10 Africans out of the over five thousand applicants have qualified for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) which will see them sharing a prize of $1 million after pitching to judges at a final competition. Selected from various parts of Africa, the nominees comprise four Nigerians, two Egyptians, one from Liberia and two from Rwanda.
The four Nigerians are Ayodeji Arikawe, founder of Thrive Agric, a start-up that develops relationships with local farmers and engages them with advanced methods of improving yields while also promoting investments in local farming. Next is Chibuzo Opara, co-founder of DrugStoc,a pharmaceutical company that is available online and offline.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder of LifeBank, a start-up that works as a blood bank to provide and deliver to hospitals blood donated by other people. Tosan Mogbeyiteren of Black Swan, a start-up that improves children health and ensuring children complete immunisation in all parts of the country.
The competition, which will come up in November, is scheduled to hold in Accra, Ghana. The pitching will be judged by Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Econet Group; Ibukun Awosika, chairman of First Bank of Nigeria; Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman, Alibaba Group and Jack Ma.
The finalists will have the opportunity to access the Netpreneur community consisting of African business leaders and leverage on the community’s expertise, network, practice, and resources.
Speaking on the initiative, Jack Ma said, “We launched the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative to identify top entrepreneurs from across the continent, not only to reward them but to inspire a whole new generation of potential game-changers for Africa.
“I have been inspired by the entrepreneurs I met in Africa, many of whom are dealing with the same challenges we faced when we started Alibaba years ago. I truly believe the potential of Africa’s business heroes is limitless.”
The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI), was founded in 2017 and aims to empower African entrepreneurs. The Jack Ma Foundation will be awarding $10 million over the next 10 years to over 100 entrepreneurs during the course of this initiative.
Gbemi Faminu
