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Tanzanian solar startup Juabar has been named winner of the Dar es Salaam leg of pitching competition Seedstars World, and will go on to compete for US$500,000 in funding at the global finals in February.

Juabar designs and builds solar charging kiosks before leasing them to a network of entrepreneurs who use them to offer electricity services, such as mobile phone charging stations.

The startup was one of nine teams competing at the event held at Dar es Salaam’s Buni Hub yesterday, with the teams pitching to a jury comprising judges such as Sebastian Marondo, chief executive officer (CEO) of NRD East Africa; Marsha Msuya, head of legal and corporate affairs at Total Tanzania; Doreen Kessy, chief operations officer (COO) at Ubongo Kids; and Christopher Mlay, head of enterprise banking at Stanbic Bank Tanzania.

Juabar was named winner of event, and will proceed to represent Tanzania at the global finals to be held in Switzerland in February 2016; where the top teams from around the world will compete for up to US$500,000 in funding.

“I feel honoured, I really enjoyed all the other companies and I was truly inspired by all the amazing projects here,” said Olivia Nava, CEO of Juabar.

In second place came Mbezi Recycling – which is addressing the challenges of plastic pollution, urban waste management, unemployment, deforestation and climate change, by using waste plastic as a resource to manufacture eco-friendly plastic lumber; and in third position was Tango TV, an on-demand media streaming service for local content, accessible via mobile, web, and TV via custom set top boxes.

The next Seedstars World event takes place in Dakar, Senegal, on November 17

Seedstars World has already hosted African heats in Mozambique, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola and yesterday’s event in Tanzania.

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