Fifteen young African entrepreneurs were selected as finalists from over 800 applicants. For the seventh consecutive edition of the Anzisha Prize, a prestigious award awarded to the youngest African entrepreneurs. Supported by the African Leadership Academy (ALA), in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation, the Anzisha Prize encourages and pays tribute to the new generation of young African entrepreneurship leaders who create jobs, solve local development problems and are engines of the economy. Selected from 14 countries, around half of the applicants are young women representing sectors as diverse as renewable energy, agriculture, waste recycling and youth empowerment. For the first time, applicants from Angola, Liberia, Mauritius and Sudan entered the competition.

“We are delighted to see that among the finalists are many young women and we are delighted that the award contributes to their economic empowerment. », Says Melissa Mbazo, responsible for the Anzisha Prize. “The success of these women-led businesses will be accelerated through the practical and financial support provided by the Anzisha Prize. ”

Among these young innovators is Liberian Satta Wahab, founder of Naz Naturals, a cosmetics company that creates organic hair products that make women and girls feel beautiful and confident in their natural hair. The group of finalists also includes 21-year-old South African Maemu Lambani, young owner of a digital marketing agency; and
Thowiba Alhaj, founder of Work Jump-Up Sudan, an organization that assists university students by giving them access to job offers.

“The caliber and diversity of the young men and women competing in this year’s Anzisha Prize is impressive and growing every year,” says Koffi Assouan, Youth Livelihoods Program Manager at The MasterCard Foundation. “The more the group of Anzisha Prize winners grows, the more its impact and influence on local communities and economies intensifies. ”

Finalists will travel to Johannesburg to participate in a 10-day entrepreneurial leadership workshop where they will be coached on how to present their business to a panel of judges to win a share of the $ 100,000 in prizes and coaching. The grand prize winner will receive $ 25,000 and the 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, the sum of $ 15,000 and 12,500. The remainder of the prize will be shared among the outstanding finalists, including an agriculture prize worth $ 10,000 funded by the Louis Dreyfus Foundation, as well as four challenge prizes of $ 5,000 intended to support the projects of previous finalists. of the Anzisha Prize. All other finalists will each receive prizes valued at $ 2,500.

They will also benefit from ALA’s Youth Entrepreneur Support Unit (YES-U), which provides counseling and training services to Anzisha Prize finalists. This includes the Anzisha Accelerator workshop, support and consultancy services, travel opportunities to develop networks and equipment for the company, valued at approximately $ 7,500.

The finalists will be evaluated by a panel of five experienced judges who have contributed to the development of young entrepreneurship in Africa, including Wendy Luhabe, pioneer of social entrepreneurship and economic activist. The winners will be announced at an inspiring gala evening on October 24, which will include a speech by “serial entrepreneur” Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership Academy and African Leadership University.

The 2017 Anzisha Prize finalists:

1. Ajiroghene Omanudhowo, 22, Nigeria: Ajiroghene is the founder of three businesses operated by parent company 360 Needs. ASAFOOD delivers food to universities, ASADROP is a logistics company specializing in parcel delivery and Beta Grades helps students prepare for their exams by offering them computer training.

2. Victoria Olimatunde, 15, Nigeria: Victoria is the founder of Bizkids, which teaches high school students about financial literacy, savings, money management and small business management. Bizkids encourages young people to create a job as an entrepreneur and not just to seek a job as an employee.

3. Dina Mohamed Ibrahim, 22, Egypt: Dina is one of the founders of Metro Co-Working Space, a company that rents workspaces to entrepreneurs and offers workshops and resources to help them succeed.

4. Edgar Edmund, 17, Tanzania: Edgar is the founder of GreenVenture Tanzania whose goal is to recycle plastic waste into cheap building materials such as paving stones. GreenVenture helps people build homes while promoting environmental sustainability.

5. Fadwa Moussaif, 22, Morocco: Fadwa is the founder of Boucharouette Eco Creation (B.E.C.) which enables indigenous women to become independent by using quality fabrics to revive the art of Boucharouette rug making.

6. Gerald Matolo, 20, Kenya: Gerald is the founder of Angaza Africa Technologies, a company that manufactures briquetting machines, solid waste carbonization ovens and processes biomass briquettes.

7. Ibrahima Ben Aziz Konate, 22, Côte D’Ivoire: Ibrahima is the founder of Poultry d´Or, a company that processes and distributes poultry and agri-food products on the same day.

8. Ignatius Ahumuza, 21, Uganda: Ignatius is one of the founders of Art Planet Academy, a company that provides hands-on agricultural training in schools. Art Planet creates and innovates in the field of climate-friendly farming technologies, tests them on demonstration farms and integrates them into a practical agricultural training course.

9. Jessan Kumar Persand, 22, Mauritius: Jessan is the founder of Crab Aquaculture Project (Jessan Seafood), a crab farm. It produces around 2,000 crabs per month, which are sold to hotels and restaurants.

10. Maemu Lambani, 21, South Africa: Maemu is the founder of Fearless Trendz, a digital marketing agency dedicated to promoting local and growing businesses internationally using social media.

11. Moonga Chowa, 22, Zambia: Moonga is the founder of Chilimba, a mobile platform that works on all mobile phones and allows savings groups to manage their contributions efficiently and transparently, thus facilitating their migration to a more secure electronic money.

12. Rebecca Andrianarisandy, 20, Madagascar: Rebecca is the founder of GasGasy which provides sustainable and ecological organic fertilizer made in Madagascar for Malagasy people. It is easier to spray on crops because it is a liquid fertilizer. GasGasy acts as an insecticide and preserves the soil.

13. Satta Wahab, 21, Liberia: Satta is the founder of Naz Naturals, a Liberian cosmetics company that creates organic hair products from unrefined shea butter allowing women and girls to feel beautiful and beautiful. be confident with their natural hair.

14. Thowiba Alhaj, 20, Sudan: Thowiba is one of the founders of Work Jump-Up Sudan, an organization whose purpose is to assist university students by giving them access to employment opportunities. Its main activity is to seek out potential employers and encourage them to offer students part-time jobs.

15. Vicente Zau, 19, Angola: Vicente is the founder of Vicente News Company, an online platform that aims to promote African music, and in particular, Angolan music, across the continent, to encourage its export to foreign countries.

To stay up to date with the latest news, meet the finalists, learn more about their company, and watch the awards gala live on YouTube.

 

Source: African Manager

About The Author

CEO AfrikaTech

Comme beaucoup de personnes j’ai connu l’Afrique à travers des stéréotypes : l’Afrique est pauvre, il y a la guerre, famine… Je suis devenu entrepreneur pour briser ces clichés et participer à la construction du continent. J’ai lancé plusieurs entreprises dont Kareea (Formation et développement web), Tutorys (Plate-forme de e-learning), AfrikanFunding (Plate-forme de crowdfunding). Après un échec sur ma startup Tutorys, à cause d’une mauvaise exécution Business, un manque de réseau, pas de mentor, je suis parti 6 mois en immersion dans l’écosystème Tech au Sénégal. J’ai rencontré de nombreux entrepreneurs passionnés, talentueux et déterminés. A mon retour sur Paris je décide de raconter leur histoire en créant le média AfrikaTech. L'objectif est de soutenir les entrepreneurs qui se battent quotidiennement en Afrique en leur offrant la visibilité, les connaissances, le réseautage et les capitaux nécessaires pour réussir. L'Afrique de demain se construit aujourd'hui ensemble. Rejoignez-nous ! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boubacardiallo

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