Since the close of applications on April 1, we have been combing through 800+ applications to determine who our top 15 entrepreneurs will be! With so many more great applications to read through, it will be difficult to decide on our top finalists, but we are excited pick our winners. We are also excited to announce that applicants who have great businesses but who do not make it to the top 15 will still receive business support as part of our mission to help young businesses scale.
Please make sure to read the rest of this newsletter for more updates, Anzisha opinion articles and some exciting opportunities that you may share with the young people that you work with.
With gratitude,
The Anzisha Team
Thought Leadership from the Team
Every month we share resources, reports, articles and various content that you may use within your various programs. Please see below content written by our team:
2. Policies with a Purpose: Government policies that support entrepreneurship in Africa: Being an entrepreneur is pretty tough. The challenges that you face are either internal, external and in some cases, they are forces that you have no influence over and cannot control. When you start your entrepreneurial journey, you have to believe in yourself and find the motivation to go off on your own. Then, sometimes, you have to convince the bank to give you a loan, convince customers that you are selling them the best product, all while leading an organisation of employees who believe in the business. Read more…
3. Anzisha workshops inspired these trailblazing applicants:We get excited when we see applicants to the Anzisha Program have heard about the Anzisha Prize through: 1) workshops we’ve hosted during the Prize Tour, 2) through our activities associated with the African Leadership Academy or 3) activities/workshops hosted through Anzisha partner organizations.This post includes some applicants this year we are proud of because after being empowered through business ideation workshops associated with the Anzisha Prize, they were proactive in creating and starting their own businesses! Read more…
4. Anzisha Insights From the Prize Tour Trail: Learnings from Tunisia: The great benefit of being based at the African Leadership Academy for Anzisha is the wonderful network of young leaders we have access to across 44 countries whom can also help us spread the word about the Anzisha Prize. After all, young people will know where we can find other young people. Navigating Tunisia was made a breeze with the assistance of our African Leadership Academy student, Eya Somai. As an active citizen in the Tunisian youth space, she was able to help us target realistic means for helping young Tunisians find out about the Anzisha Prize. Read more…
Youth Entrepreneurship Support Organisation Spotlight
ACT in Africa
ACT in Africa is a holistic entrepreneurship development program that encompasses entrepreneurial training, mentorship, acceleration, and access to seed capital.The ACT Entrepreneurship Program was launched in 2014. The curriculum was developed over a 2-year period in collaboration with MBA students from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Zimbabwe, and Africa University. It integrates global best practices in entrepreneurship training and local experience to provide a unique Entrepreneurship Program relevant to aspiring entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. Read more here.
Partner with us to run an Entrepreneurial Leadership Camp in your African Country
BUILD-in-a-Box camps are two day entrepreneurial leadership camps that are peer-led by ALA students. The camps are based on BUILD, a unique curriculum framework for teaching youth entrepreneurship as a way of fighting unemployment and engaging youth to lead solutions to local problems. We are currently looking for partners who would like to host a BUILD-in-a-Box camp in their home countries.Please complete this form if you would be interested in becoming a BIAB partner or know another organisation that would be.The picture on the left is from a BUILD-in-a-Box camp that was run, lead and taught by three ALA students from Morocco.
Anzisha Prize Fellows Spotlight
A big thank you to Thato Kgatlhanye, the CEO and founder of Repurpose Schoolbags, for coming to the African Leadership Academy during the month of April to deliver an Executive Seminar. Read more about Thato’s business here.
Shout out to Benedicte Mundele, the CEO and Founder of Surprise Tropical. Benedicte was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum on the topic of Africa’s Food Paradox alongside esteemed thought leaders in the field. Read more about her business here.
Opportunities for Youth
1. The Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards
The Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards are all about supporting and celebrating inspirational young people aged 35 or under from all over the world with existing initiatives, products or services that are tackling some of the planet’s biggest sustainability challenges.
WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR?
In partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and in collaboration with Ashoka, they are looking for innovative and scalable technologies or initiatives that are contributing to one or more of the following four categories which are most relevant to our business and entrepreneurs.
Farm to Fork and Cup: They are looking for inspiring entrepreneurs who are working on sustainable initiatives relating to food and drink production right through to consumption. Entrepreneurs who can demonstrate innovation that not only protects the planet’s natural resources, but will help to transform our food systems, offering a long-term approach that can create value and enhanced livelihoods for farmers, and ensure security of supply for the long-term. However, it’s not all about sustainable agriculture – they also want to hear from entrepreneurs who are working in the area of food and drink consumption and nutrition.
Opportunities for Women: They are looking for initiatives that help to tackle the discrimination and disadvantages millions of women face around the world. You might be working to help provide access to skills and training for women, and creating opportunities for women to actively, safely and fairly participate in the economy. Alternatively, you might be working on a micro-enterprise initiative to help women on low-incomes escape poverty.
Waste: They are looking for ingenious initiatives that help to tackle waste – to reduce, reuse or recycle waste throughout the pre-production, production and consumption lifecycle. Initiatives should demonstrate a clear business (financial), consumer (benefit) social and environmental case.
Water: They are looking for initiative that tackles water scarcity, or one that addresses water, sanitation and hygiene issues. Initiative should conserve or reduce the amount of water used across communities, from water use during the extraction or cultivation of raw materials, through manufacturing processes. Or perhaps initiatives that are helping people better manage access to water and adopt tools and behaviours which help them use less in the home or at work. They are also seeking entrepreneurs with initiatives that address how to improve hygiene practices in any country, or offer an innovation to improve access to sanitation in remote areas.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
The overall winner of the ‘HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize’ will receive a 50,000€ cash award and extended mentoring support tailored to their specific needs.
The category winners will receive a 10,000€ cash award and mentoring support tailored to their specific needs. The category finalists will receive a 7,000€ cash award and mentoring support tailored to their specific needs.
HOW DO YOU ENTER?
Competition opens on 15 May 2017 and closes at 12 midnight GMT on 30 June 2017
Visit www.YoungEntrepreneursAwards.Unilever.comContact leena.varsani@unilever.com for more information.2. 2017 Startup Open Competition
Applications for the 2017 Startup Open competition are now live. Through Startup Open, GEN recognizes promising young businesses that have yet to raise any outside capital from angel investors, venture capital firms or other formal sources of seed funding.Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses and innovative concepts on a global stage, as well as receive one-on-one mentoring from a pool of international experts. The winner of the competition will receive free airfare and accommodations to appear on the main stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, held April 16-19, 2018.Those interested must submit their completed applications prior to September 30. [ APPLY NOW ]
3. Diageo Social Entrepeneurship Grant (for South Africans)
Get a chance to access up to ZAR2.5 million to grow your social venture.
This grant is available to both Start-up and Take-off Social Entrepreneurs in South Africa across all sectors of development. Interested? Please click on the link here to complete the application form and we will get back to you. For more information, check out the website for this opportunity. Please note our deadline is May 8th, and we wont be able to accept applications after that. Please note that this is a closed application and should not be shared on any social media platforms.For more information, please contact Limbani Phiri on lphiri@ashoka.org.
You are receiving this mail because you have previously applied for the Anzisha Prize, downloaded content from our website, participated in one of our gatherings, or partnered with us.
A big thank you to Thato Kgatlhanye, the CEO and founder of Repurpose Schoolbags, for coming to the African Leadership Academy during the month of April to deliver an Executive Seminar. Read more about Thato’s business 
Shout out to Benedicte Mundele, the CEO and Founder of Surprise Tropical. Benedicte was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum on the topic of Africa’s Food Paradox alongside esteemed thought leaders in the field. Read more about her business 
