4 Nigerians out of 10 Africans have been shortlisted for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative founded by Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma.
The 10 finalists will participate in the finale pitch competing for a share of $1 million in Accra, Ghana in November. The participants will pitch in front of 4 judges namely Strive Masiyiwa, Econet Group founder; Ibukun Awosika, First Bank of Nigeria chairman; Joe Tsai, Alibaba Group executive vice-chairman and of course Jack Ma.
They will have the opportunity to gain access to the Netpreneur community of African business leaders to leverage the community’s shared expertise, best practice, and resources.
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The 4 selected Nigerian entrepreneurs include:
- Ayodeji Arikawe, Co-founder of agri-tech startup, Thrive Agric;
- Temie Giwa-Tubosun, CEO of blood delivery service, LifeBank;
- Dr. Tosan J. Mogbeyiteren, Founder of childhood health startup, Black Swan; and
- Chibuzo Opara, Co-founder of cloud-based pharmaceuticals platform, DrugStoc.
Others are:
- Waleed Abd El Rahman, CEO, Mumm (Egypt);
- Dr. Omar Sakr, CEO of Nawah-Scientific (Egypt);
- Mahmud Johnson, CEO of J-Palm (Liberia);
- Kevine Kagirimpundu, CEO of UZURI K&Y (Rwanda);
- Christelle Kwizera, founder of Water Access (Rwanda); and
- Moulaye Taboure, CEO of Afrikrea. (Cote D’Ivoire).
While speaking about the initiative and how far it has come, Jack Ma said, “We launched the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative to identify top entrepreneurs from across the continent, not only to reward them but to inspire a whole new generation of potential game-changers for Africa.”
“I have been inspired by the entrepreneurs I met in Africa, many of whom are dealing with the same challenges we faced when we started Alibaba years ago. I truly believe the potential of Africa’s business heroes is limitless.”
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What you should know: The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI), which was founded in 2017, is aimed at empowering African entrepreneurs. Jack Ma Foundation is said to be awarding $10 million over the next 10 years during the course of this initiative.
