AFRICA – Applications are now open for this year’s Africa’s Business Heroes competition, the Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic programme in Africa which annually awards 10 outstanding finalists with a share of a US$1.5 million grant.
In its third year, the Africa’s Business Heroes competition gives African entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their talent and grow their businesses.
The central theme of this year’s competition, “It’s African Time”, is a call to action for all talented African entrepreneurs who are challenging stereotypes associated with “African time” through their businesses, to leverage the prize to scale their efforts as well as share their stories of how they have driven change and solutions.
Applications are now open in English and French for “heroes” across all sectors and African countries, with special emphasis on those working to achieve the UN SDGs.
At the grand finale later this year, 10 finalists will take the stage to present their businesses and share their visions to an esteemed panel of judges, to win a share of the US$1.5 million grant.
The journey to the finale will include several rounds of rigorous evaluation panels, as well as access to a community of international leaders and innovators, industry experts, investors, and accelerators, through a number of multi-disciplinary bootcamps and training sessions.
“The philanthropic programme awards 10 outstanding finalists with a share of a US$1.5 million grant annually”
Applications will be open online until June 7, with semi-finalists announced in August, and the top 10 finalists for 2021 unveiled in September.
In 2020, Jack Ma Foundation shortlisted 10 finalists for its Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) which offer selected innovative tech startups access to a US$1.5 million prize pool.
The 10 entrepreneurs that represented eight African countries were selected from over 22,000 applications across all the 54 African nations in businesses spanning key areas of agriculture, fashion, education, healthcare, renewable energy, financial services, and retail.
Two of the finalists were from Ivory Coast – INVESTIV which leverages innovative technologies to support smallholder farmers and Le Chocolatier Ivorien, which manufactures handcrafted and quality chocolate and another two from Uganda in the shape of MST Junior School, a primary school with a unique approach and learning model and Uganics which manufactures life-saving organic anti-malaria soap.
The remaining finalists were made up of Ghana’s Amaati, which produces an extinct and neglected crop called Fonio; Kenya’s BrightGreen Renewable Energy, which produces life-saving fuel bricks that reduce the cost of cooking for underserved communities; Cameroon’s Enko Education, the largest single network of private schools in Africa; Zimbabwe’s Moneymart, a microfinance institution that offers tailor-made business loans; Senegal’s Diarrablu, a fashion tech company, and Nigeria’s MDaaS Global which builds and operates modern tech-enabled diagnostic centers in clinically-underserved communities.
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