Three Nigerian firms won nearly half a million dollars in total in funding provided by the Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, for startups that set out to solve major problems.
Releaf, a Lagos-based food processing company, took second in the contest and will receive $250,000. Two other Nigerian firms, Gricd and Publiseer, that were amongst the top 10 finalists, will each receive $100,000 in prize funding.
Additional $10,000 will be allocated to each finalist for a training program to be hosted in Alibaba Group’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
The grand winner is Egypt-based Praxilab, which will receive $300,000.
Entrepreneurs from Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria made the top three; top 10 finalists pitched live in a virtual grand finale connecting 14 locations across the world.
The 2021 Africa’s Business Heroes winners were announced Wednesday night during a virtual live Grand Finale, with US$1.5 million in grant funding awarded to the top 10 finalists. The top 10 represent seven African countries, with 80% operating businesses in rural areas and half of the finalists are female.
Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) is a flagship philanthropic programme established by the Jack Ma Foundation to help foster an inclusive and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. The annual competition, now in its third year, shines a spotlight on talented African entrepreneurs who are working to make a difference in their communities and helping to build a more sustainable, inclusive future. The ABH competition is grassroots oriented as well as age, gender, language and sector agnostic.
This year, over 12,000 applications were received from all 54 countries in Africa. The finalists were chosen after several rounds of rigorous evaluation conducted by over 230 judges. They were selected after demonstrating that they are visionary entrepreneurs who embodied innovation, resilience, growth potential and impact on Africa.
Hundreds of viewers from 49 countries worldwide registered to watch the live online grand finale and visit the virtual exhibition, following the finalists as they pitched their businesses to a final panel of esteemed judges: Ibukun Awosika, Founder and CEO of The Chair Centre Group; Victor Williams, NBA Africa CEO; and Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group.
The top three Africa’s Business Heroes for 2021 are:
1st – winning $300,000 – Khadija Mohamed Elbedweihy – Founder, PraxiLabs (Egypt)
2nd – winning $250,000 – Ikenna Nzewi – Co-founder and CEO, Releaf (Nigeria)
3rd – winning $150,000 – Navalayo Osembo-Ombati – Co-founder and CEO, Enda Athletic (Kenya)
“I’m very humbled to be named Africa’s Business Hero. This competition has been an incredible journey. I have learnt important lessons from each judge and from my fellow talented entrepreneurs. I hope that this win inspires many young Africans to believe that we have what it takes to make an impact where we are. It has been a challenging year for many businesses, but challenges are key to building our resilience. PraxiLabs is solving pressing issues around education and training, and we will remain focused and determined to change how Africa learns and teaches science, one virtual lab at a time,” said the winner, Khadija Mohamed Elbedweihy, Founder at PraxiLabs.
The other finalists will each receive $100,000 in prize funding, an additional $10,000 will be allocated to each finalist for a training program to be hosted in Alibaba Group’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
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