Anzisha Prize Award for Youngest Entrepreneurs in Africa Continent 2023

The Anzisha Prize is Africa’s biggest award for her youngest entrepreneurs aged 15 - 22 years, and hands out over USD $200,000 every year in business support and prize money to very young entrepreneurs from all over the continent.

The Anzisha Prize has championed and supported over 200 Very Young Entrepreneurs throughout the African continent. If you are a young African Entrepreneur trying to grow a small business or you’ve created something that provides you and your friends with an income – then we hope you submitted your application for the 2023 cycle. Become a role model and inspire other young entrepreneurs to make a difference in their communities and Africa as a whole. By applying to the Anzisha Prize you stand a chance to win a share of grand cash prizes valued over $50 000 and business support for your business. Africa’s future lies in your hands and we want to celebrate your potential to grow your country’s economy and create jobs. Keep following the Anzisha Prize for the latest updates on our Venture Building Fellowship.

Applications for the 2024 intake will open on 10 August 2023.

About Anzisha Prize

The Anzisha Program is a partnership between African Leadership Academy and Mastercard Foundation that seeks to fundamentally and significantly increase the number of job generative entrepreneurs in Africa.We believe that a key to doing so is to test, implement and then share models for identifying, training and connecting high potential, very young entrepreneurs (15 to 22-year-olds) so that many more organisations have better collective success in creating a pipeline of entrepreneurs with the capabilities for scale. Our movement is a layered approach to servicing very young entrepreneurs o... read more

Anzisha Prize Award for Youngest Entrepreneurs in Africa Continent

Aim and Benefits of Anzisha Prize Award for Youngest Entrepreneurs in Africa Continent

1. Bi-annual cash stipends to eligible fellows throughout the fellowship.
2. Short term educational opportunities, internships and specialised technical expert consultations for eligible fellows in Year 2 and Year 3.
3. Job Creation Prize – awarded to the entrepreneur in Year 2 who has created the most job opportunities since joining the fellowship.
4. Revenue Growth Prize – awarded to the entrepreneur in Year 2 with the highest business revenue growth since joining the fellowship.
5. Storytelling Prize – awarded to the entrepreneur in Year 2 who has creatively communicated and distributed their entrepreneurship story through written, oral and visual storytelling since joining the fellowship.
6. Integration systems and processes Prize – awarded to the entrepreneur in Year 2 who has effectively used systems and processes learned in the program to advance their business model since joining the fellowship.

Requirements for Anzisha Prize Award for Youngest Entrepreneurs in Africa Continent Qualification

1. You must be between 15 and 22 years old with an ID document or Passport to present as evidence. Anyone born before 1 September 2001 or after 31 August 2008, will not be considered.
2. You must be a national of an African country with a business based in Africa for African customers/beneficiaries.
3. The Anzisha Prize isn’t awarded for great ideas or business plans – you must have already started, and be able to prove it! Get started now and ensure you have tangible results to share before applications open.
4. Your business, invention or social project can be in any field or industry (science and technology, civil society, arts and culture, sports, etc.). Any kind of venture is welcome to apply.
5. Individuals who apply must be one of the founding members of a business (for example, 2 or 3 co-founders who started up the project together).

Interview date, Process and Venue for Anzisha Prize Award for Youngest Entrepreneurs in Africa Continent

To be selected as one of our Anzisha ventures, your business or project will be judged on the following 5 criteria:

• Is your venture established with customers and beneficiaries and are you offering value to them?
• Are you, the founder, who is leading and managing your venture?
• Is your venture demonstrating some impact already?
• Whether your venture is a for-profit business or cause-based, does it already earn revenue or already impacting beneficiaries? Is there potential to increase revenues or beneficiary reach with support from Anzisha?
• Has your venture created jobs and is there potential to create more high quality jobs?

To be selected as one of our Anzisha Fellows, you must demonstrate two important qualities:

• You are the leader of your venture and you drive both venture strategy and operations.
• You spend at least 20 hours a week (or more) on your business and plan to continue to do so after selection.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

For more details visit: Anzisha Prize website.