Nigerian entrepreneur clinches Jack Ma’s Africa business hero prize

Chidi Nwaogu, a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and software developer has emerged as one of 10 finalists of Africa’s Business Heroes competition, a flagship philanthropic program by the Jack Ma Foundation to support African entrepreneurs. This qualifies him for a part of the $1.5 million in grant funding, according to a statement.

The Prize is organized annually to showcase and grow local talents who are creating a positive impact in their communities and beyond. Over a ten-year period, Africa’s Business Heroes Prize will recognize 100 African entrepreneurs and provide them with grant funding, access to a community of like-minded African business leaders, training programs, and broader support for the broad African entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In 2017, Nwaogu founded Publiseer, to help meet the growing needs of independent and underserved African creatives, typically those from low-income and disadvantaged communities.

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Since its launch, Publiseer has worked with over 7,000 African writers, musicians, filmmakers, and video game developers, helping them to focus on the creating process, while it transforms their creativity into wealth. The company has also received funding from international organizations like Institut Français and the Goethe-Institut.

Chidi Nwaogu is also a co-founder at Savvy, a global fellowship program that has equipped over 4,900 passionate individuals from 143 countries, with the necessary knowledge, skills, tools, resources, and community needed to build innovative, profitable, and sustainable impact-driven businesses.

Before founding Publiseer, Nwaogu had co-founded, grown, and sold two successful tech start-up companies, like the Ladies And Gentlemen book, (LAGbook), a social networking platform for students.

The application garnered over one million registered users in 120 countries around the world and was later acquired in January 2013 by Gulf Pearl Ltd, a Canadian tech company.

Nwaogu is also a winner of the Migration Entrepreneurship Prize, the Africa 35.35 Award for Entrepreneurship, the Young Leaders Award, and the Bizz Business Excellence Award.