The Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition, a flagship philanthropic programme established by the Jack Ma Foundation to spotlight and support African entrepreneurs, has announced the 20 finalists for its 2022 edition.
The Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition is aimed at supporting and inspiring the next generation of African entrepreneurs across all sectors who are building a more sustainable and inclusive economy for the future of the continent.
Over a 10-year period, ABH will recognise 100 African entrepreneurs and commit to allocating grant funding, training programmes, and support for the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each year, the ABH prize competition and show features 10 finalists as they pitch their business to win a share of US$1.5 million in grant money.
This year, the competition received more than 21,000 applications and saw applicants from across all 54 African countries. Fifty startups were initially named finalists, a number that has now been whittled down to 20 ahead of a rigorous due diligence process over the next month. Fifteen startups will then proceed to the next round of the competition, which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda on September 30.
Five of the selected startups are Nigerian, namely Trove Finance, Powerstove Energy, my-Medicines, Rashak Farms and Agro Allied Limited, and D-Olivette Global Enterprise. Another four are from South Africa, in the shape of Shonaquip Social Enterprise, Memeza Shout, Nyamezela Metering, and TradeBRICS.
Three are from Egypt, namely Helm, Rahet Bally, and Sprints, while the list is completed by Botswana’s Conexus Proprietary Limited, Cameroon’s Save Our Agriculture Sarl, Ethiopia’s Gebeya, Ghana’s Coliba, Kenya’s MarketForce, Rwanda’s Munyax, Somalia’s Hano Academy, and Tanzania’s East Africa Fruits.
“The top 20 finalists of the ABH prize competition this year show what great potential and talent exist in Africa. We are looking forward to giving them the support they need to grow and generate a positive impact on both their businesses and the communities they serve,” said Zahra Baitie-Boateng, head of partnerships and programmes at Africa’s Business Heroes.
