Winners included the project management platform PilliotY and GSTS, both of Morocco. The others included a tender management system from Kriterion from South Africa and the Tunisian robotics company Enova Robotics.

The winning groups were part of over 200 start-ups that applied for the challenge tasked with researching idea to boost maintenance capabilities, improve mined ore quality, manage mining equipment better, and how to improve safety during periods of low visibility. Of these, 12 were selected for a Morocco boot camp event that would aid in developing an industry introduction for their technology.

A demo day at the end of the bootcamp helped judges to select the four winners from final presentations. The group will now trial their respective tech at one of OCP's mines.

"In an open innovation approach, the group is partnering with innovative ecosystems to rapidly find tomorrow's solutions," OCP said.

"[We] reinforce [our] position as an open innovation actor, supporting the development and promotion of the African entrepreneurial ecosystem."

This challenge was open to any start-up registered in Africa or one with a founder or co-founder from Africa or the African diaspora community.

Other groups that made it to the semi-finals included Peacock, Smart On, 100AI, Farasha, Ashanti AI, SolutionIQ, InstaDeep and Astral Aerial.