technology.
The five African startups selected are Talenteum from Mauritius, Digemy from South Africa, M-Shule from Kenya, Maxicash from South Africa, and BAG Innovation from Rwanda. They are among the 10 most promising human resources, fintech, civictech, and edtech start-ups with solution-oriented products to improve migration systems that respond to labour market needs.
IOE Secretary General, Roberto Suárez Santos, said: “The Migration Challenge Competition is the first initiative of its kind. Rewarding innovative solutions to the information divide between employers and migrants through skills and technology is the first step towards promoting well-managed migration as a positive force for change.”
The selected start-ups assist with better matching employment sectors facing skills shortages with trained regular migrants – expats, temporary workers, seasonal workers, intra-company transferees. Their products also offer ways for governments to share information and best practices to improve their policies, and provide migrant workers with access to financial, educational and labour mobility services.
The winner of the competition will be announced on January 23, 2020, during the closing plenary session of the Twelfth Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit in Quito, Ecuador. The winning start-up will take part in the Global Seedstars Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will benefit from a 3-months acceleration scholarship for the Investment Readiness Program (IRP).
