Nigeria’s Life Bank, a health delivery service has been crowned the winner of the inaugural African Netprenuer prize Initiative during the ‘Africa’s Business Heroes Show’ at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana.
LIFE BANK is a Nigerian medical technology startup founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun, with focus on developing a smarter way to deliver blood to Lagos hospitals.
It seek to help health workers discover critical medical products.
The company has been able save the libes of almost 6000 lives since its started in 2016.
According to CTGN Africa who reported on the event, entrepreneurs were chosen from over 50 African countries over a 7 month period, who demonstrated great passion and initiative to change their communities for the better.
The initiative, founded by Jack Ma, brought together ten of the best young entrepreneurs for a chance to win a share of USD $1 million.
The ten shortlisted finalists had one last chance to present their business pitches to the four judges – Jack Ma, Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group, the other judges were; Strive Masiyiwa,Founder and Executive Chairman – Econet Group, Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman – Alibaba Group and Ibukun AwosikaChairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, where Temie emerged as the winner.
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On picking the final winner, Jack Ma said that he wanted to pick the business which had the most impact, ‘in Alibaba, we love big ideas but we love those who solve problems’, he said.
“We have to find the business that is simple, that has impact and that is profitable,” he added.
Speaking during a press conference after the event, Tema expressed her gratitude towards the Jack Ma Foundation for awarding her the top prize and giving her the grant.
“I am really proud of my team who are back in Nigeria, right now as I sit here, my team is delivering blood to needy people in Nigeria,”
“This is validation for the critical work that we do and we are looking forward to expanding,” she said.
Tema said that she would use the grant money for growth towards her business and help her “solve this problem thorough a business model that works”.
