Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH)’s Deadline for Applications postposed to 20th June 2022

The Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition (AfricaBusinessHeroes.org/en/), a charitable program founded by the Jack Ma Foundation to recognize and encourage African businesses, has announced that the application deadline for this year’s competition has been extended to June 20th. African entrepreneurs who own and operate a business in Africa have until June 20th to enter the 2022 competition for a chance to win training, coaching, and a portion of a USD $1.5 million award.

The decision to extend the deadline was decided in light of the high amount of interest from across the continent. The new deadline will offer potential applicants who have yet to apply a chance to do so, as well as current participants the opportunity to finish their applications.

ABH has received applications from all 54 African countries so far, with a surge in applicants from Central African countries. Women are likewise well-represented in the current applicant pool, accounting for more than 30% of all applications. ABH is also extending a particular invitation to businesses from countries that are still underrepresented in the competition, such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

“ABH is committed to being a fully inclusive and pan-African initiative and it is heartening to have seen a tremendous response from entrepreneurs across Africa this year. We aim to have all of the countries and regions of Africa well-represented in this year’s edition and to have a truly diverse set of finalists. We encourage all talented and mission-driven entrepreneurs from underrepresented countries to seize this opportunity to tell their stories and grow their businesses,” says Zahra Baitie-Boateng, Head of Partnerships & Programs, ABH.

ABH is also inviting venture capitalists, investors, corporations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from throughout the world to serve as judges in the 2022 competition (https://bit.ly/3mjDKlk). The ABH judges are in a unique position to help talented African start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small enterprises succeed. Judges will be recognized for themselves and the organizations they represent, as well as gain access to the ABH network of over 75,000 investors, partners, and entrepreneurs.

“Being part of the ABH experience as a judge is phenomenal. I got to meet companies of many shapes, sizes, industries, verticals, tech and non-tech. I also got to engage with companies of tremendous impact solving grass-roots issues across the continent. It’s a very enriching experience and that’s why I’m keen to participate for the third year in a row,” said Rafeh Saleh, Founding Partner of Cubit Ventures – an early-stage venture fund backing digital startups in Egypt; ABH Round 1 & 2 Judge (2020 – 2022).