Ten African ventures were awarded for excellence in mobile and tech at the annual AppsAfrica Innovation Awards 2017 held in Cape Town, where Mazady, a TA Telecom product, won the mobile commerce category.
More than 300 entries were submitted for the awards this year with finalists judged by an independent panel of leading industry experts from across the ecosystem. Mazady was shortlisted for the mCommerce award with VConnect, Jumia, and DressMeOutlet from Nigeria as well as Farmart from Ghana.
Congratulations to @TAtelecom, Egypt for winning the #AppsAfrica mCommerce award 2017 for Mazady 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/OvIK2knX8U
— AppsAfrica (@AppsAfrica) November 6, 2017
“It is fantastic to see the growth each year, with entries from over 31 countries this year. Even more encouraging is how rapidly African start-ups are now scaling to compete with established corporates with winners from both,” said Andrew Fassnidge, Founder of AppsAfrica.
AppsAfrica 2017 award-winning tech ventures
- Best Social and Messaging Award – Flare
- Enterprise Solution Award – What3Words
- News and Entertainment Award – Bounce News
- Educational Award- Snapplify
- Fintech Award- Flutterwave
- Social Impact Award – Vodacom e-School
- Disruptive Innovation Award –What3Words
- Best African App – Boomplay Music
- mCommerce – Mazady
- Changing Africa – Jumo
Mazady is the first mobile-based auction service in the world that maximizes the m-commerce opportunity for mobile operators, retailers, and consumers, empowering users with an affordable and engaging tool that helps them beat inflation and buy products at hugely discounted prices for as little as 70 percent off the market value.
“Mazady empowers users with a Black Friday-like experience from the comfort of their mobile phones, giving them access to technology at affordable prices,” said Mohamed Ezz El-Din, Mazady’s Product Manager.
Mazady users bid through SMS in scheduled auctions to purchase a wide range of tech products, including smartphones, tablets, television screens, appliances, and more. Mobile users subscribe to Mazady’s service and once subscribed, they can start texting their bids to win the auctioned item at an average cost of around USD 1.
Currently running in Egypt, the UAE, and rolling out soon in Nigeria, Mazady succeeded in running more than 100 auctions for multiple tech products, including the iPhone 7 which was auctioned during its launch week in Egypt for EGP 1,500 at 88 percent off its EGP 13,000 market price.
Mazady also ran charitable auctions for celebrity products such as the famous heart-patterned tie of renowned heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub, which raised EGP 27,000 in donations to the Aswan Heart Hospital.
“Innovative services like Mazady will significantly help expand the mobile value chain in Africa, contribute to mCommerce and grow the mobile economy on a Continent which has the world’s fastest mobile subscriber growth,” said Sherif Radi, TA Telecom’s Chief Operating Officer.
“This year produced a vast array of great entries from exciting new technologies utilizing AI, bots, and drones to mobile, health and education initiatives scaling across Africa,” said Fassnidge.
