Chris Kwekowe
You know we love celebrating enterprising young Africans on BellaNaija!
The winner of the $25,000 Grand Prize for the 5th edition of the Anzisha Prize is Nigerian entrepreneur Chris Kwekowe (22), founder of Slatecube
which offers a job-relevant skills learning platform and job placement
services. Slatecube has had significant success to date with potential
for
scale and will serve as an inspiring beacon for other youth
interested in entrepreneurship. The decision was not easy, however,
given the talented pool of finalists. Fintech entrepreneur Fabrice Alomo (22, Cameroon) was 1st Runner Up ($15,000) and fashion entrepreneur Mabel Suglo (22, Ghana) was 2nd Runner Up ($12,500).
The 2015 Anzisha Prize winners
Chris
Kwekowe founded Slatecube to increase job access for youth through
creating a platform on which they can build job-relevant skills and
linking them with virtual internship opportunities that enable them to
develop experience. His vision for the venture is to see it grow into a
wide-scale provider of relevant job market access, with increasing
ability to open doors for job seekers.
“I
did not believe that I could have won the prize when the competition
started. But I feel confident in what I can achieve now given the
capital and training that I have received through the Anzisha Prize. I
congratulate all the other finalists as I believe they were all very
impressive and look forward to engaging them as we support each other to
grow going forward,” says Chris.
Fabrice Alomo
The first runner up was Fabrice Alomo from Cameroon, founder of My AConnect.
The venture aims to increase the ease with which unbanked people in
Cameroon transact and gain access to financial services. My AConnect
provides AMoney, and electronic currency with which unbanked individuals
can make purchases with over 500 enterprises by depositing money
through charge cards. Fabrice’s vision is to increase financial service
access for Cameroon’s 17 million unbanked people.
Mabel Suglo
A still impressive second runner up was Mabel Suglo from Ghana, founder of Eco Shoes.
Mabel offers an assortment of shoes and accessories that are
fashionable and Afro-themed, using recycled materials. Her employee-base
is predominantly disabled individuals. She aims to increase their
economic participation through job opportunities. Mabel believes that
disability is not inability and employs people with a variety of
disabilities to create products that she sells into wholesale and retail
markets.
The Anzisha Sector Prize in Agriculture was awarded to Chantal Butare, founder of Kinazi Dairy Cooperative.
Chantal’s cooperative collects milk from over 3,000 families in her
community, and processes the milk for sale. She generates income for
these families, as well as for ten milk collectors who are in her
employ. Her ambition is motivate for sufficient capital to mechanize her
process and increase scale to create revenue for yet more families in
her community. Chantal is a shining example of youth role models that
Anzisha Prize aims to celebrate: Youth who are operating successfully in
sectors that are considered non-traditional for youth, but that have
immense potential to catalyze economic growth in Africa.
“Over
the past five years, we have seen the Anzisha Prize evolve from a
one-time prize for social entrepreneurship, to an entire community of
young, innovative leaders across Africa who have access to comprehensive
support and networking opportunities,” says Koffi Assouan, Program
Manager, Youth Livelihoods at The MasterCard Foundation. “I continue to
be impressed by the caliber of youth entrepreneurs that Africa has to
offer and congratulate them on their ability to inspire both ourselves
and the rest of the continent.”
The
2015 Anzisha Prize Finalists were celebrated at a prestigious
invitation-only ceremony on Tuesday, November 17th 2015 at Room Five
venue in Rivonia, Johannesburg. The keynote speaker was Alex Okosi, pioneer of MTV Networks in Africa, a staunch proponent for a truly African voice for youth.
The
Anzisha Prize is a partnership between African Leadership Academy and
The MasterCard Foundation. The 12 finalists for Anzisha Prize for 2015
were selected from an impressive initial pool of 494 young
entrepreneurs, up from 339 applications in 2014. The Anzisha Prize is
proud to have attracted applicants from 33 African countries, with
finalists from Zimbabwe and Ethiopia identified for the first time this
year. Applications were also received from a diversity of sectors, with
agriculture having the most applicants. Now in its fifth year, The
Anzisha Prize celebrated these outstanding young people during Global
Entrepreneurship Week joining the worldwide festivities. Having received
a share of US$75,000, the Anzisha Finalists join a growing pool of now
54 Fellows to receive access to ongoing support to scale their
enterprises and expand their impact.
Applications
for the next cycle of the Anzisha Prize will open on the 15th of
February in 2016. However, nominations for promising youth entrepreneurs
are open all year round.
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