Zambian startup Dot Com Zambia has been named 2015 New Venture Winner at the 17th Annual Africa Business Conference, for the company’s new project, ‘Bus Tickets Zambia’.
The conference was held at the Harvard Business School over the weekend, and focused on the theme “A more inclusive Africa: the pursuit of progress for all”.
The New Ventures prize recognises Africa’s most promising entrepreneurs working to solve local problems on the ground.
Bus Tickets Zambia allows travellers to reserve tickets and select their seats, as well as pay for their bus travel online, via their smartphone, by SMS, or through a number of authorised third party locations. Customers also have a range of payment options available to them, from cash payment to debit/credit card, and mobile money.
The win saw Dot Com Zambia awarded a US$15,000 grant to develop the project; US$10,000 of which was awarded by a panel of experts, while a further US$5000 was granted as a result of a viewer’s choice award, based on voting for by the conference attendees.
“For any business, startup or established, there is no greater honour than being recognized by Harvard Business School and there is no better motivation than having some of the world’s top business leaders and academic minds telling you that you have the capability of changing Africa. I am proud for my organization and I am proud for the people of Zambia,” said Mawano Kambeu, managing director of Dot Com Zambia.
Speaking to his fellow Zambian entrepreneurs, Kambeu said: “Don’t give up! It is hard out there, we are working 18 hours a day with little resources and even for this project we have been met with lots of road blocks and challenges, not to mention it is hard to get cooperation from stakeholders, but it can be done, so don’t give up.”
