Deadline:
March 30, 2026
Location(s)
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo: Democratic Republic Congo: Republic Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Online Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia Zimbabwe
Overview
Are You An Educator, Mentor Or Parent Of A Promising Young Entrepreneur In Your Classroom, Network Or Community? What if they could be a role model that makes a difference to your country’s economic growth and job creation?
Have they created a micro-farm in your community?
Are they solving medical or environmental problems with clever solutions that are in demand?
Each year, we select 20 leading youth entrepreneurs like these to become Anzisha Prize Fellows.
We seek to identify and support role models like Andrew Mupuya and the entrepreneurial ecosystems that nurture them..
Details
Make sure the stories of amazing young people in your country are celebrated!
You play the biggest role in shaping them, and we invite you to share their success with us! Nominate the top entrepreneurial talent from your country to receive the financial and networking support they need to succeed.
The Anzisha Prize is Africa’s biggest award for her youngest entrepreneurs aged 15 - 22 years, and hands out over USD $100,000 every year in prize money to entrepreneurs from all over the continent.
The Anzisha Prize isn’t awarded for great ideas or business plans – it recognises young entrepreneurs who are operating for-profit and non-profit ventures that demonstrate: ingenuity; scalability; and a social impact.
About the fellowship
In 2018, after a review of our impact, we re-built our fellowship package from the ground up. It is now a suite of services to each Anzisha Fellows that invests in you as individuals as well as your ventures. It is a commitment of support for up to 3 years or the age of 25, whichever comes first.
The fellowship package
- Access to the Anzisha & ALA community: You will be a part of the Anzisha and ALA community, a pan-African community of 100+ entrepreneurs and 1000+ other leaders – and world class tools like FlitePath.
- Introductions & Promotion: Anzisha has a wide network of stakeholders and business experts. We can help you connect with people you believe could help you improve and grow, as well as find customers and partnerships. We will also provide you with a free website if you need one to promote your business.
- Access to other programs and conferences: Anzisha is well-connected with other fellowship opportunities and conferences, and can open your doors to them. Anzisha can also recommend and nominate you for these opportunities.
- One-on-one sessions with the Anzisha Team: You can have one-on-one meetings and calls with the Anzisha team to discuss issues and opportunities related to your business and individual wellbeing.
- Access to finance and accounting support. Anzisha is connected with investors who are interested in investing in young entrepreneurs and start-ups and will run annual events to match investment ready fellows with investors. We have also launched a matching fund in 2019 to incentivize potential investors, and will provide you with free accounting software for the duration of your fellowship.
- Shadow an Entrepreneur: An opportunity to shadow successful entrepreneurs in your sector and learn important industry and business development related practices. This will give you ideas and tools to improve your management and operations.
- Your own Consultant: Anzisha can help you diagnose problems that your business is facing, and provide you with technical solutions by sending a professional consultant to work with on a particular issue for a short engagement.
- Travel support for fellows in school: Anzisha will offer travel support to the fellows who run business while studying in another country for two years or more. The trip will be granted once every two years per fellow, to ensure they keep their business running.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Do they meet this criteria?
- Between the ages of 15 and 22?
- Are they running an established venture, delivering value to a few customers?
- Are they involved in the strategy and operations of their venture?
- Has the venture demonstrated some impact already?
- Are they already earning a revenue, or reaching beneficiaries with the potential to improve (both ‘for-profit businesses’ or ‘not-for-profit’ ventures qualify).
To be selected as one of our Anzisha ventures, your business or project will be judged on the following 5 criteria:
- Already Running Venture: Is the venture established with customers and beneficiaries? Does the venture deliver value to said beneficiaries and customers?
- Founder-led: Is the venture led and managed by the founder?
- Impact: Has the venture demonstrated some impact already?
- Scalability: If the venture is a for-profit business, does it already earn revenues and does it have potential increase revenues with the support of Anzisha? If the venture is a not-for-profit enterprise, does it already reach beneficiaries and does it have the potential to reach many more beneficiaries with support from Anzisha?
- Job Creation: Has the venture created some jobs and has the potential to create more high quality jobs?
To be selected as one of our Anzisha Fellows, you must demonstrate the following 2 qualities:
- Venture leader: Are you the leader of your venture and do you drive both venture strategy and operations?
- Commitment: Do you spend at least 20 hours a week or more on your business and will you continue to do so after selection?
Dates
Deadline: March 30, 2026
Cost/funding for participants
This is the value of the Fellowship you will be a part of, if you win - Additional investment of $8,000/ $10,000 in each Fellow
- Monetary Reward of a shared amount of $100,000
- $2,000 access to a world- renowned Entrepreneurial Leadership curriculum and training with the potential for further investment based on engagement and performance
- $2,500 worth of rewards from consulting and mentorship services
- $2,000 worth of rewards from Global speaking events or Experts in Residence support
- $1,000 worth of rewards from Regional Indabas across the continent
The Anzisha Fellow Experience
Along with a shared amount of US$100 000, fellows will have access to a range of opportunities!
- Experts in Residence Program: The Experts in Residence Program brings an expert to campus to offer sector specific advice to fellows.
- Anzisha Accelerator Camp: All finalists come to African Leadership Academy’s campus for an all expenses paid fortnight of training, coaching and networking.
- Regional Indabas: Indabas are regional gatherings throughout Africa which allow Anzisha Fellows and ALA alumni to remain connected.
- The Youth Entrepreneur Support Unit: YES-U is a collaboration between leading business incubators on the continent for the purpose of offering customised business support for Fellows.
- Global Speaker Circuit: The Global Speaker Circuit enables Anzisha Fellows to serve as the voice of African youth at various speaking engagements and conferences.
- Anzisha Prize Night: The Anzisha Prize Night is a glamorous celebration of youth entrepreneurship at its best. It is an event structured and marked to enable the finalists to realise that they have arrived on the global entrepreneurship scene!
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
