The 2022 Hult Prize Addis Ababa University On-campus programs officially kick off in Addis Ababa. HULT prize competition on campus 2022, part of an annual, global competition that crowd-sources ideas from university level students after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue around topics such as food security, water access, energy, and education.
The entrepreneurship competition challenges students to build businesses that contribute to solving a pressing social issue, and be a strong enough business idea, capable of making a profit.
With a US$1,000,000 global startup prize as its anchor activity, the Hult Prize has brought impact-focused programs, events, and training to over a million students globally, creating a pathway for youth everywhere to take action to build a better world.
The Hult Prize competition is a global movement that is student-centered and that revolves around businesses that are aimed at solving various social problems across the world. It brings together some of the brightest and most innovative students from all over the globe in a means to create an environment that can foster innovation of business ideas that are geared towards solving social problems.
The 2022 Hult Prize AAU on-campus program kicks off
Boeing Reaches Record $2 Billion in E-Commerce Sales
Boeing achieved an annual record for e-commerce parts sales last year with more than $2 billion in online orders. Fueled by investment in digital tools, Boeing Distribution Inc. (formerly Aviall) sold nearly 70,000 parts products through its e-commerce site to commercial and government customers, eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. Commercial orders accounted for $1.5 billion in sales, reflecting the continued recovery in the airline industry.
“Our $2 billion closeout to 2021 was a great capstone as the market heads to a more stable recovery,” said Ted Colbert, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Global Services, at the Singapore Airshow today. “Our e-commerce capabilities are a great example of the digital solutions we provide to enable industry recovery and growth. Our focus as always is on bringing value through our products and services, and we will continue to partner with our customers as they navigate this dynamic environment.”
African businesses set to drive transformational agenda across continent
At the margins of the EU-Africa Business Forum, the International Trade Centre (ITC) signed a partnership with the Africa Business Council (AfBC) to empower African enterprises especially women and youth.
Through this partnership ITC’s One Trade Africa programme will support the AfBC in its mandate to coordinate business support organisations across the continent and provide better services to the private sector. African enterprises will also gain access to practical information, knowledge and skills to improve competitiveness and their ability to access new opportunities using the AfCFTA among others.
During the signing ceremony, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton underscored ITC’s commitment to enabling micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) participation in the new single market.
‘Today’s institutional agreement with the AfBC is a big step towards empowering the African private sector to shift from trade and investment potential to concrete business transactions. We are fully committed to translating economic opportunities into commercial partnerships for African firms, in particular SMEs, to generate profits and decent jobs. AfBC and ITC will join forces to ensure that the private sector is driving the transformational agenda of Africa,’ said Coke-Hamilton.
ECA publication to spotlight breakthroughs of African female scientists
A new publication ‘Earth, Oceans and Skies: Insights from selected, outstanding African women scientists’ by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will spotlight African female scientists whose contributions seek to address some of the most critical challenges of the UN’s Decade of Action leading up to the year 2030.
ECA announced on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, marked on 11 February 2022, that it would release its highly-anticipated publication in March 2022 at the ongoing Dubai Expo in the presence of government officials, business leaders, academics, women’s rights campaigners and members of the public.
From exploring the depths of the ocean to studying the vastness of space, the publication features dozens of autobiographies of selected scientists including female doctors, engineers and scientists from Africa whose research and discoveries are helping to tackle complex global challenges.
The publication offers unique insights into the careers of African female scientists who are pushing the boundaries of science, technology and innovation. It aims to enable more young girls to enter and thrive in the field of science, a domain where Africa, in general, and women, in particular, are disproportionately underrepresented. About 2.4 per cent of the world’s scientists are from Africa, with women representing only 30 per cent of the continental figure.
Announcing the publication, Keiso Matashane-Marite, acting Chief of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Section in ECA’s Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division, said: “African women have been making considerable contributions to science for millennia. ECA is playing its part in spotlighting a few selected areas that respond to the urgency of delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
“Next month, ECA will join the global annual celebration of women’s achievements with the launch of this publication. The women featured in the publication embody the pioneering spirit and their stories create a mosaic of individual journeys interwoven with the historical, political and socio-economic contexts that influence the science, technology and innovation discourse in Africa.”
