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The Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge is set to take place in Cape Town today, with five startups shortlisted from across Africa to compete for US$10,000.

Disrupt Africa reported in July Barclays Africa launched the Supply Chain Challenge, inviting entrepreneurs across Africa to demonstrate their supply chain solutions aimed at lowering the cost of doing business.

Applications closed in September, and five startups have been selected to compete head-to-head before a panel of expert judges this afternoon, for the chance to win US$10,000 and Barclays mentorship.

Of the shortlisted startups, four are from Kenya, and one is from Nigeria.

The Kenyan startups to pitch today are Catch Counterfeits – a solution using RFID and blockchain to improve transparency in the pharmaceutical industry; Farm Inputs Authentication, enabling transparency of farm inputs along the value chain; social enterprise Markit Opportunity, which increases the incomes of smallholder farmers and incentivises trade using mobile and logistics innovation; and Solutech Distribution Application – a mobile and web solution replacing manual processes, to improve visibility in the distribution processes of manufacturing companies.

The Nigerian competitor is Freshmart App for Provenance – an online platform bringing farmers, produce retailers and consumers together in a blockchain network.

The judges include the likes of Erik Hersman, co-founder of Kenya’s iHub and chief executive officer (CEO) of BRCK; CEO of the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) and the Bandwidth Barn Ian Merrington; chief design and digital officer at Barclays and creator of the Barclays accelerator programme Derek White; and Teju Ajani, regional content partnerships lead for Sub-Saharan Africa at YouTube; among others.

The event takes place today at the Bandwidth Barn in Woodstock.

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