Top 50 Finalists Emerges for Africa’s Business Heroes Competition
The top 50 finalists for the 2022 edition of Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH), a flagship philanthropic initiative launched by the Jack Ma Foundation to highlight and promote African businesses.
The goal of Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition is to encourage and assist the next generation of African business leaders across all industries who are creating a more equitable and sustainable economy for the continent’s future.
ABH will honor 100 African entrepreneurs over a ten-year period and pledge to provide grant cash, training programs, and assistance for the growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Ten finalists are featured in the ABH Prize competition and presentation each year as they present their companies in an effort to earn a portion of US$1.5 million in grant money.
More than 21,000 applications were submitted for the competition this year, with participants coming from all 54 African nations. The top 50 startups have been selected. With 13 businesses, Nigeria tops the pack, although the top 50 were from 14 different nations overall. Burundi, Guinea, Madagascar, and Somalia are all represented in the top 50 for the first time.
The top 50 candidates, who represent a wide range of industries including agriculture, energy, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing, will now be interviewed by a group of over 60 judges. The top 20 will be determined and announced in late August.
Before moving on to the big finale, where they will pitch live to renowned business figures and win a piece of the US$1.5 million prize pool, the top 10 will be announced in October.
According to Zahra Baitie-Boateng, director of partnerships and programs for Africa’s Business Heroes, “We are happy to see that all of the nations and regions of Africa are represented in this year’s competition and that we have a more varied pool of applicants than before.” Regardless of their gender or age, it is energizing to witness more than 21,000 entrepreneurs throw their hats into the ring from a variety of industries.
