Local innovator, Clarisse Uwineza, has qualified to the 2016 GIST Tech-I semifinals. Uwineza’s project, on bio-organic waste fertiliser, was last week named among the 102 2016 GIST Tech-I semifinalists. She is the only Rwandan to make the semifinals. The project seeks to convert agricultural and bio-organic waste into fortified organic fertiliser (bio-char), and bio-energy like charcoal, that can be used for energy, heat, electricity and cooking at a low cost. 

Last year, Uwineza was one of the participants of Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) which took place in Nigeria. It’s also one of the huge contests on the continent.

GIST Tech-I is an annual competition that challenges aspiring science and technology entrepreneurs in 135 emerging economies to pitch their ideas or startups to experts and the general public.

The competition is part of the US Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative and has been implemented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2014.

Only 30 contestants will advance to the next stage to compete for seed capital at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Silicon Valley, in the US in June 23-24. To help her startup advance to the 2016 GIST Tech-I Finals, watch the semifinalists’ pitch videos and vote every day until May 1 at: http://www.gistnetwork.org/content/tech-i-semi-finalists-voting#sthash.cKeNrGay.dpuf.

Each time you vote, you will also have the opportunity to nominate your country to win GIST Regional Startup Boot Camp training resources in 2017.