Sylvia Makario

Description of the project / start-up

Status of the project / start-up: Project is finished / startup is founded

Together with her co-founders, Sylvia founded Hepta Analytics and co-created their flagship product HeptaPay. HeptaPay enables people across Kenya, Rwanda and DRC to easily pay bills and top-up airtime from the comfort of their home. This solution has solely been built by African talent and offers an alternative to international (and pricier) service providers. Sylvia is trailblazing as a female engineer and enables talent around her to contribute to the growth of the eco-systems in Rwanda and Kenya.

Why does her project / start-up promote digitalisation?

Payments are mostly done very manual - either by personally going to a bank or putting cash on mobile money in person. HeptaPay digitises the way of payments and provides a new approach to paying bills.

The DFLA stands for new ideas and paths for today's but also for the generations of the future. What paths would the nominee like to pave for future generations?

As a pan-Africanist and a trained space tech engineer, Sylvia is a role model for young African women. She is a frequent speaker at important conferences (e.g. World Economic Forum) and mentors young people with high potential. Her vision is to create an eco-system on the continent that offers (employment) opportunities for African talent and provide an alternative to brain drain.