Disrupt Africa has partnered the Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa’s Business Heroes Programme to release a special four-part podcast series discussing the benefits of the initiative with previous winning founders.
Applications have just opened for the fifth edition of the Africa’s Business Heroes initiative, a philanthropic programme to support African entrepreneurs. Founders from every sector who are using their business to positively impact communities can enter the 2023 competition for the opportunity to win a share of US$1.5 million in equity-free grant funding.
Selected companies will also gain access to mentorship, training, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, as well as a platform to tell their story to the world via the televised ABH Show.
The Disrupt Podcast series speaks to various African founders to find out what impact ABH had on their businesses, and how taking part helped them scale more rapidly. In episode one, co-hosts Gabriella and Tom will chat to two founders running two very different startups in markets as contrasting as Egypt and Zimbabwe.
“Telling the inspiring stories of African entrepreneurs leveraging business to create positive and catalytic change in their communities is a central tenet of the ABH programme. It’s why ABH is excited to launch this podcast series in collaboration with Disrupt Africa! Our heroes are changemakers in every sense of the word and their growth since participating in ABH has been incredible. Several of them have gone to raise large rounds of investment, expand their geographical footprint and develop innovations. We try to capture some of these stories in the series. We hope listeners will gain insights that are relevant to their own business journeys,” said Zahra Baitie-Boateng, head of Africa partnerships and programmes at the Jack Ma Foundation, Africa’s Business Heroes Programme.
African entrepreneurs with businesses that are three-years-old or more are encouraged to apply here to this year’s ABH competition to win their share of grant funding ranging from US$100,000 to US$300,000, global media exposure, networking, training and mentorship opportunities. Incubators, accelerators, investment firms and other organizations that support African entrepreneurs are also encouraged to become a part of the ABH community by applying to become channel partners here.
