The 2024 Äänit Prize was awarded to Vambo AI Co-founder Chido Dzinotyiwei from Zimbabwe and Asili founder Ismail Dumutu from South Sudan.
The announcement was made by Judy Sikuza, CEO of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, at the awards ceremony in Cape Town on September 14.
Vambo AI develops machine translation technology that supports 44 African languages and 20 global languages, including Swahili, isiZulu, Arabic, French, and Portuguese.
Dzinotyiwei expressed gratitude, saying, “I thank the judges for believing in Vambo AI and its potential. Our goal is to help people communicate more effectively by bridging language gaps, and this validation will greatly assist us in scaling the project.”
Dumutu’s start-up Asili helps small-scale farmers in South Sudan reduce post-harvest losses by transforming surplus fruit into organic snacks.
“Having grown up in a war-torn country facing numerous challenges, my only hope for a better future was through education and entrepreneurship.” Dumutu shared.
For their achievements, Dzinotyiwei will receive $47,000 and Dumutu will receive $30,000 to support their ongoing work.
The Äänit Prize supports businesses and non-profit projects that deliver positive social impact for Africa’s most marginalized populations and is exclusively open to alumni of the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship and the Rhodes Scholarship.
