University students targeted in Sh2.5 million digital app competition

NAIROBI, KENYA:  University students stand to win up to Sh2.5 million in a Pan-African competition launched on Thursday.

The competition powered by MTN and Jumia targets more than 60 university students in 13 countries across Africa. It will challenge the students to develop a unique digital application or smart solution that will solve a tangible problem faced on the continent.                                                 

“Africa is a continent of promise, and our aim has always been to help fulfil this promise by developing uniquely African solutions,” says Sarah-Anne Arnold, Manager of the MTN Solution Space   .

“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,” she said. 

MTN’s Group Chief Digital Officer, Herman Singh, says the company is proud to both sponsor and endorse the initiative. 

“The Entrepreneurship Challenge is strongly aligned to MTN’s own entrepreneurial culture and history as well as our values as a business. We believe inspiration of new business leaders in Africa and their enablement to success will be key drivers for the future rapid evolution of a broader start-up culture on the continent,” says Singh. 

Applications for the first round of the multi-phased competition are open from today (Thursday) and will close on March 27. Aspiring entrepreneurs from participating universities can enter in teams by logging onto www.gsb.uct.ac.za/MTNECbyJumia . All applications will be judged by campus captains, who consist of successful entrepreneurs in their respective market. Shortlisted teams will then 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 as part of this achievement, the successful teams 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. 

The winner of the MTN Entrepreneurship Challenge powered by Jumia will win a cash prize of US $25 000 towards their start-up, and will also benefit from 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. The winner will also have access to a Facebook Start Program to the value of US $15 000, which includes tools and services needed to build mobile applications. In addition, they will have the opportunity to work from the MTN Solution Space at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. The two runners-up will each receive US $5 000 towards their projects. 

“Besides funding impressive entrepreneurial ideas from the young and talented youths, this competition will also provide mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs in contributing to building a stronger, more sustainable business environment across Kenya and Africa. We are delighted to partner with MTN to help the youths kick off their projects,” Parinaz Firozi, MD, Jumia Kenya.