Call for applications: Africa Business Heroes Prize 2023

The Africa Business Heroes Prize is an annual competition organised by the Jack Ma Foundation to identify, support and inspire African entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their local communities and working to solve the continent’s biggest challenges.

The competition is open to African entrepreneurs from all African countries, all sectors and all ages who have a business that is less than three years old. The competition aims to give these entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their businesses and ideas, and to provide them with resources, training and mentorship to help them take their businesses to the next level.

Benefits

The Africa Business Heroes Prize Competition offers a range of benefits to participants including:

• Up to $1.5 million in grant funding for the top 10 finalists.
• Access to mentorship and training opportunities with global business leaders.
• Networking opportunities with investors, mentors, and other entrepreneurs.
• Publicity for their businesses through media exposure and events.

Eligibility 

To be eligible to participate in the Africa Business Heroes Prize competition, applicants must:

• Be a citizen of an African country.
• Be 18 years or older as of April 1, 2023.
• Have a business that is registered and headquartered in an African country.
• Be the founder or co-founder of the business and play an active role in its operations.
• Have a business that is less than three years old as of April 1, 2023.
• Be working to solve a local or continental problem with a sustainable business model.

Application Process

Applicants must complete an online application form, which includes questions about their business, their team and their impact. The application form is available on the competition’s website and must be submitted by 30 April.

After the application deadline, a selection committee will review all applications and select the top 50 finalists who will be invited to participate in an online pitch competition. From the pitch competition, the selection committee will select the top 10 finalists who will be invited to attend the Africa Business Heroes Summit in November 2023.

At the summit, the top 10 finalists will participate in a bootcamp and final pitch competition where they will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses to a panel of judges and compete for up to $1.5 million in grant funding.

View the original call here.