Deadline: December 23, 2021
TotalEnergies invites students across Africa to take part in the 3rd edition of Startupper of the Year Challenge open to 32 African countries. Its goal is to support young African entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 with innovative projects that meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in order to encourage and promote responsible entrepreneurship.
All business creation’s project holders and young innovative startups with a positive impact on their communities and the planet can participate! Are you a pioneer with a project or a startup that can make a difference in your country? Participate, and become the Startupper of the Year!
Prizes and Benefits
3 prizes will be awarded in each country to:
- The best business creation project
- The best startup under 3 years old
- The best female entrepreneur
The competition is completely free and participating students will have the opportunity to:
- Win financial support to launch their project
- Benefit from media visibility
- Receive personal mentoring from TotalEnergies
Eligibility
- If you have an idea or a project in mind: you will apply in the category “business creation project”
- If you have a company registered that is less than 3 years ago: you will apply in the category “startup under 3 years”
Only students from these target countries are eligible for the challenge:
- North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia)
- West Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo)
- Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo)
- East Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Reunion Island-Mayotte Island, Madagascar, Uganda, Tanzania)
- Austral Africa (South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Evaluation Criteria
- Sustainable Development: In 2015, the United Nations and its Member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which forge a reference framework for 2030 to address the global challenges of poverty, environmental protection, peace and prosperity. TotalEnergies committed in 2016 to help achieve the SDGs and to structure its responsible development approach and make a significant contribution to this collective effort. Thus, aware of the importance of these issues, your project or startup should meet one or more of these objectives.
- Innovation: Will be assessed according to the contribution of new and/or complementary solutions to meet some of the challenges in your country. The innovation is not necessarily technological, it can simply relate to the way of communicating with the beneficiaries, the diversity of the actors involved, or offer new forms of organisation and governance.
- Project feasibility: Particular attention will be paid to the feasibility and development potential of each project. In the case of a business creation project, a viable economic model, complementary and relevant skills for the project and a clear vision of its development will be used to evaluate this criterion. This is important as they want to support winners in the long-term.
Application
To participate in this opportunity, students just need to register and fill in the application form on the platform before December 23rd, 2021.
For more information, visit Startupper Challenge.