*EIGHT INNOVATIVE YOUNG AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS SELECTED AS FINALISTS FOR THE
INAUGURAL ANZISHA PRIZE*
:Press release: African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation
are proud to announce the finalists for the inaugural *Anzisha Prize* (
www.anzishaprize.org), the premier award for Africa’s young entrepreneurial
leaders. These remarkable young entrepreneurs, hailing from eight nations
across the continent, will converge in Johannesburg on August 28th, 2011 to
compete for a share of $70,000 in prize money. The Anzisha Prize grand prize
winners will be announced on September 1st, 2011, at the Protea Fire and Ice
Hotel in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa.****
****
The inaugural Anzisha Prize garnered great interest across the continent,
with eight finalists selected from 180 young entrepreneurs in 22 African
countries. The finalists represent some of the most remarkable
entrepreneurial stories on the continent. Eighteen year-old Joel Mwale, the
founder of Skydrop Enterprises, decided to build a purified water bottling
facility near his home in rural Kenya after an outbreak of dysentery hit his
community. Ludwick Marishane of South Africa, the founder of Headboy
Industries, is his nation’s youngest patent holder – and used a cell phone
to type his 8,000 word business plan. From microfinance and enterprise
development to consumer products and services, the Anzisha Prize finalists
have collectively impacted thousands of lives across Africa.****
****
The Anzisha Prize takes its name from the Swahili word for ‘initiative’, and
each finalist has demonstrated *anzisha* in bringing a ground-breaking
venture to life. The eight finalists for the Anzisha Prize are:****
****
· *Adamma Umeofia of Nigeria*, 20, is the founder of WeBuilt:
Africa, an organization that designs and constructs more functional and
appealing market stalls using recycled building materials.****
· *Amr Sobhy of Egypt*, 23, is a founder of Zabatak, a website that
crowdsources criminal activity and empowers ordinary citizens with
information about crime and corruption in Egypt.****
· *Antoinette Furaha of the Democratic Republic of Congo*, 19,* *is
the founder of Women’s Micro-Credit, a microfinance business that invests in
and empowers young refugee women.****
· *Denise Mulenga of Zambia*, 16,* *is the chief fashion designer
and founder of DenShé Urban Wear, a fashion design company that produces
colourful urban clothing for young women.****
· *Frederick Swai of Tanzania*,* *21, is the founder of The Dreamer
Center, an organization that provides office and computing services to youth
and businesses in western Tanzania.****
· *George Bakka of Uganda*, 20, is the founder of Angels Finance
Cooperation, a business incubator that nurtures young entrepreneurs and has
launched businesses in jewellery, brick-laying, and baking.****
· *Joel Mwale of Kenya*, 18,* *is the founder of Skydrop
Enterprises, a producer of clean drinking water that produces and
distributes thousands of bottles of clean water monthly for local markets.**
**
· *Ludwick Phofane Marishane of South Africa*, 21,* *is the founder
HeadBoy Industries, which developed and owns the patent for DryBath, the
world’s first bath-substituting lotion.****
“The eight Anzisha Prize finalists are some of the most inspirational people
on the continent,” said African Leadership Academy Founder Chris Bradford,
“and they demonstrate the potential of young people to have a transformative
impact on their communities and continent.”****
****
The Anzisha Prize finalists have won an all-expenses paid trip to South
Africa to participate in a week-long entrepreneurship workshop at the
African Leadership Academy campus in South Africa. The grand prize winners
will share prizes worth $70,000 USD – prizes that they may use to take their
projects to new heights.****
****
“Africa’s young entrepreneurs are the creators of Africa’s future”, said
Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “It is their
spirit of entrepreneurship that will fuel growth and social progress across
this great continent.”****
****
The Anzisha Prize is managed out of African Leadership Academy’s
Entrepreneurship Center, which was established through a $1.6 million
multi-year partnership with The MasterCard Foundation. Through the
Entrepreneurship Center, African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard
Foundation seek to catalyse innovation and entrepreneurship among young
people across the continent. The Entrepreneurship Center will further
develop and share African Leadership Academy’s entrepreneurship curriculum,
and will promote entrepreneurial leadership across Africa with initiatives
like the Anzisha Prize.****
****
For more information visit us online at www.anzishaprize.org****
* *****
*About African Leadership Academy*****
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by developing a
powerful network of entrepreneurial leaders who will work together to
achieve extraordinary social impact. Each year, ALA brings together the most
promising young leaders from all 54 African nations for a pre-university
program in South Africa with a focus on leadership, entrepreneurship and
African studies. ALA continues to cultivate these leaders throughout their
lives, in university and beyond, by providing ongoing leadership and
entrepreneurial training and connecting them to high-impact networks of
people and capital that can catalyze large-scale change. For more
information, visitwww.africanleadershipacademy.org.****
*About The MasterCard Foundation*****
*The MasterCard Foundation* advances microfinance and youth learning to
promote financial inclusion and prosperity. Through collaboration with
committed partners in 46 countries, The MasterCard Foundation is helping
people living in poverty to access opportunities to learn and prosper. An
independent, private foundation based in Toronto, Canada, The MasterCard
Foundation was established through the generosity of MasterCard Worldwide at
the time of the company’s initial public offering in 2006. For more
information, please visit
www.mastercardfdn.org
.