Five esteemed african entrepreneurs to judge the Anzisha Prize 2014 finalists‏

Wendy Luhabe (SA), Khanyi Dhlomo (SA), Willy Mukiny Yav (DRC), Wanjiru Waweru Waithaka (Kenya) and Mohamed Nanabhay (SA)  will decide which Anzisha finalists walks away with $75,000 in prizes.

 

The African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation are delighted to announce this year’s Anzisha Prize (www.anzishaprize.org) judging panel. The organising committee invited a group of 5 experienced entrepreneurs, drawn from all spectrums of the business arena to choose who among the 12 finalsts – the top 12 young entrepreneurs in Africa who are under the age of 22 - will receive this year’s Anzisha grand prize. The finalists will pitch their ventures to the judges on Monday 22 September, and the panel will consider each project on its own merits in ingenuity, scalability and social impact. Results will be announced at the awards ceremony held on Tuesday 23 September at The Focus Rooms in Sunninghill, Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

“It is vital that experienced African entrepreneurs are involved in encouraging the next generation,” says Josh Adler, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership at African Leadership Academy, the hosts of the Anzisha Awards, “We are humbled that these powerful names will give our young entrepreneurs feedback and support, while deciding the winners of our $25,000 grand prize.”

 

The 2014 Anzisha Prize Awards Judges are:

 

Wendy Luhabe, South African, is the Founder of Women Private Equity Fund, has been a pioneering Social Entrepreneur and Economic Activist for the past 20 years. She is an Author, an accomplished public speaker and is deeply passionate about building an Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship to flourish in Africa. She is a recipient of 3 Honorary Doctorates and a member of the International Council of Business Women Leaders initiated by Ms Hilary Clinton on the Economic Empowerment of Women. 

 

Willy Mukiny Yav, Congolese, Co-founder and Director of Pygma Group.  He has 21 years’ experience in communications specialising in African Markets. Having developed excellent high-level contacts with in Africa, over the past 22 years, Willy has used these to become involved in developing numerous ventures in Africa. As a consequence he has expertise in modus operandi and business practice in both French and English speaking Africa and further developed a network of contacts in the upper political, business and social echelons.

 

Wanjiru Waweru Waithaka, Kenyan, is a Creative Serial Entrepreneur. As an interior architect, she setup Amber Africa a company specialising in interior architecture for individuals, hotels and corporate organisations. She also setup a fashion house called Dawn of Creation with the label, “Spice”. Spice was created to "shake", "shift" the way we dressed and accessories we carried as women in Kenya, using locally available materials. After 11 years of running it, she founded Funkidz in 2011. Funkidz is Africa’s first children’s brand and is operational in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

 

Mohamed Nanabhay, South African, works at the intersection of media, technology and entrepreneurship. As the Head of Online at Al Jazeera English he led the team that produced the award winning coverage of the Arab revolutions in 2011. He is also an angel investor to early stage internet companies. He was named a Creative Commons Pioneer by BusinessWeek, serves on the Board of Directors of the Media Development Investment Fund and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Informed Societies.

 

Khanyi Dhlomo, South African, began her media career as an award-winning television news and lifestyle anchor, followed by an eight-year stint as Editor of the women’s magazine True Love. In 2008, she launched Ndalo Media, a joint venture between Media24 (one of SA’s leading media companies) and herself.  In 2003, she was named one of the most influential women in South African media by The Media magazine. In 2010, she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was recently named one of Forbes magazine’s 20 Most Powerful Women in Africa aged under 40.

 

This year’s 12 finalists hail from 9 African countries. In preparation for the judging panel, the finalists are undergoing an induction into the Anzisha Prize fellows program – The Anzisha Week Boot camp – a week jam packed with learning workshops on leadership, business ideation, market analysis and business models. The finalists will also engage with mentors, media and established entrepreneurs. The grand prize winner will receive $25,000 with first runners up and second runners up receiving $15,000 & $10 000 respectively.  In addition to this, all finalists will receive $2,500 of the $75 000 cash prize.

 

Now in its fourth year, the Anzisha Prize received 339 applications this year from 32 countries for Afri ca’s premier youth entrepreneurship award.

 

The Anzisha Prize is a partnership between African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation. Our 12 finalists will be flown to Johannesburg, South Africa for the 2014 Anzisha Week taking place from 18 – 25 September where a panel of judges from across the entrepreneurial sphere will convene to select the grand prize winners. They will receive training from African Leadership Academy’s renowned Entrepreneurial Leadership faculty and engage with industry leaders, mentors as well as engage with change agents from across the continent.

 

The Anzisha Prize team is running a social media campaign where members of the public can rally behind the young entrepreneurs and offer words of support and encouragement on their Anzisha journey.

 

For more information on the Anzisha Prize and the campaign, go to:

 

➢ Website: www.anzishaprize.org

➢ Facebook: www.facebook.com/anzishaprize

➢ Twitter: www.twitter.com/anzishaprize