On June 15, 2023, Cameroonian startup Waspito won the Africa Tech Awards, in the Health Tech category. The news was announced by Viva Technology and the World Bank’s private sector arm IFC.

Waspito operates a platform that offers instant video consultations with doctors, mobile laboratories, and pharmaceutical services. The various services are linked through a health-focused social network where users can anonymously interact with doctors for reliable health information.

Waspito is the first Cameroonian startup to ever win this award, though last year, a Cameroonian fintech, Dreamcash ran for the prize.

Supported by the World Bank, the Africa Tech Awards reward African startups that bring forward technological innovations in the “FinTech, Climate Tech, and Health Tech” categories”. The contest is organized as part of Viva Tech, a forum hosted in the French capital and dedicated to tech innovation and startups. This is the second year the Africa Tech Awards is held, and nearly 400 start-ups took part in the competition, with nine finalists across the three aforementioned categories.