A YOUNG Zambian innovator has flown the country’s flag high in Dakar, Senegal, after emerging as a winner in Africa at the prestigious Africa Food Forum’s ScaleUp Pitch competition.
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Imungana Malikana, a Chartered Accountancy student at ZCAS and software developer, beat off stiff competition from across the continent with a pitch to unlock climate finance for smallholder farmers and agri-businesses.
Malikana, who grew up in Mongu and nurtured his passion for science and innovation through the Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) club at St John’s Secondary, said his winning idea was born out of a desire to solve real problems faced by African farmers.
“I want to make financing smarter, safer, and more inclusive for the farmers and entrepreneurs who feed our continent,” he told #Kalemba.
His solution combines artificial intelligence credit profiling with Internet of Things (IoT) data from farms to build alternative credit scores, enabling farmers traditionally excluded from formal banking to access affordable loans for inputs such as seeds, irrigation systems and equipment.
The model, which builds on his earlier platform EaseOnTrack, also reduces risk for financiers by linking credit to verifiable farm performance.
Beyond his pitch victory, Malikana graduated as a Generation Africa Fellow, joining an influential network of young African leaders shaping the future of agri-innovation.
He also sat in the Oval Room for a high-level Roundtable Discussion on the private sector’s role in youth-led agricultural transformation.
The recognition adds to his growing list of accolades.
In 2021, he was named among the Top 10 young innovators by UNDP and following year, he scooped awards at the MTN MoMo and ZANACO Digital PAYGO hackathons.
By 2023, he had emerged as one of the Top 15 global finalists for the MIT Solve Challenge in financial inclusion.
Last year, Malikana was selected to join the inaugural UNDP Timbuktoo Fintech Hub in Nigeria and went on to represent Africa at the MIT Climate and Energy Prize in Munich, Germany, becoming the only African finalist.
This year, before his Senegal triumph, he had also been picked for the Timbuktoo ManuTech Hub in Ethiopia.
From tinkering with prototypes as a schoolboy in Mongu to sharing the stage with Africa’s brightest minds in Dakar, Malikana’s innovative solutions do not only inspire but also transform communities.
By George Musonda
Kalemba September 15, 2025
