Tana Malinga
Africa’s top innovators shine at the continent’s premier celebration of app excellence
The 2025 FNB App of the Year Awards lit up Johannesburg tonight as South Africa’s most talented developers, innovators, partners, media and industry leaders gathered to celebrate the best in African tech. The prestigious awards once again highlighted remarkable homegrown creativity and the digital solutions shaping Africa’s technological future.
The headline honour, 2025 FNB App of the Year, was awarded to Vula Medical, a groundbreaking medical referral app created by Dr William Mapham. The concept was born from his experiences at the Vula Emehlo Eye Clinic in rural Swaziland, where he witnessed the challenges health workers face when trying to access specialist medical advice.
Vula Medical solves this problem with a secure platform that connects primary healthcare workers to specialists. It streamlines patient referrals, enables the exchange of text and images, and supports custom referral forms, all designed to strengthen healthcare delivery in rural and underserved areas. The app reduces unnecessary patient travel, gives health workers direct specialist input, and ensures patients receive the right care at the right time.
Its impact is extraordinary, published studies from health workers show that almost 30% of rural patients referred through Vula do not need to travel to see a specialist, thanks to remote guidance provided via the app. This saves patients time, money and stress while ensuring accurate medical support.
To date, Vula has facilitated over 2.5 million patient referrals, linking healthcare professionals across more than 2 300 public and private facilities and supporting 105 categories of health workers, a testament to its widespread trust and critical role in South Africa’s healthcare system.
For 14 years, the FNB App of the Year Awards have served as Africa’s foremost platform for spotlighting solutions that transform industries, enable inclusion and inspire technological progress across consumer, enterprise, health, education, agriculture and financial sectors.
These awards form part of a broader ecosystem of FNB initiatives aimed at growing the continent’s digital skills pipeline. This year, over 33 000 young people graduated as full stack developers through the fully funded FNB App Academy, a rigorous nine week programme focused on building real, job-ready coding expertise.
In October, FNB also hosted Africa’s largest hackathon, drawing more than 10 000 participants who spent 72 hours developing solutions for the continent’s most pressing social challenges.
Over the years, the App of the Year platform has uncovered some of South Africa’s most successful digital products, including Eskom Se Push, Naked Insurance, Pineapple Insurance, Checkers Sixty60 and last year’s winner, Matric Live.
“The FNB App of the Year Awards continue to unearth and nurture African innovation. Winners gain recognition, open doors to funding, and help address social and economic challenges,” said Janis Robson, Business Development Head at FNB.
Long time judge Ellen Fischat, founder of Story Room, highlighted the significant rise in AI driven solutions, especially in health tech. She praised developers for using advanced technology in meaningful, community focused ways rather than solely for scale or profit.
Judge Gareth Tresling, Head of Experience Engineering at Immersion, noted the rise of AI companions and assistants across categories, pointing to the ambition of African developers to integrate advanced tools into everyday life. He also emphasised that many apps tackled systemic community issues such as safety, school parent communication, nutrition and public transport.
Judge Jeff Manda, Digital Lead at Brave, echoed these sentiments, praising entries that addressed real world constraints, including offline capability and accessibility. “You can immediately see when teams design with intention, and it stands out,” he said.
2025 FNB App of the Year Winners
- Best Consumer Solution: Mr D
- Best Enterprise Solution: Droppa
- Best Hackathon Solution: Usagey
- Best Gaming Solution: Recess
- Best Health Solution: Vula Medical
- Best Agricultural Solution: FarmWise
- Best Educational Solution: d6 School Communicator
- Breakthrough Developer of the Year: CPF Method
- Best Financial Solution: Stokvel Marketplace Powered by StokFella
- Most Innovative Solution: iER (Integrated Emergency Response)
- Best South African Solution: iER (Integrated Emergency Response)
- The Accenture Reinvention Award: Scenda
For more information, visit www.appoftheyear.co.za
