African Entrepreneurship Awards – up to $1million for Entrepreneurs!

Deadline: June 30, 2015

Are you an African citizen with a business idea that will create jobs and improve lives in Africa? Will it improve education or the environment, or solve a problem that is uncharted? Apply for the African Entrepreneurship Award and get funding of up to a million dollars.

The African Entrepreneurship Award, powered by BMCE Bank of Africa, offers a mentoring journey or business ideas that can impact and improve lives in Africa. The goal of the African Entrepreneurship Award is to inspire African Entrepreneurs – living in Africa and abroad – to develop businesses across the African continent, creating jobs that improve lives. With great partners and mentors from all around the world who will provide coaching at every step of the way, the African Entrepreneurship Award will help you start to grow your business to create jobs and impact Africa.

Rounds

• Round 1: Questions will be asked questions about your business idea to get to know you and your idea’s relevance to the region.
• Round 2: Questions will be asked about your business’s customers, competition and scalability across Africa.
• Round 3: More questions about the financial projections of your business, your leadership, your advisors and your barriers to success in Africa will come up here.
• Presidential Round:The Presidential Jury comprises distinguished business leaders and entrepreneurs who have created and/or scaled businesses on five continents. Finalists will be offered individual mentoring to prepare their presentations to the Presidential Jury in October 2015 in Morocco. Entrepreneurs are not required to travel to Morocco to present to the Presidential Jury, but can present via YouTube Video or a live video session which will be individually scheduled based on the entrepreneurs’ location and availability.

See more about the Rounds.

Award

Financial award of $1 000 000 for finalists.

Eligibility

• You must be a citizen of an African country. You can submit a proposal as an African resident in any country worldwide.
• You must be a minimum of 18 years old as of October 1, 2015
• Your business must be applicable in an African country, even if you are not a citizen of that country.
• Your business must be relevant to one of these categories
  • Education: positively impact education in Africa
  • Environment: positively impact the environment in Africa
  • Uncharted: a high impact business venturing into unexplored territory or untested markets

Additional Information

• Your business can operate in any African country even if you are not a citizen of that country. For example, you can submit a proposal for a different country in Africa than your personal, African citizenship (e.g. a Ghanaian citizen can submit a proposal for a business in Liberia).
• You can submit a proposal for a business already in operation.
• Your business can operate across borders in multiple African countries.
• Your business should demonstrate the potential to scale beyond one region in Africa to pan-African impact.
• You can operate in multiple countries, but you will be asked to designate a primary community in Africa that will benefit or be impacted by your business.

Application Process

To apply, Register here.

For more information, visit African Entrepreneurship Award.