At the end of the UEMOA Banking and SME Fair, an official ceremony was organized on Friday February 26, 2021 in Ouagadougou to award the Idrissa Nassa Prize for Innovation to the 2019 and 2020 winners. The "Idrissa NASSA Prize for Innovation” rewards annually, on the occasion of the SBPME, the innovation and competitiveness of SMEs and start-ups in the UEMOA space. He is endowed with a trophy and an envelope of one million CFA francs.

According to the permanent secretary of SBPME-UEMOA, Youépéné Herman NAGALO, this award aims to encourage and promote innovative solutions from SMEs and Startups in the sub-region, according to criteria based on the particularity of the solution, its added value and on the accessibility of the solution by a large number of the population.

For this edition, the prize went to the Malian startup, AgriBox and the WANGNIGNI 229 startup from Benin, which has set up a physical and digital directory of more than 3,000 Beninese SMEs that can be downloaded for free online. The platform aims to develop markets for local products, said the promoter, Enoch Hounkpé.

The Managing Director (CEO) of Coris Holding, Emmanuel Sawadogo, representing President Nassa, congratulated the two laureates who have gone off the beaten path for relying on their intuition, their inspiration with hard work, and perseverance.