Africa’s Business Heroes Announces Top Ten Finalists for November Finale

Jack Ma foundation that celebrates and invests in African unique start-up ideas has announced the top ten finalists for the grand finale pitch in November.

According to the foundation, some of the confirmed finale judges are Jack Ma, Ibukun Awosika, Strive Masiyiwa and Joe Tsai.

The ten finalists selected by the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) will pitch their ideas at the competition’s grand finale in November for a chance to win a share of a US$1.5 million prize pool.

The ten finalists that comprise of 50 percent female with representatives from eight African countries were drawn from over 22,000 applications received from all the 54 African nations.

Finalists were from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Their businesses span key industries such as agriculture, fashion, education, healthcare, renewable energy, and financial services.

“I continue to be amazed by the passion, resilience, and vision of Africa’s entrepreneurs, and I look forward to meeting these ten extraordinary businesswomen and businessmen at the finale. I am excited to learn more about how they are driving positive change and progress across the continent,” said Jack Ma, Founder of the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Group.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, ABH semi-finale judge and Founder of soleRebels, Garden of Coffee and Tefftastic, said “The 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes competition has been incredible. The quality of the entrepreneurs and their ideas has been exceptional and this is a testament to the talent that exists across the continent. I am extremely excited to follow the rest of the competition and see who will come on top as the 2020 African Business Hero!”.

Speaking on selected finalists, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, ABH semi-finale judge and Founder and Chairman of APO Group, said “It’s been fascinating to be part of this unique initiative. From the start, I was struck by the diversity of people and projects involved, with the finalists providing almost even split of talented men and women from all over Africa. This competition has shone a light on our continent, and helped to showcase African solutions to African problems. As someone who knows how challenging it is to boot-strap their own business, I was heartened to see that many of the entrants are entirely self-funded, and have shown great determination, ingenuity and spirit to get this far. All the finalists are truly deserving of the opportunity they have been given. Jack Ma represents the very best in global entrepreneurship, so I am delighted to have been involved in such a fantastic project.”