Applications close 31st of March, 2018
The Anzisha Prize seeks to award young entrepreneurs who have developed and implemented innovative solutions to social challenges or started successful businesses within their communities. 15 finalists from across Africa win a spot in a lifelong fellowship what will help to accelerate their path to entrepreneurship success. The first step in this journey is that they win an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to be a part of a ten day long entrepreneurship workshop and conference at the African Leadership Academy campus on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The grand prize winners, selected from these finalists, will share prizes worth $100,000 USD. The fellowship continues thereafter, offering them business consulting services to unlock growth potential in their venture, connecting them to a global network of leaders, providing access to global speaking opportunities, and supporting their professional development.
In addition to the $100 000 competition, the Anzisha Prize seeks to fundamentally and significantly increase the number of job generative entrepreneurs in Africa. We believe that a key to doing so is to test, implement and then share models for identifying, training and connecting high potential, very young entrepreneurs (15 to 22 year olds) so that many more organisations have better collective success in creating a pipeline entrepreneurs with the capabilities for scale.
Our Anzisha strategy has three pillars:
Celebrate very young entrepreneurs and actively share their stories, to increase the likelihood that others will choose to emulate their success.
Train and accelerate very young entrepreneurs, such that we develop and then share models of entrepreneur education and support more likely to succeed with teens and very young adults.
Influence entrepreneurship education (secondary and tertiary levels) to not only increase the likelihood of more young entrepreneurs, but empathy and support for entrepreneurship as a choice by others.
Eligibility criteria
You must be between 15 and 22 years old with an ID document or Passport to present as evidence.
Anyone born before November 1, 1995 or after October 31, 2003 will not be considered.
You must be a national of an African country with a business based in Africa for African customers/ beneficiaries.
Your business must be up and running.
The Anzisha Prize is not for great ideas or business plans – you must have already started, and be able to prove it! You have time to get started now and have tangible results to share before applications open.
Your business, invention or social project can be in any field or industry (science and technology, civil society, arts and culture, sports, etc.).
Any kind of venture is welcome to apply.Individuals who apply must be one of the founding members of a business (for example, 2 or 3 co-founders who started a business together). One person can apply for the Prize, on behalf of the team.
To learn more about the prize and apply, visit the official website here.
