Anzisha Summit

Anzisha Prize Very Young Entrepreneur Education & Acceleration Summit

The premier platform for the under-25 entrepreneurship support ecosystem in Africa

A 1-day conference/summit experience that will explore and celebrate excellence and new approaches in entrepreneurship education as well as support for very young entrepreneurs. A premier conference platform for parents, teachers, investors and policymakers defining the entrepreneurship ecosystem for under-25’s in Africa.

2019 Summit - Age Matters

In April 2019, the inaugural Anzisha Summit was held. The theme of the conference was ‘Age Matters’ and explored the linkage between age and entrepreneurship interventions that result in successful outcomes. Panelists delved deeper into what they believe is the right age for intervention in the journey of a very young entrepreneur and why they have chosen to work with young entrepreneurs.

The 208 guests that attended represented various categories of youth entrepreneurship supporters and champions. This included, among others, Yinka Adegoke, the editor of Quartz Africa and Aaron Fu, the Managing Director of MEST Africa.

The Anzisha Ecosystem Prizes

During the conference, we were able to celebrate both our fellows and individuals who work with us to achieve our mission through the following awards:

Ecosystem Prizes

Four Ecosystem prizes were handed out to individuals within the Very young entrepreneur ecosystem for the work that they do. The winners were:

  • Educator Award: Kirsty Tromp (High School educator)
  • Evangelist Award: Elizabeth Bintliff (Junior Achievement Africa CEO)
  • Incubator Award: RLabs (A youth incubator based in Cape Town)
  • Student Enterprise Board Member Award: Naledi Rasekoala (Project Manager at Adcorp Holding Ltd)

Challenge Prize Awards

Five challenge prizes were awarded to fellows within the Anzisha fellowship who have expanded and scaled their businesses in the following categories:

  • Job creation: Alhaji siraj Bah
  • Revenue growth: early-stage prize: Karidas Tshintsholo
  • Revenue growth: growing phase prize: Daniel Mukisa
  • Social impact award: Vanessa Ishiimwe
  • Investment readiness award: Edgar Edmund

The Young Entrepreneurs Fund

At the Summit, African Leadership Academy and Omidyar Network announced The Young Entrepreneurs Fund – a matching fund that will match – dollar for dollar – investments into high potential young Africans by angel and early-stage investors! 

Secondly, we launched the #AnzishaScenario paper advocacy campaign – a year-long scenario planning and policy influence project with stakeholders across Africa.

The Summit in Media

We amplified our discussions across the globe on the day with media partnerships: Quartz Africa, CNBC Africa and Ventureburn.

2020

As our work continues to grow across the continent, in 2020 we will host the Anzisha Prize Very Young Entrepreneur Education & Acceleration Summit in 5 African cities. Sign up for the newsletter to stay updated.

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