Startups: Apply to the MTN Enterprise Challenge powered by Jumia and win $25,000

Applications are now open for the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia.

The MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia is a pan-African competition which will bring together over 1000 entrepreneurs, students and investors, to collaborate on ways to amplify and consolidate the continent’s entrepreneurs. The competition will see entries from more than 60 universities in 13 countries across Africa, who will develop a unique digital application or smart solution that will solve a tangible problem faced on the continent.

The winner of the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge will win a cash prize of $25 000 towards their start-up, and have access to a Facebook Start Program valued at $15 000, which includes tools and services needed to build mobile applications. The winner will also enjoy a yearlong partnership with Jumia where they will have the opportunity to work from any of JUMIA’s offices across Africa. This will enable the winner to learn from, and be mentored by experienced and successful entrepreneurs in the JUMIA network. Two runners-up will each receive US $5 000 towards their projects.

Aspiring entrepreneurs can enter the competition in teams. You can have two or three people in your team but at least one team member must be a current student or a recent graduate of an African university. Shortlisted teams will move on to a live pitching phase at their selected universities between 1-8 April 2016, after which the final five projects will be selected to move through to the Semi-Final.

The finalists will be announced on 16 April 2016, and will get the opportunity to attend the Entrepreneurship festival, hosted at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business in South Africa on May 27 2016. The festival, aims to facilitate the collaboration of over a thousand attendees with prominent and innovative speakers and workshop experts from across the world. Finalists will have to pitch their business to a room of successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, judges, investors and international media, after which the winner of the challenge will be announced.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with Jumia to launch the entrepreneurship challenge. Africa is a continent of promise, and our aim with the MTN Solution Space has always been to help fulfil this promise by developing uniquely African solutions. We believe that the entrepreneurship challenge is a key element of this. The response and willingness from universities across Africa to collaborate on this initiative has been truly remarkable and certainly exemplifies the impact of collective efforts to foster entrepreneurship among our next generation of business leaders,” says Sarah-Anne Arnold, Manager of the MTN Solution Space.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 27, 2016  

Apply here.

The MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia, is born out of a partnership between MTN, MTN Solution Space and Jumia. For more information about the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia, visit the FAQ section of the website.