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22-year-old Chris Kwekowe, founder of Slatecube, has won the 2015 Anzisha Prize. This year’s winner of the $25,000 Grand Prize and other finalists were celebrated at an event on Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa. The African Leadership Academy and MasterCard Foundation are organisers of the annual Anzisha Prize, Africa’s premier award for youth entrepreneurship.  

Chris Kwekowe’s Slatecube offers a job-relevant skills learning platform and job placement services. Slatecube was chosen by the judges because of its success so far and the potential it has for scale and how it will serve as an inspiration for other young entrepreneurs.

The 1st Runner Up was 22-year-old financial technology entrepreneur, Fabrice Alomo, from Cameroon, while the 2nd Runner Up was 22-year-old fashion entrepreneur, Mabel Suglo, a Ghana. Fabrice won $15,000 and Mabel was awarded $12,500.

Chris founded Slatecube to increase job access for the youth by creating a platform on which young people can build job-relevant skills and get linked to virtual internship opportunities.

“I did not believe that I could have won the prize when the competition started. But I feel confident in what I can achieve now given the capital and training that I have received through the Anzisha Prize. I congratulate all the other finalists as I believe they were all very impressive and look forward to engaging them as we support each other to grow going forward,” Chris said.

First runner up, Fabrice Alomo, is the founder of My AConnect. The venture aims to increase the ease with which unbanked people in Cameroon transact and gain access to financial services. My AConnect provides AMoney, and electronic currency with which unbanked individuals can make purchases with over 500 enterprises by depositing money through charge cards.

Mabel Suglo’s Eco Shoes offers an assortment of shoes and accessories that are fashionable and Afro-themed, using recycled materials. Her employee-base is predominantly disabled individuals. She aims to increase their economic participation through job opportunities. Mabel believes that disability is not inability and employs people with a variety of disabilities to create products that she sells into wholesale and retail markets.

The Anzisha Sector Prize in Agriculture was awarded to Chantal Butare, founder of Kinazi Dairy Cooperative. Chantal’s cooperative collects milk from over 3,000 families in her community, and processes the milk for sale. She generates income for these families, as well as for ten milk collectors who are in her employ. Her ambition is motivate for sufficient capital to mechanize her process and increase scale to create revenue for yet more families in her community. Chantal is a shining example of youth role models that Anzisha Prize aims to celebrate.

Koffi Assouan, Program Manager, Youth Livelihoods at The MasterCard Foundation, said, “Over the past five years, we have seen the Anzisha Prize evolve from a one-time prize for social entrepreneurship, to an entire community of young, innovative leaders across Africa who have access to comprehensive support and networking opportunities. I continue to be impressed by the caliber of youth entrepreneurs that Africa has to offer and congratulate them on their ability to inspire both ourselves and the rest of the continent.”

The 12 finalists for Anzisha Prize for 2015 were selected from an impressive initial pool of 494 young entrepreneurs from 33 African countries, up from 339 applications in 2014. Having received a share of US$75,000, the Anzisha Finalists join a growing pool of now 54 Fellows to receive access to ongoing support to scale their enterprises and expand their impact.

Through the Anzisha Prize, the organisers -- African Leadership Academy, seeks to bring about social impact in Africa through a network of entrepreneurial leaders, and MasterCard Foundation -- seek to catalyse innovation and entrepreneurship among youth across the continent.

Applications for the next cycle of the Anzisha Prize will open on the 15th of February in 2016. However, nominations for promising youth entrepreneurs are open all year round.