Chineye
Two Ghanaians are among the twelve finalists in the running for the $75,000 Anzisha cash prize.
The Anzisha prize scours the African continent seeking to find entrepreneurial youth between the ages of 15 and 22, who have identified opportunities to better their communities and done so inclusively.
This year’s finalists have started ventures in a diverse range of economic sectors including energy, health care, tourism and hospitality.
Ghanaians Winifred Selby, 19, and Chineye Okoro Onu, 19, are founders of the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative, a bamboo bike making technology to manufacture affordable multi-purpose bikes suitable for the Ghanaian terrain and the Mosaicpiration Project, an initiative that uses recycled material to create art and impact entrepreneurial skills to young people through training and mentorship respectively.
Winifred
“2014 has been an exciting one for the Anzisha Prize search team. We brokered partnerships with key local organisations enabling them to play a primary role in evangelising the Anzisha Prize in their country. This has led to not only a stronger pool of applications but also more female applicants than ever before.” said Chi Achebe, Program Manager, Anzisha Prize.
“We are excited to see such a talented cohort of innovative and entrepreneurial young people join the Anzisha prize community,” said Deepali Khanna, Director of Youth Learning at The MasterCard Foundation. “This Pan-African prize has had tremendous success over the past four years and is inspiring other young entrepreneurs across Africa to develop their own businesses or social innovation ventures.”
The other finalists are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Togo and South Africa.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place on the 23rd of September, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Now in its fourth year, the Anzisha Prize received 339 applications this year from 32 countries for Africa’s premier youth entrepreneurship award.