Applications open for Africa Business Concept Challenge 2024 ($5,000 prize)
The Africa Business Concept Challenge aims to support aspiring entrepreneurs from the African continent who are dedicated to serving their community and possess the following values. By emphasizing responsible business practices, this competition identifies promising young individuals for mentorship and investment.
Competition Values:
1. Emphasizing the significance of responsible entrepreneurship in generating employment opportunities.
2. Embracing a global perspective.
3. Upholding ethical business principles.
4. Showing a keen interest in the youth of emerging markets and recognizing the potential of business in creating opportunities for their growth.
5. Believing that business carries a societal responsibility to enhance and serve the community.
6. Committed to lifelong learning and continuous education.
Benefits of participating in the competition
- $5,000 prize
- Societal Impact: The Challenge offers a chance to make an impact on local community problems.
- Networking: Opportunities with student teams from across the globe, as well as experienced entrepreneurs and industry professionals.
- Mentoring & Industry Experts: High-caliber, experienced judges, who are experienced entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
- Structure, Feedback & Guidance: Personalized, individual feedback during the project development process from Team Advisors.
Student Teams will participate in a three-phase project development process in which their business concepts will be evaluated and scored by an assigned Investor Expert. The Investor Expert will provide valuable feedback to enhance the business concepts. Projects will only be accepted if they properly identify and define a local challenge and propose a viable business concept to address the problem. To get project ideas, you can refer to the Top 5 Projects from last year.
All projects must focus on:
– Addressing a community challenge or need
– Providing a business solution
– Presenting a viable business concept
– Demonstrating the implementation and impact of the business solution
- Registration:
- To participate, teams need to submit a Student Team Application.
- The challenge will be conducted virtually over a period of 5 weeks.
- Each team must consist of two to five members, with at least two members being current students at an African institution during the competition.
- It is encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams.
- Each team must appoint a Captain who will be responsible for communication with GBSN and registering the team.
- Additionally, each team must have a Faculty Mentor who will guide the team and enhance the learning experience.
- Please note that teams are required to have a preliminary idea of a business concept before completing the application form. For more information, please refer to the FAQs tab.
APPLICATION FOR INVESTOR EXPERT POSITION
We invite individuals who are interested in taking on the important role of Investor Expert to submit their applications. Detailed information about the responsibilities and requirements can be found on the Investor Expert, Mentors & Judges tab.
Investor Experts play a crucial role by leveraging their expertise and investor perspective to provide valuable feedback to students on their initial business concepts, which they plan to submit for the Challenge. Investor Experts can come from various backgrounds, including entrepreneur practitioners, entrepreneurs-in-residence, faculty members, PhD students, researchers, and even non-African students.
Each Investor Expert will be assigned up to five Student Teams to review. In recognition of their contribution to the competition, Investor Experts will receive a digital certificate and will be acknowledged throughout the entire process.
To apply
- To apply visit the official website
- deadline is march 5, 2024
