Kenya’s Greenbell Communications (GBC) has been chosen as the winner of the 2015 WVEF Tech Challenge, a joint initiative between the International Trade Centre (ITC), Google and CI&T . This was announced during the closing ceremony of the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (WEVF), held in São Paulo, Brasil, in partnership with Apex-Brasil.
GBC will develop a Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum that aims to connect women entrepreneurs across the world. The GBC team consisted of Kenneth Muturi, Michael Buluma, Rose Maghas, Anastacia Ndunge, Eric Muthomi and Catherine Njau. Their winning bid was chosen following the launch of the Tech Challenge in July, which saw more than 300 companies enter the competition. Web and app developers were asked to develop a digital solution that will support an ITC initiative launched on 1 September to connect one million women entrepreneurs to markets by 2020.
ITC, Google and CI&T will in the coming months work closely with the GBC team to further develop and launch the final product in 2015. In addition, the GBC team was invited to present the project at the upcoming World Export Development Forum, which will be held in Doha, Qatar, on 20-21 October.
The jury also decided to award a special mention to Brasil’s Empowerit team. They were chosen to participate in ITC’s Youth and Trade Programme to help them incubate their ideas further and develop their business skills. They were also invited to come to Nairobi, Kenya, for the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Council in December.