At this year’s SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards, Shona MacDonald, founder of Shonaquip in South Africa, was announced as the winner of the inaugural Disability Empowerment Award at an official awards ceremony on 27 October 2016. The award was established in recognition of the increase in the number of innovations providing solutions for people with disabilities. As a means of recognizing the critical work carried out in this under-served sector, the SAB Foundation established the Disability Empowerment Awards, which carries an additional total prize money of R1.5-million. In judging this award, the innovation’s business potential, innovation, life change potential and scalability was reviewed.
Read moreShonaquip, Africa’s first woman-run wheelchair business of its kind, scoops top export prize
Shonaquip, the first woman-run wheelchair business of its kind on the African continent, and founded by the inspirational Shona McDonald, has just won the top prize at the Cape Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the Year Award, beating 12 other finalists along the way. The competition, now in its 25th year, was celebrated at a gala event held on 5th November at the Kenilworth Racecourse. Shona’s win puts her in good company, as there have been been notable winners in the past who have enjoyed spectacular success as exporters, including Mark Shuttleworth’s company Thawte which won the Exporter of the Year in 1999.
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