Rinchi
TechInAfrica – The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) has announced the seven semi-finalists of the judging panel. They consist of entrepreneurs, investors, and venture capitalists that will select 10 finalists of ANPI from a pool of 20 finalists. The 20 finalists are narrowed down from approximately 10,000 applications from 50 African countries.
ANPI is Alibaba’s Chairman, Jack Ma’s initiative to support entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. The finalists of the initiative will compete in a contest in November to win up to US$1 million of the grand prize.
ANPI was first announced by Jack Ma during his trip to Africa last year. The initiative is planned to be hosted annually for 10 years, selecting 10 finalists every cohort and give them a portion of $1 million to fund their businesses. Furthermore, they will also get access to mentorship from Netpreneur community of African business leaders as well as other resources.
The competition aims for entrepreneurs from 54 African countries across all industry sectors. Small enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and those who want to improve local communities are eligible to apply for ANPI.
Here are the seven semi-finalist judges:
- Bethlehem Talihun Alemu, CEO of soleRebels
- Fatoumata Ba, a techpreneur and venture capitalist who recently appeared on Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30”
- Marième Diop, Investment Manager at Orange Digital Ventures Africa
- Hasan Haider, Partner of 500 Startups and Co-founder and CEO of Tenmou
- Peter Orth, Founder and Manager Partner of 4DX Ventures
- René Parker, Managing Director and CEO of RLabs
- Fred Swaniker, Founder of African Leadership Group
Jason Pau, Senior Advisor for international programs at the Jack Ma Foundation said: “Our goal when selecting the roster of judges for the ANPI was to find true representatives of the diverse entrepreneurial and business landscape in Africa.”
“The judges we have selected are true leaders in their industries and bring vastly different backgrounds, accomplishments, and skillsets to the table. Their feedback will be invaluable and will set the tone for the competition,” Pau added.
Source: startupafrica.news
