Entries are now open for the Anzisha Prize
– Africa’s premier award for the continent’s best young entrepreneurs.
This year, youth organisation partners and media brands all over the
continent will join forces to find, celebrate and support the most
innovative social and business entrepreneurs under the age of 22. Over
$75,000 USD in cash prizes will be shared by the 2014 finalists.
Hosted by the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation,
the Anzisha Prize celebrates initiative and innovation. It identifies
exceptional young entrepreneurs who are blazing a trail of startup
success and providing shining examples for others follow. In just three
years, the Anzisha Prize has grown into one of the most sought after
awards for young entrepreneurs globally. On top of the significant cash
prizes, the 12 Anzisha finalists will join a growing Anzisha Fellow Network of the continent’s top youth entrepreneurs.
“This year, we’re determined to
reach far and wide through our youth development partners, schools and
the media to find the very best of Africa’s youngest entrepreneurial
talent,” says Chi Achebe, Anzisha Prize Program Manager, “We
can’t wait to see what this year’s application process will uncover,
and we encourage everyone to help us by nominating amazing young people
in their own communities who have started a project or business with
potential.”
Current Anzisha Fellows include Andrew Mupuya (2012, Uganda), who was recently featured on CNN for his growing paper-bag manufacturing empire; Kolawole Olajide (2013, South Africa/Nigeria), developer of online education platform Funda; rabbit farm owner Laetitia Mukungu (2012, Kenya); and information activist & Morsimeter.com developer Amr Sohby (2011, Egypt). Thirty-three Fellows have been selected since the awards were first held in 2011.
In addition to the cash prizes, the
finalists are also flown to South Africa for a powerful one-week
entrepreneurship program taught by ALA’s renowned Entrepreneurial
Leadership faculty, culminating in an awards ceremony that crowns the
grand prize winners.
“The Anzisha Fellows are a group of
exceptional young entrepreneurs who are creating jobs, improving lives,
and forming a truly pan-African network of business innovators,” says Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “This
Prize provides them with an opportunity to learn from each other, and
develop skills to grow their businesses and make a greater impact in
their communities.”
The Anzisha Prize seeks to find youth
between the ages of 15 and 22 who have started and actively run a social
venture or for-profit business with potential. The judging panel are
looking for ventures that demonstrate ingenuity, scale and positive
impact.
This year, the Anzisha Prize has
partnered with an exceptional group of youth NGOs in each country to
extend its reach. Anzisha country partners for 2014 include The Knowledge Institute (Swaziland), The District (Egypt), iEARN (Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Mali), AIESEC (various countries), Junior Achievement
(various countries), among many others. These partners will allow
Anzisha to reach more young entrepreneurs than ever before and find
another incredible set of Fellows in 2014.
Aspiring fellows can apply directly online at anzishaprize.org
or at the offices of any one of our 2014 country partners. Application
forms are available in English, French or Arabic, and will be accepted
through 1 April 2014.
The Anzisha Prize team will also be
visiting key regional hubs in the coming weeks to encourage applications
as part of the annual Anzisha Prize Tour. The 2014 Prize Tour cities
are Lagos (Nigeria), Cairo (Egypt), and Nairobi (Kenya). These venues
will also serve as the locations for regional gatherings for all past
Anzisha Fellows in each region.
Follow the story of this year’s Anzisha Prize and what has become known as the #AnzishaEffect online - anzishaprize.org, Facebook - fb.com/anzishaprize, Twitter - twitter.com/anzishaprize and YouTube -www.youtube.com/user/anzishaprize
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