Nigerian Start Up, Chiniki Guard Wins $10,000 Artificial Intelligence Prize

Chiniki Guard, a Nigerian Information Communication Technology (ICT) startup has won the Artificial Intelligence prize of 10,000 USD at the ongoing Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX).

GITEX, an Artificial Intelligence security solution company, hosts a global annual technological gathering in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

This years’ theme is “Synergising the Mind and Technology Economy”

Chiniki Guard’ AI services is mainly for retail stores, supermarkets, etc, to monitor, detect and alert shop owners of shoplifting as well as suspicious behaviour in real-time.

Chiniki Guard is among the 34 startups in the category of the Supanova finalists at the GITEX  Future stars competition.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)Mr Abdulhakim Bashir, the Founder of Chiniki Guard, said the opportunities at GITEX had accorded him the win and would enable him to widen the scope of his business.

Bashir said he would launch the application after GITEX and move to the cloud for storing data to accommodate the number of requests from shop owners.

According to him, Nigerians have potential that can transform the economy but the private sector needs to be involved.

247Medic, a health ICT application that connects doctors with patients across Nigeria within a maximum waiting time of 10 minutes and provides auxiliary services, including lab testing, doorstep delivery of drugs, also made it to the finals.

Other Nigerian start-ups at the exhibition include Blue Circle of Notitia, a health application that digitises patients’ medical history, Zowasel, an agritech application to improve the value chain.

Naira Packet also among the startups is a solution mechanism that reduces the cost of microtransactions and Sublime Square, an online platform, designed to ensure efficiency in waste evacuation and management.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Nigeria’s participation at GITEX is spearheaded by NITDA.

Nigeria Postal Service, Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited, Nigeria Petroleum Exchange Commission, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board are some agencies representing the country at GITEX.

The start-ups were mentored and supervised by the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a subsidiary of NITDA.

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