Ten African techpreneurs have emerged finalists of the Jack Ma’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative. The finalists were selected after 7 months of application and scrutiny.
The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative is a Jack Ma flagship entrepreneur program organized by the Jack Ma Foundation. The initiative which was announced during Jack Ma’s trip to Africa last year aims to identify and spotlight 100 African entrepreneur heroes and their stories to inspire the continent and beyond.
The ten finalists from Egypt, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, and Cote D’Ivoire pitched their ideas alongside 10,000 other applicants in 54 countries.
See also: Lidya, Nigerian SME Lending Platform Expands to Europe
The ten finalists were;
- Waleed Abd ElRahman – the CEO of Mumm, an Egypt-based virtual cafeteria for business,
- Ayodeji Arikawe – the co-founder of Nigerian-based Thrive Agric,
- Temie Giwa-Tubosun – the Founder and CEO of LifeBank
- Mahmud Johnson – Founder and CEO of J-palm
- Christelle Kwizera – Founder of Water Access
- Kevine Kagirimpundu – Co-founder and CEO, UZURI K&Y
- Dr. Tosan J Mogbeyi Teren – Founder of Black Swan
- Chibuzo Opara – the Co-founder of DrugStoc
- Dr. Omar Sakr – founder and CEO Nwaha-Scientific
- Moulaye Taboure – Co-founder and CEO, Afrikrea
The ten finalists will pitch their final idea to a panel of Judges consisting of Alibaba Group Founder Jack Ma; Founder of Econet, Strive Masiyiwa; the First bank of Nigeria Chairman, Ibukun Awosika and Alibaba Group Executive Vice-chairman, Joe Tsai.
Alibaba’s CEO and founder of the Africa Netpreneur Initiative reiterated that the program was created to identify, reward and inspire a new generation of potential game-changers in Africa.
The Jack Ma Foundation will also host a full-day, invitation-only conference on Nov. 16 – the Africa Netpreneur Summit, where African and global entrepreneurs, investors, educators, and leaders will convene to discuss ways to enhance entrepreneurship and the digital economy across the continent.
More on TechGIst Africa:
- Two African Startups Recognized at the Global SME Finance Forum Awards
- AU’s New Initiative to Sponsor Tech Solutions to Tackle Forced Displacement in Africa
- Safaricom Honors Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan Olympic Marathon Champion
- 5 not-so-popular Platforms that Operates like Andela for Software Developers in Africa
- Microsoft Introduce Python Support on Azure for South African Developers
