Dar es Salaam. Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) prize competition 2022 has named a Tanzanian among the ten most outstanding African entrepreneurs, being the first time since its inception three years ago.Mr Elia Timotheo, founder and CEO of East Africa Fruits Company, and nine other entrepreneurs have qualified for next month’s grand finale in which they will share a $1.5 million (about Sh3.4 billion) prize pool.The winner, according to a press release seen by The Citizen, will take home $300,000 grant; the first runner-up will receive $250,000; the second runner-up will get $150,000, while each of the remaining seven finalists will pocket $100,000 with which to grow their businesses.The ABH Competition 2022, a philanthropic initiative sponsored by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy, and which is now in its fourth edition, announced this year’s ten finalists earlier this month.This followed an intense round of semifinal business pitches and judging held on September 30 at the Kigali Convention Centre in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.Other entrepreneurs in the top ten are from Cameroon, Egypt (two entrepreneurs), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa (two entrepreneurs).The result was announced at a gala dinner to an audience of around 100 attendees from all over Africa comprising current and past ABH participants, judges, investors and other key stakeholders in Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape.The ten entrepreneurs were selected through multiple stages of interviews and evaluation of over 21,000 applications from all 54 African nations.Their startups have been drawn from a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, consulting, energy, environmental protection, healthcare, information and communication technology (ICT), and retail.These entrepreneurs share a common trait of commitment to creating a positive impact on their communities such as empowering disadvantaged groups, increasing access to digital commerce for businesses in Africa, and leveraging technology to improve agricultural efficiency for smallholder farmers.“ABH remains steadfast in its efforts to identify, support and shine a spotlight on African entrepreneurs that are driving positive growth for their communities,” said Jack Ma Foundation executive director of International Programs Jason Pau.“Now in the fourth year of the ABH competition, we are impressed with the increasing diversity of our participants and the impact they are making especially in supporting post-pandemic economic recovery.“The ABH Prize Competition provides a platform for outstanding start-ups to showcase targeted solutions that tackle problems in an impactful, competitive, sustainable and value-adding way,” he added.Mr Birame Sock, founder and chief executive of Kwely Inc, who was also a judge in the semifinal round, said, “This year’s heroes – as with other years – continued to demonstrate the resilience, passion, imagination, and traction that we need in our entrepreneurs here in Africa.”EA Fruits says it is honoured to be listed among Africa’s business heroes in 2022.“Today, EA Fruits stands as the leading data and tech driven food distribution company in Tanzania,” the firm says in a statement on its website.The company serves at least 7,000 customers daily, and works with more than 10,000 farmers from various parts of the country, and is dedicated to bridging the tech gap among smallholder farmers.