Conference Presentation, Other
Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Manufacturing | Middle East & Africa Summit 2025
Milken InstituteHunny Bhagchandani, Kaushik Burman, Frans Cronje, Songo Didiza, Guy Diedrich, Mostafa El-Ghorab, Kweilin Ellingrud, John Kamara, Francis Kariuki, Ayaan Mohamed, Editha Mshiu, Emily Musil, Nneile Nkholise, Derick Nwumfor Chunga, Michael Milken
- The Milken-Mozzeppe Prize program, launched in 2021, identifies 10 semi-finalists with potential to address global challenges, of which five are expected to advance to the finalist round for the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles in May 2026; the program aims to make these semi-finalists investment-ready and continue offering services to a community of over 12,000 entrepreneurs.
- Digitech Oasis aims to become a world-class hub for AI-driven automation and anticipates identifying future automation targets via AI, while mitigating enterprise architecture path planning challenges through strategic partnerships.
- Bligley Management plans to scale operations to new African cities using a $1 million funding allocation, with its AI system processing over 120,000 images to drive energy efficiency and cost savings.
- Dataprofit expects its AI solution to eliminate 100,000 tons of carbon emissions annually upon full deployment across customer sites and anticipates its "world models" and proprietary algorithms will enable defect avoidance, representing a step change from predictive modeling.
- Fresh Pack Technologies targets $1.25 million in revenue by the end of 2025 and $1.8 million by the end of 2026, planning to scale to nine countries and build intellectual infrastructure to reduce spoilage.
- Green BDG Africa expects its next integration phase to involve light integration with IoT sensors and smart metering companies, followed by extreme integration with telecoms, anticipating a significant reduction in its 3.2-year payback period.
- Tola forecasts its AI energy intelligence platform will catalyze energy stability across African industrial zones and expects to increase scalability via partnerships with utility and insurance companies to provide real-time risk insights.
- Indos Garment IO plans to expand its AI platform from the garment sector to furniture and metal reforming industries to transform factory operations into data-driven decision-making.
- Spiro expects affordable mobility via a battery swap network located every three kilometers to eliminate range anxiety for light commercial vehicles, with plans to utilize a fast charging network for three-wheelers, cars, and trucks.
- Orchard (Torchit) aims to impact 10 million lives by 2030 to create billions in GDP through local manufacturing, anticipating that AI audio will transform education for visually impaired individuals after the 10th grade.
- Toto Safi anticipates winning the prize will accelerate growth to 100,000 customers and create 4,800 jobs, planning to build locally owned cottage factories and capture a $1.2 billion market in segments like pants and period wear.
- Michael Milken predicts Africa will add hundreds of millions of people this century, with AI generating jobs and disintermediating every industry to make the continent competitive globally.
- The program expects to broadcast winners' ideas globally to encourage support, while Dr. Precious Molloy Motsepe and Emily note the critical role of young African AI skills and the high likelihood of thousands of entrepreneurs continuing their ventures regardless of prize outcomes.