The 2019 edition of the ReSAKSS Data Challenge recorded applications from all over Africa. This year participants from Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Sudan - just to name a few- all eagerly tried their luck to win one of the attractive competition prizes thanks to their innovative projects. The selected outstanding applications that met all selection criteria: use of ReSAKSS data, application’s relevance to African development issues, technical quality, creativity and innovation. Following the evaluation process, 5 winners were selected in the Essay & Report, Visual Arts and High School Project categories.
Winners of the edition 2019 of the ReSAKSS Data Challenge
The 1st prize in the Essay and Report Category
A team of Uganda’s Makerere University students, namely Paddy Nsubugga, Ibrahim Kimeko and Aruhuura won the Gold prize in this category. Their application addresses the issue of clean water scarcity in Luweero district in Uganda.
The 1st prize in the Visual Arts Category
In this Category, the Gold prize goes to a Tinka William George, a final year Medical Student from Uganda. His work titled: “Improving Africa’s Employment Rates and Decreasing its Hunger Issues” showcases his video editing skills while stressing various issues relevant to the African continent.
The 2nd prize in the Essay and Report Category
The runners-up (Silver prize) in the Essay and Report Category are Thierno Seydou Nourou Sy, Alpha Amadou Diallo, Ibrahima Ndong and François Nicolas A. Sagna – 4 Senegalese students from ISFAR (Senegal’s Agricultural and Rural Training Institute). Their winning application is a project on Organic Coal.
The 2nd and 3rd prizes in the High School Project Category
- In the High School Project Category, Marieme Mbengue and Aicha Toure Sama, two students from the Senegalese American Bilingual School (SABS), were selected. Marieme Mbengue won the Silver Prize for her video about Hunger in Senegal and Aicha Toure Sama was awarded the Bronze Prize for her Essay on the issue of deforestation.
2019 edition winners invited to attend the ReSAKSS annual conference in Lomé, Togo.
The 2019 ReSAKSS DATA CHALLENGE (RDC) winners were celebrated in Lomé, Togo during the Annual ReSAKSS Conference.
Paddy Nsubuga (on the left) and Thierno Seydou N. Sy (on the right) respectively from Uganda and Senegal, received their prizes on behalf of their team members at the conference opening cocktail ceremony.
The High School Project category winners that couldn’t make it to Togo will receive their awards during a ceremony to be organized in their school in December 2019. IFPRI Director for Africa, Dr. Ousmane Badiane and Angola’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, André de Jesus Moda, Special Advisor to the AUC Commissioner Prof. Afeikhena Jerome and CILSS Executive Secretary Dr. Djimé Adoum toasted the winners and wished them more successes in their future enterprises. The RDC aims to provide reliable data and numerous knowledge products on the ReSAKSS platform and encourage their use by actors in academia, business, policy, media, arts and the civil society at large. It is a unique opportunity for youth on the continent, to explore the range of data and indicators that are available on the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) platforms. Alongside trophies, winners received 3000$ for the Gold category, 2000$ for Silver and 1000$, for Bronze categories.
