Deadline: July 31, 2021
Applications are open for the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Youth Challenge 2021. With the inaugural DBSA Youth Challenge, they are inviting youth legally residing in South Africa to submit their ideas and solutions that improve the lives of communities by addressing infrastructure challenges in new and innovative ways that build Africa’s prosperity.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a leading development finance institution (DFI) operating across the African continent. They provide infrastructure financing in the energy, transport, water and Information Communications and Technology (ICT) sectors, with a secondary focus on the education, health and human settlements sectors. They believe that financing infrastructure is about improving people’s lives and growing the economy.
Sectors
- Energy: Your idea will contribute to economic and environmentally sustainable energy generation, storage and/or distribution.
- Health: Your idea improves access to quality affordable primary healthcare in marginalised communities in urban and rural areas of the country.
- Water: Your idea reduces water pollution and/or increases access to clean potable water.
- Human Settlements & Housing: Your idea offers a solution to the need for affordable, environmentally sustainable housing in informal settlements and/or rural areas of the country.
- Transport: Your idea improves access, safety and/or the experience of public commuters, or reduces traffic congestion and air pollution or increases the efficiency of moving goods.
- ICT: Your idea solves the challenge of access faced by many, breaking down those barriers to digital accessibility and connectivity.
- Education: Your idea solves the need of access to quality education for every child ensuring that they’re equipped for the future.
Benefits
- Win your share of R1.5 million towards your infrastructure development idea.
Eligibility
- Open to anyone legally residing in South Africa. DBSA employees, their immediate families as well as DBSA partners, service providers and other companies associated with the competition and with the DBSA are not eligible.
- Be between the ages of 18 and 35;
- They are looking for innovative ideas and solutions, big and small that address the challenges faced in infrastructure within the transport, water, energy, Information Communications and Technology (ICT), education, health and human settlements sectors.
- Applications must be submitted in English.
Selection Criteria
Ideas will be selected according to:
- Originality
- Relevance
- Technical feasibility
- Quality of the submission, motivation and presentation
- Scalability
Application
Fill in the application form and include a short motivation answering why you think yours is the winning idea. A duly completed form with a full description of the innovation must accompany each submission, failing which, the entry will be disqualified.
For more information, visit DBSA Youth Challenge.
