Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition Announces Top 50 Candidates for 2023: Most from Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa
The top 50 finalists for the 2023 edition of the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition have been announced (https://apo-opa.info/3PvMAML), a charitable project supported by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy to honor and support African entrepreneurs. ABH received an astounding 27,267 applications this year, the most submissions since the competition began in 2019, which reflects the rising entrepreneurial spirit in Africa.
Applicants this year came from all 54 of Africa’s nations, demonstrating ABH’s continued impressive level of engagement and reach. West Africa took the lead with 43% of all applications, placing it in first place. The greatest percentage of applications ever from francophone nations was 27%.
The top 50 candidates were chosen from 20 countries across 13 different industries after a rigorous round of evaluation by 256 judges from more than 40 countries, with agriculture, education & training, and healthcare leading the way. The average age of the finalists is 36, and 38% of them are women and 62% are men. The top 50 candidates, which to now have represented 33 of 54 African nations, are most frequently found in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa. Additionally, applicants from Sierra Leone are represented in the top 50 for the first time. These candidates will now be interviewed by a group of more than 50 judges for round two in order to choose the top 20.
We want to sincerely thank all of the business owners and judges who took part in this round of the Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition. According to Jason Pau, Executive Director of International Programs at the Jack Ma Foundation, “We are thrilled to witness the enormous response, which is a tribute to the growing potential of Africa’s entrepreneur ecosystem. “The top 50 candidates demonstrate the extraordinary skill and potential of Africa, and we anticipate more surprises for this edition. We encourage all of our supporters to stay in touch and keep up with ABH as our judging process develops and our fifth anniversary event series takes shape.
All 50 of this year’s top finalists will receive invitations to participate in the Alibaba Netpreneur Masterclass Global Edition 2023, which will be held online by Alibaba Global Initiatives (AGI) from late July to late august. Participants will gain knowledge on how to use digital technology to propel their business growth.
ABH 2023’s top 20 finalists and top 10 finalists will be revealed in July and September, respectively. On November 23–24, 2023, Kigali, Rwanda will play host to the second installment of the massive Grand Finale and Summit, during which the top 10 contestants will present live pitches to eminent business figures in an effort to win a portion of the grand prize
The ABH Show, which highlights the ABH journey of the previous edition’s top 10 finalists and their business stories, is one way that the organization recognizes exceptional participants each year through traditional media and social media channels. The 2023 ABH Show’s debut episode just went live, and you can see it here (https://apo-opa.info/3Mf3nBB).
ABH will publish a fifth-anniversary impact report as part of reaching its five-year milestone this year. The report will reflect on the participants, winners, and stakeholders who have been crucial to the competition’s success while showcasing the growth and impact of the prize competition on African entrepreneurs over time.
