3 Nigerians, Eric Obuh, Eseoghene Odiete, Mayowa Adegbile Named Among Google’s Africa Connected Competition

Three Nigerians, Eric Obuh, a social crusader; Eseoghene Odiete, a fashion designer, and Mayowa Adegbile, a philanthropist, have been announced as part of the top ten finalists in Google’s “Africa Connected” Competition. Other finalists in the top ten include two Kenyans, a Senegalese, a South African, a Zimbabwean and a Ghanaian. The search engine said that five successful winners from among the finalists would be selected by online voting public. According to Google, the winners would bag $25,000 (N4,065,000) each and would also have the opportunity to work with a Google sponsor over a six-month period, to further their online businesses. It said that the competition was launched in August last year, calling entrepreneurs, creative innovators and web-lovers to share stories of how the web has transformed their lives and work. Google said that the top ten finalists were selected by a panel of judges from over 2,200 entries from 35 countries. The competition categories are Education, Entertainment/Arts/Sports, Technology, Community, NGOs and Small businesses. The Google Lead for the Africa Connected initiative, Affiong Osuchukwu, was quoted as saying that the competition had run for over six months and they were thrilled at the amazing number of stories collected from across Africa. “Today, we are excited to announce the top ten finalists who have been selected by our judges’ panel. The diversity of their ventures – from providing clean drinking water to preserving culture – shows how the web can truly drive positive change in the lives of many people and their communities. “We look forward to seeing who the voting public choose as the winners – the top five most inspiring success stories from across our continent,” Mr. Osuchukwu said in a statement issued by Google.