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Creatives, SMEs to contest in AfCFTA’s product brand hackathon

afcfta

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretary-General H.E Wamkele Keabetswe Mene. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has invited African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in the manufacturing sector as well as creatives to take part in a brand contest geared towards boosting their businesses.

The Brand Hackathon was launched on April 29 to mark AfCFTA’s third anniversary.

In a statement seen by the Business Daily, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene, and the AfCFTA Champion, former President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou challenged African SMEs and startups to grab the opportunity and participate in the hackathon.

“AfCFTA warmly invites SMEs/Startups in the product manufacturing space, and Brand Artists and other brand creatives who can help such SMEs to refresh the brand identity of their products in order to boost sales, to participate in the Hackathon,” said the statement.

Three categories have been identified for participants who wish to take part in the competition — graphic and visual designing for brands, visual and musical arts for brands, and SMEs.

Successful artists will thereafter be matched with selected SMEs by May 12, and the joint creative-entrepreneurial teams will be required to deliver the final creatives by May 19.

The application is open until May 10.

“The best collaborative output, as judged by the AfCFTA Hackathon Mall & Supermarket Partners, shall be recognised with prizes and spotlighting opportunities across Africa during the third anniversary celebrations,” said AfCFTA.

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