The startups that make up the shortlist were chosen based on their aerospace-based solutions which aims to solve important social challenges like transportation, agriculture, and health care. With over 316 startups pitching for the accelerator, the vital top 10 list passed through a secure tunnel assessed by a panel of experts and Airbus itself.

The Future4Africa programme aims to foster and boost entrepreneurship in the continent. The top 10 startups for this year’s accelerator were selected during a public event braced by experts, media and other major stakeholders in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Kenya managed to scoop 3 startups on the list as South Africa followed up with a duo and Nigeria, Mali, Ethiopia, IvorCoastst and Malawi dominated the rest of the list with singular entries. Nonetheless, here is the top 10 list of startups that made it to the Future4Africa accelerator program.

1. Astral Aerial (Kenya) – integrates drones for humanitarian cargo transport, surveillance and emergency response.
2. Cote d’Ivoire drone (Ivory Coast) – manufactures drone locally for different applications.
3. Elemental Numerics (South Africa) – it applies computational fluid dynamics techniques to the design of machines and components, ranging from aircraft to heart valves.
4. Lentera Limited (Kenya) – integrates remote sensors to monitor and transmit environmental data to enable efficient and smarter farming.
5. Maisha ICT Tech PLC (Ethiopia) – deploys locally built drones for medicines, blood and healthcare items delivery to remote and rural areas.
6. MamaBird (Malawi) – provides a platform to help Governments, NGOs and other organisations deliver vital life-saving supplies to remote communities.
7. Map Action (Mali) – a solution offering real-time online urban mapping to identify problems affecting water supplies, hygiene and sanitation.
8. MobiTech Water Solutions (Kenya) – an online real-time water monitoring solution that allows businesses, homes and water-service providers to manage their available water using an app-based dashboard and instant messaging.
9. Track Your Build (Nigeria) – a novel infrastructure management tool for construction and operations.
10.  WiPo Wireless Power (South Africa) – offers reliable and convenient wireless power chargers for businesses, conference centres, airports, restaurants and other venues for the charging of mobile devices, laptops and drones.

After the quadral process for all selected startups, a Demo day and final events will be hosted in Germany where all shortlisted startups will unveil their products and ink their collaboration with Airbus. Though Uganda didnt get a chance to feature on the list, Safeboda would have pioneered the achievement after it was recently selected as one of the best fintech startups in Uganda.