Grace Ashiru
The Anzisha Prize is a well-known program that helps young African entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 22 build their businesses. Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 group.
Africans under the age of 22 who are starting businesses that give their peers jobs are encouraged to apply
After that, 30 fellows will be chosen for a three-year program where they will get help from a team of professionals, more than $5,000 in cash, and business consulting.
The application season is usually a highlight for the program because it allows us to witness how young people in Africa are applying their innovative thinking to some of our most pressing issues.
According to Suzan Kibirige, the Anzisha Prize selection lead, “during the last several years, we’ve seen a boom in Agri-Tech and Fin-Tech businesses that are transforming how we do business on the continent.”
Working with young people is fun because I can see how stubborn they can be. People who will never take “no” for an answer are what we need.
The fellowship helps young entrepreneurs grow and recognizes both their big and small successes. Through individual and group entrepreneurial development experience, the fellowship focuses on two important areas of support: business development and personal leadership.
At the end of the second year, entrepreneurs will pitch their improved businesses and plans for a chance to win a part of the grand cash awards of more than $50,000.
Since 2011, the African Leadership Academy and the Mastercard Foundation have worked together to create the Anzisha Prize. This prize helps and recognizes young people who are trying to start their businesses.
The alumni network is made up of 202 entrepreneurs who graduated from the program. Their businesses went on to make a difference in their communities. So far, 130 of these fellows have brought in almost $6 million in investments and made 8708 job opportunities possible.
The fellowship has been an important part of the program because it helps young African entrepreneurs build sustainable futures for the people in their communities.
We want young people who want to create jobs to apply for this chance, and we’re excited to support their efforts. The Mastercard Foundation’s main goal is to make it easy for young people to succeed.
Alumna Joan Nalubega, a Ugandan businesswoman who has proved the viability of social entrepreneurship, is one of the entrepreneurs.
After growing up as an orphan and getting sick from malaria as a young woman, Nalubega started Organics, a company that makes anti-malaria products. She did this to help fight malaria in the country.
Karidas Tshintsholo is a well-known businessperson from South Africa. Khula, which is owned by Tshintsholo, is one of the most admired companies in Africa among investors. The startup’s business-to-business (B2B) marketplace helps small farmers reach formal markets by giving them access to low-cost shipping services.
The business has signed up more than 3,000 farmers, and it now works with more than 100 suppliers.
Those who are chosen as Anzisha Prize fellows will join a group of change makers in Africa who are looking into how to use entrepreneurship to start, grow, and bring about meaningful and long-lasting change in their communities.
The Anzisha Prize program is open to young business owners from all over the continent who run businesses in any field.
Those who want to apply are encouraged to do so before the deadline, which is November 27, 2022.
