Wanted: Young African Entrepreneurs

JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, March 12, 2013 – African Press Organization (APO) – With more than $75 000 USD in prizes it’s one of Africa’s richest youth entrepreneurial competitions and young business people from around the continent are encouraged to enter.

The prestigious Anzisha Prize (http://www.anzishaprize.org) rewards young African entrepreneurs who are making a difference by transforming their communities. It celebrates initiative and innovation and identifies those who are leading by example and underscores their ability to significantly shape the future of Africa.

With $75 000 USD in cash prizes, the Anzisha Prize is hosted by the African Leadership Academy in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation. There is also a $10 000 USD Energy Prize which will be awarded to the applicant who demonstrates ingenuity in developing sustainable renewable energy sources.

The Anzisha Prize is open to entrepreneurs from around the African continent aged between 15 and 22. Entries can be completed online at http://www.anzishaprize.org – in either English or French – with the closing deadline on April 1, 2013. Individuals, teachers and organisations are also being called on to nominate young entrepreneurs in their communities.

Finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend a weeklong entrepreneurship conference and awards gala. While there, they will be taught by the ALA’s renowned Entrepreneurial Leadership faculty as well as experienced business mentors. Winners will share $75,000 USD, courtesy of The MasterCard Foundation, and be given networking and learning opportunities to take their projects to the next level.

Twenty-one- year-old Andrew Mupuya of Uganda was announced as the grand prize winner of last year’s Anzisha Prize thanks to his paper bag production company, Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI). Past winners have included Kenya’s Diana Mong’are who founded recycling company Planet Green and became an evangelist for environmental conservation in her community; Ghana’s Yaw Duffour-Awuah who at the age of 16 launched a micro-lending company which has now grown to a financial services company; and Antoinette Furaha from the Democratic Republic of Congo who began a small micro-credit services company that invests in and empowers young refugee women in Uganda.