2025 AfricArena Lagos summit recognize top West African tech startups
LAGOS, 2 May 2025 – The AfricArena Lagos Fintech, Mobility & Logistics Summit, held at Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos in Nigeria, was a visceral triumph of West Africa’s strong fintech, mobility, and logistics ecosystem. Five startups and one investor emerged winners!
This summit, hosted in collaboration with AWS Startups, GIZ, Redington, VonTech Group and Methys showcased West Africa’s prowess in producing a dazzling array of world-class tech talent. The summit, which took place along the 21st AVCA Conference and VC Summit, brought together global venture capitalists, industry pioneers, and emerging startups for a full-day event focused on pitching sessions, strategic networking, and partnership opportunities.
Being a participant at the event was dynamic as Lady Kay, Head of Communication and Social Impact at Salad Africa narrated Africa’s tech success story with her excellent storytelling skills as the event’s Master of Ceremonies. Deepankar Rustagi, founder and CEO at OmniRetail Technology gave an insightful keynote address titled “Narrating the Fintech Journey: From Headlines to Hustle” Jane Egerton-Idehen, CEO at Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and founder at VonTech Group said,
“Startups continue to help drive the digital economy in Africa using technology to empower and create impact.
This year’s AfricArena Lagos summit with over 20 startups showcasing sectors like fintech, logistics and mobility has proved this as startups continue to solve Africa’s pressing needs. It has shown the value in supporting startups to attract funds, meet investors and find access to strategic partnerships.”
Daniel von Ritter, Head of Component at GIZ/Digital Transformation Center Nigeria said, “For GIZ/Digital
Transformation Center Nigeria, the partnership with the AfricArena Lagos Summit aimed to give the participating startups from the just concluded techmybiz acceleration program the opportunity to show their progress and to attract potential investors and partners. All in all I can say, this partnership has fulfilled all expectations and I would like to thank and congratulate AfricArena, for a very well prepared and successful debut in Lagos.”
Dan Mabbyalas, AfricArise Director and AfricArena Head of Product & Programs said, “We are incredibly proud of the success of the AfricArena Lagos Summit 2025. This year’s summit was more than just an event – it was a powerful gathering of Nigeria’s most dynamic founders, investors, and ecosystem builders, united by a shared vision for Africa’s future. We witnessed bold ideas, game-changing innovations, and the undeniable spirit of collaboration.
Congratulations to all the startups who pitched and especially to our winners – your journey is just
beginning. If this summit proved anything, it’s that the African tech ecosystem is not only rising — it’s unstoppable.” Each of the 20 pitching startups demonstrated their diverse and versatile skillsets that have empowered them to build and scale innovative, ground-breaking startups. As the event culminated in the award ceremony, five startups and one investor were announced the winners of the following awards:
● Best Fintech Startup Award: PaySika (Roger Nengwe Ntafam, Founder & CEO, Cameroon)
● Best Logistics Startup Award: Retail Loop (Emeka Ehinze, Founder & CEO, Nigeria)
● Best E-Commerce Startup Award: Kamel (Aminu Ibrahim Hashim, Co-Founder & CEO, Nigeria)
● Best Energy Startup Award: Koolboks (Lolade Alonge, Business Communications Project Manager,
Nigeria)
● Best Seed Startup Award: Vetsark (Blessing Mene, CEO, Nigeria)
● Most Promising Entrepreneur Award: Adashi (Ahmed Idris, Founder, Nigeria)
● Most Attractive Investor Award: Al Mada Ventures (Morocco)
The winners each won eligibility for up to US$25,000 in AWS Activate credits, and they automatically advanced to the grand finale at the AfricArena Grand Summit which will take place in December in Cape Town, South Africa. Mukami Wainaina, Investment Officer at Al Mada Ventures who received the AfricArena Most Attractive Investor Award on behalf of Al Mada Ventures said, “We are grateful to have won the AfricArena Reverse Pitching competition! Thank you for letting us VCs have our five minutes of fame and shoutout to the founders who make pitching look easy!”
Ahmed Idris, founder and CEO at Adashi who won the AfricArena Most Promising Entrepreneur Award said “Winning this award is a powerful affirmation of the vision and resilience behind Adashi. It’s more than personal recognition – it’s a signal that African-built solutions, like ours, can transform how communities access savings, credit, and financial dignity. This award fuels our drive to keep building, innovating, and lifting more lives through technology.” Aminu Hashim, CEO at Kamel who walked away with the AfricArena Best E-Commerce Startup Award said, “Being recognized as winners of the E-commerce Track serves as a great validation of the work we’re doing at Kamel.
For our team, it’s more than just recognition, it’s a boost of confidence, momentum, and visibility as we continue to build a platform that makes e-commerce more inclusive and accessible for entrepreneurs across Nigeria and beyond. We’re incredibly grateful to AfricArena, GIZ and other partners for shining a light on startups like ours.” Excited about her win, Lolade Alonge, Business Communications Project Manager at Koolboks said, “We are honored to have won the Best Energy Startup Award at the Africarena Lagos Summit. This recognition validates our team’s hard work and dedication to innovating in the energy sector. The $25,000 AWS credit will be a game-changer for us at Koolboks, enabling us to scale our predictive maintenance IoT platform, ensuring our vision of continuous cooling for our clients, even in the absence of electricity. With AWS, we’ll be able to optimize our infrastructure, enhance data analytics, and improve our platform’s reliability, ultimately delivering more value to our customers. This award not only boosts our credibility, but also opens up new opportunities for collaboration and
expansion. We’re excited to represent Africa’s innovative spirit at the grand finale in Cape Town, and look forward to continuing our journey towards transforming off-grid refrigeration across Africa.”
The AfricArena Europe Scale Tour 2025 is happening in May where AfricArena will take the best African tech startups to the AfricArena London Summit and the AfricArena Berlin Summit. Get your tickets to London or Berlin here.
For more information, contact Jabulile Ngwenya at jngwenya@methys.com
About AfricArena
Launched in 2017, AfricArena has established itself as a leading platform dedicated to creating market access and fostering investment opportunities for a growing community of tech founders, angel investors, corporate innovators, and venture capitalists. Designed with a digital-first mindset, AfricArena operates through a series of high-impact investment deal flow events, tailored interventions, and an open-source platform that champions the principles of open innovation and entrepreneurship.
In just eight years, AfricArena has earned significant credibility within the global tech startup ecosystem, with alumni startups collectively raising over $850 million in funding. Its flagship events, known for blending thought leadership and action-driven networking are structured into three dynamic segments:
Investor Unconference: A collaborative environment for investors to connect and strategize.
Founder’s BootCamp: A hands-on program designed to prepare startups for investment and scaling.
Main Summit Event: A showcase of Africa’s most promising tech talent, connecting them with global stakeholders.
AfricArena continues to be a catalyst for innovation and growth, driving the evolution of Africa’s tech landscape on the global stage. For more information about AfricArena, visit www.africarena.com
