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The Anzisha Prize programme, a partnership between African Leadership Academy (ALA) and Mastercard Foundation, is calling for applications from innovative African entrepreneurs between ages 15 and 22.

Entrepreneurs who apply for the 2019 Anzisha programme stand a chance to win a share of the $100,000 prize. The winner will receive $25,000, while the first and second runners-up will receive $15,000 and $12,500, respectively. Anyone born before November 1, 1996, or after October 31, 2004, will not be considered.

The prize, according to a statement released by ALA on Friday, is open to young African entrepreneurs who have founded or co-founded a running business in any sector in Africa. Applications can be submitted in English, Portuguese, Arabic or French. This is in recognition of the diversity of the entrepreneurship efforts among young Africans.

“The Anzisha Prize currently has 102 fellows within its network since the programme started in 2011,” said Josh Adler, Vice President of Growth and Entrepreneurship at the ALA. “We encourage all nationalities to apply so that we can continue to support exceptional young job-starters who are improving lives and will become a part of a truly Pan-African network.”

According to the statement, the call for applications will close on March 31, 2019. As part of the Anzisha Tour, the Anzisha Prize team will be visiting some regional hubs in the coming months. The cities to be visited include Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire.

One of the judging criteria requires applicants to show commitment to growing their venture into a job-creation engine with the ability to demonstrate their contribution to society.

With the launch of the 9th annual Anzisha Prize, the organisers look forward to celebrating the stories of successful entrepreneurs such as the winner of the last edition, Melissa Bime. The 22-year-old, a nursing graduate, founded Infiuss – an online blood bank – in 2015.

According to the statement, Infiuss has distributed over 3,800 pints of blood across 28 hospitals in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Bime was chosen as the winner due to her innovative business model that demonstrated the importance of job creation and scalability.

In Nigeria, Lifebank – a startup founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun (34 years old) – offers similar service. Since it launched in 2016, it has distributed up to 9,000 pints of blood to hospitals in Lagos.