The African Union Development Agency – NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) has recently launched its Akili AI MSME UpSkill Lab 2025, featuring 12 top startups from Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa to boost Africa’s entrepreneurial and innovation scene. These ventures are redefining Africa’s innovation frontier spanning biotech, clean energy, agri-fintech and mental health technology.
Supported by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Meta and Pitchwise, the Akili AI Lab seeks to empower African founders with the knowledge, tools and investor readiness needed to scale globally. The initiative underscores AUDA-NEPAD’s commitment to nurturing local innovation ecosystems capable of driving sustainable growth and economic resilience.
“We are committed to empowering African founders to drive a stronger economy and innovation ecosystem,” AUDA-NEPAD noted in its announcement. “This cohort represents the spirit of resilience, creativity, and forward-thinking that defines Africa’s entrepreneurial DNA.”
Powering the Next Generation of African Innovation
Each startup in the Akili AI UpSkill Lab reflects a distinct blend of purpose-driven entrepreneurship and technological sophistication. From tackling blood shortages to digitising microbusinesses, the selected founders represent the depth and diversity of Africa’s innovation wave.
Nigeria’s Betalife Health Service, founded by Mubarak Ayanniyi, is confronting Africa’s chronic blood shortage crisis through an AI-powered real-time supply platform that connects hospitals, donors and logistics providers. By ensuring timely access to blood and related products, Betalife is not only saving lives but also reshaping Africa’s healthcare logistics infrastructure.
In the clean energy sector, Betapawa Solutions, led by Samuel Oluwatobi, is replacing diesel generators with AI-driven solar microgrids. The company’s model offers SMEs across the continent a sustainable and cost-effective energy alternative a vital step toward reducing Africa’s carbon footprint while enhancing productivity.
Bictorys, founded by Birahim Fall in Senegal, simplifies digital payments through an omnichannel platform that synchronizes collections, reconciliation, and reporting. Its innovation addresses one of Africa’s most persistent bottlenecks, fragmented payment systems, by unifying financial operations for SMEs and large institutions alike.
Transport innovation finds expression in CRAB A RIDE from South Africa, where Raimund R. Crab is building a carpooling platform designed to make mobility safer, cheaper and more efficient. The company aims to improve access for daily commuters while reducing congestion and emissions a timely innovation in Africa’s rapidly urbanizing cities.
In healthcare, CureRoot, led by Njabulo Skhosana, is unlocking Africa’s biodiversity to discover novel pharmaceuticals derived from indigenous medicinal plants. This venture stands at the intersection of tradition and technology, offering a pathway for Africa to contribute to the global biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
Another standout, FriendnPal, founded by Esther Eruchie, is transforming mental health access through Africa’s first predictive, multilingual AI mental health support platform. By combining language diversity with emotional intelligence, the startup is bridging the vast mental health care gap across African societies.
From Senegal, Mafalia, created by Ibrahima Miniane Diouf, empowers African merchants with digital tools to optimize operations and enhance customer connections, while PROBOUTIK, by Thierno Sakho, seeks to digitize more than 200 million microbusinesses through integrated payments, lending and financial management solutions, an ambitious step toward formalizing Africa’s vast informal economy.
The healthcare innovation momentum continues with MyItura, founded by Shina Arogundade, whose digital health platform connects patients, providers and insurers in one cohesive ecosystem, fostering efficiency and accountability across healthcare value chains.
Talent development also takes center stage with ProDevs, launched by William (Bill) Nwogbo, which leverages AI-driven hiring systems to connect vetted African professionals to global work opportunities addressing both unemployment and the global tech talent shortage.
Agritech and sustainability are championed by Seydina Issa Laye Seck, founder of SENFRAIS (Senegal), whose solar-powered refrigerated tricycles combat post-harvest losses, extending shelf life for farmers’ produce while maintaining affordability. Finally, UfarmX ® (Techstars ’24), led by Alexander Zanders, is bridging Africa’s $100 billion farmer financing gap through an AI-powered agri-fintech platform that provides farmers with real-time access to funding and market intelligence.
A Pan-African Movement, Backed by Global Partnerships
The Akili AI MSME UpSkill Lab is a strategic intervention to future-proof African enterprises in an increasingly digital global economy. With the backing of BADEA, Meta and Pitchwise, AUDA-NEPAD is aligning public and private resources to amplify Africa’s capacity for scalable innovation.
The lab’s focus on AI integration, investor readiness and capacity building marks a shift in how the continent approaches enterprise development. Rather than viewing technology as a luxury, it positions AI as a necessity for resilience, competitiveness and inclusion.
The programme also signals growing confidence among investors in Africa’s ability to generate world-class innovation. As these twelve ventures progress toward market expansion and investment readiness, they embody a broader narrative. Africa’s entrepreneurs are not waiting to catch up, they are setting the pace.
From Lagos to Dakar to Johannesburg, this cohort reflects a continent in motion one that is not only innovating for itself but also for the world.
