Jack Ma Foundation Announces Applications for Africa Netpreneur Prize 2020

The Jack Ma Foundation has announced applications for the Africa Netpreneur Prize 2020. The application is open to innovative African tech startups.

The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative was launched by Jack Ma to support the next generation of African entrepreneurs. The prize aims to recognize, fund and support 100 African entrepreneurs over 10 years.

Over 10,000 submitted applications from 50 African countries in the first edition. The selected finalists pitched their solutions to a panel of prominent judges at the grand finale held in Accra, Ghana in November 2019. Lifebank’s founder, Temie Giwa-Tubosun received the “Africa’s Business Heroes Award” and $250,000 cash price for winning the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative.

Last year, the finalists shared $1 million cash prize but this year, the total prize amounts to $1.5 million. In addition to the amount, the finalists will gain access to the ANPI leadership forum.

For this year, the foundation has selected a group of anchor partners to identify and support the entrepreneurs. They include Ashesi, Ghanian-based private university; Dalberg, US impact investor; Janngo venture firm; and RiseUp, Cairo-based startup hub. Anita Erskine, founder of STEM Women Project and UN SDG Advocate will be the official host and brand ambassador of Africa’s Business Heroes.

The application is open to African entrepreneurs and the application document is available in both English and French. The second edition of the competition will be open until the 9th of June 2020. The semi-finalists will be announced in August, and the finalists will be unveiled in September 2020. Interested? Click here.