Ignite Africa Challenge 2020 (USD$100,000 in Seed Capital)

Application Deadline: January 31st 2020

Ignite Africa Challenge is a platform centered on unveiling youth talent across our continent for solving the most pressure problems through high impact social entrepreneurship.

• Ignite Africa identifies today’s most creative solution makers
• Ignite Africa nurtures the untapped African talent
• Ignite Africa accelerates the African youth potential for social transformation
• Join the first Pan-African platform and create your for-good-for-profit enterprise.
• Solve one of the most pressuring challenges and get 100,000 USD in seed capital.

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated according to how well teams demonstrate the following 4 attributes:

• Significance​ : Teams should be specific enough that they can go into some level of depth, but significant enough that it impacts a large number of people and/or businesses and communities.
• Originality and creativity:​ Teams should present a solution that is original and creative; submissions should present ideas that are either undeveloped or severely underdeveloped in international development research and literature.
• Feasibility:​ Teams should include a brief ‘road map to adoption’ that argues for the feasibility of the solution and addresses any obvious roadblocks; all submissions should be actionable and measurable; they should also be based in practicality rather than just theory. Teams are encouraged to tie their submissions to a particular country or region of Africa.
• Clarity​ : Teams should present their idea in a clear and concise manner.

egistration and Submission

Eligibility criteria:​ You need to be African or based in Africa to apply. You need to be a student or 35 years or below as of January 31 2020 to be eligible.

Team Composition:​ Teams must consist of 2 to 4 members and may be formed across different schools, institutions, companies, countries, nationalities, etc.

Submission:​ Proposals must be submitted through the official Channels.
Timeline​ :

• Deadline for Proposal Submissions: January 31 2020 at 11:59 PM (GMT+1)
• Announcement of Shortlisted Teams for Semifinals: February 10 2020
• Semifinals: March and April 2020
• Accelerator and Fellowship Program: June – August 2020
• Finals: October 2020

Next steps and benefits

Selected teams will be shortlisted as semi-finalists by a panel of academics and experienced development professionals from public and private sector institutions, as well as the IGNITE AFRICA team and board. Selected teams will get the opportunity to:

• Present their ideas at a IGNITE AFRICA Semifinals event of their choice
• Be part of the emergent African leaders that are building the future they want to live in
• Benefit from unique networking opportunities with experts

Submission Guidelines:

• All appropriate information must be cited.
• The submission should be sent in one accepted language: English. All submissions completed in a language not listed above will be disqualified.
• Submissions that do not meet the format requirements listed above will be disqualified.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Ignite Africa Challenge 2020