Application is now Open for the 2023 Cohort of Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition

The fifth annual edition of the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy-sponsored Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Award Competition has begun, and the continent’s entrepreneurial talent is now encouraged to enter.

ABH is a component of the Jack Ma Foundation’s ongoing dedication to promoting an open, robust, and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. Since 2019, ABH and its partners have searched the entire continent for 10 exceptional, mission-driven businesspeople who are working to improve their communities. ABH will honor 100 African businesspeople in total during a ten-year period.

“At ABH, we have always recognized the potential of entrepreneurs as engines of economic and social growth,” said Zahra Baitie-Boateng, Head of Partnerships & Programs. We are happy to see that ABH has developed into a truly Pan-African program that is improving the entrepreneurship scene on the continent as it enters its fifth year of operation. We are incredibly impressed with the growing variety of our Heroes and the concrete efforts they have been taking to address some of Africa’s most pressing problems. We invite businesspeople from all nations, especially those from smaller nations, to take advantage of ABH 2023 to share and inspire the tales of millions of people.

The Pan-African, inclusive, cross-sector, and community-focused ABH Prize Competition. For a chance to be one of the top 10 finalists and fight for a share of US$1.5 million in grant money, entrepreneurs from all 54 African nations are encouraged to submit their applications in either English or French. They can do so in any language.

The 10 finalists will take the stage at the Grand Finale, which will be place later this year, to pitch their companies to a panel of successful businesspeople.

Throughout the way to the finals, competitors will have access to a network of global business innovators, leaders, and experts, as well as investors, accelerators, and multidisciplinary bootcamps and training sessions to assist them advance their ventures.

In addition to offering grants, mentorship, and networking opportunities, ABH produces an annual television program that showcases the on-stage pitches and behind-the-scenes antics of the previous year’s finalists as they make their way to the Grand Finale. The ABH Show is intended to serve as a tutorial in entrepreneurship by allowing viewers to observe first-hand how top African businesspeople improved their final pitches and handled difficult questions from the judges.

Beginning in March 2023, the next season of the ABH Show will consist of fewer episodes and be broadcast on ABH’s official YouTube account  and social media channels. Later this year, a combined extended version will debut on CNBC, StarTimes, and Vox Africa.

Almost 72,000 businesspeople from all over the continent have entered the ABH Prize Competition as of this writing. Out of more than 21,000 candidates from 54 African nations, the top 10 finalists for 2022 were chosen. They come from a variety of industries, including agriculture, consultancy, energy and environmental protection, healthcare, information and communication technology (ICT), and retail.

“My firm embodies my ideology and my principles, and I am happy that East Africa Fruits was acknowledged on the famous ABH platform,” said Elia Timotheo, founder and CEO of East Africa Fruits Co. and the winner of the 2022 ABH first award. My company and other locally owned African enterprises have benefited greatly from ABH’s access to networking and learning opportunities as well as media support. I hope that sharing my experience will encourage other business owners to believe that they, too, have the capacity to change the world and contribute to ABH’s startup community.

East Africa Fruits is currently Tanzania’s top data-driven and technologically advanced food distribution firm. The business, which is dedicated to closing the tech divide for smallholder farmers, serves more than 7,000 customers every day and collaborates with more than 10,000 farmers around the nation.

This year, ABH will expedite the application process for prospective entrepreneurs by organizing live information sessions around the continent during the application period. Workshops will be organized in collaboration with several local entrepreneur organizations and ABH local connect leads in Ethiopia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. Information will be disseminated via the newsletter and social media platforms of ABH.

The extensive ties ABH has with important ecosystem partners are crucial to its success. As in past years, ABH will collaborate with a number of groups to promote the call for submissions, provide assistance to African entrepreneurs, and highlight their outstanding work. Afrilabs, RiseUp, SA Innovation Summit, The Room, an initiative of the African Leadership Group, and VC4A Channel Partners include African Management Institute are the 2023 Anchor Partners (AMI). the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE), AfterSchool Africa, Anzisha Prize Briter Bridges, Disrupt Africa, Haske Ventures, MEST Africa, Pariti, and Seedstars. Organizations can register if they want to become part of the ABH Partner network.

Applications are now open online until May 12, 2023, with the top 50 candidates announced in July, semi-finalists announced in August and the top 10 finalists unveiled in September.

To apply and for more information about ABH 2023, please visit: https://apo-opa.info/41MUCo0