The top 20 young entrepreneurs have been selected for this year’s edition of the Anzisha Prize, the winner of which will take home a cash prize of US$25,000.
The Anzisha Prize, an African Leadership Academy and Mastercard Foundation partnership, is dedicated to identifying, supporting and celebrating African entrepreneurs between the ages of 15-22 whose businesses redefine and reimagine Africa’s growth trajectory.
Over 500 applicants were received for the prize this year, with 20 finalists chosen from across various sectors. The top 20 will gather in Johannesburg for a 12-day accelerator bootcamp before pitching in front of an independent judging panel, which will decide the winner of the US$25,000 grand prize.
“This year, we’re particularly excited about the new format. We’ve created a tailored experience that will allow people to explore the Anzisha movement in all its entirety,” said Melissa Mbazo, Anzisha’s programme manager. “From start to finish, the day will look at shaping the future of entrepreneurship on the continent and young entrepreneurs will be at the helm, steering the conversations.”
The 2019 finalists for the Anzisha Prize are listed below:
- Asia Saeed, 20, Somalia: Founder of 2doon, a social enterprise established to reduce unemployment for the Somalian youth.
- Godiragetse Fareed Mogajane, 21, South Africa: Founder of Goodie tutors, a tutoring agency which provides extra tutorial classes by offering one-on-one tutoring; university pre-exam workshops and exam-focuses maths workshops for high school students.
- Marvellous Nyongoro, 22, Zimbabwe: Founder of The Housing Hub, a service provision platform founded by Marvellous that uses smart technology.
- Velache Henry, 19, Sierra Leone: Founder of Canaan Farms. Canaan Farms is an agribusiness and distribution company with two branches that grow various produce (watermelon, okra, cassava, etc.).
- Emmanuel Owusu Agyei, 22, Ghana: Founder of Campus Trends Ghana, a marketing firm providing advice, qualitative and communications services to bridge the gap between the firm and the student market.
- Jaritou Jallow, 21, Gambia: Founder of Yonima Errands Runner, an enterprise founded by Jariatou which provides business errands such as business registration, bank account openings, administrative etc.
- Caleb Annobil, 21, Ghana: Founder of High School Water Product, an enterprise which customises sachet water to sell to students at affordable prices.
- Christian Tesfaye Kassahun, 21, Ethiopia: Co-founder of GebeyaNet, an agricultural e-Commerce platform that connects smallholder farmers with the market and also facilitates logistics and payment systems for them.
- Mamadjang Jallow, 20, Gambia: Founder of Jallow Trading, a small scale horticultural gardening venture founded by Mamadjang which produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables which he sells to vendors and households around his region.
- Saudah Birungi, 22, Uganda: Saudah co-founded Tusafishe which is an enterprise that constructs water filters using locally available materials for students in rural schools and in their homes to provide them with safe drinking water.
- Olipah Chomba, 22, Zambia: Founder of Poultry, an enterprise which orders broiler chicken, nurtures them for a period six weeks by providing them with the necessary vaccines and medicine.
- Osvaldo Rey Mokouma, 19, Republic of Congo: Founder of AquagriTech, an enterprise that enhances urban bio-waste to produce natural food from fish that are put in a closed circuit with plants that assimilate the droppings of fish for their growth.
- Segbe Accrombessi, 22, Benin: Founder of Kawan Africa, an enterprise which produces and sells tomato puree. They set up workshops to train young girls to produce the puree and then become wholesalers who buy their products to sell them afterwards.
- Balbina Gulam, 21, Tanzania: Founder of Huduma Smart, an enterprise that trains domestic workers and provides a job market for them.
- Catherine Nalukwago, 22, Uganda: Catherine is the co-founder of Vertical and Micro Gardening an enterprise that has developed a product called The Vertical Farm which makes urban farming a viable micro-enterprise for low-income households.
- Cecil Chikezie, 21, Kenya: Founder of Eco Makaa, a company that connects local fuel briquette producers to a client base by recruiting the community’s small-scale briquette producers who collectively produce standardised briquettes.
- Abdulwaheed Alayande, 21, Nigeria: Founder of TREP LABS, an enterprise offering a product called REALDRIP which is an infusion meter that makes blood transfusion and drip treatment simpler and safer.
- Emmanuel Okon, 22, Nigeria: Okon founded Vmedkit – a health company that focuses on alleviating mental illnesses using virtual reality technology.
- Raghda Medhat, 22, Egypt: Founder of Internsvalley, a system that connects fresh software engineers who seek work experience with international early-stage start-ups through practical remote internship and job opportunities.
- Yannick Kimanuka, 21, DRC: The KIM’s School Complex, founded by Yannick in 2018, is a nursery and primary school which aims to reduce the trend of intellectual disability found in children from her community.
