ABH AI Newsletter: Investor & Entrepreneur Advice on Raising Capital for African Female Founders, Tips on Succeeding in the ABH Competition, and more.
Africa's Business Heroes
We aim to identify, spotlight and support African entrepreneur heroes creating impact in their communities.
Welcome to African AI?– an Africa’s Business Heroes newsletter that shares stories and articles on African impact, insight, and innovation.? We are excited to bring you news from our community of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and professionals in Africa. In this edition, you will meet Ayman Bazaara, our 2023 2nd Prize Winner as he reflects on his journey of building Sprints and winning the 2nd Prize of the competition after not making it to Top 10 in the previous year. In celebration of women’s month, we sat down with Hannah Subayi of Launch Africa Ventures and Bola Bardet of Susu to discuss the experience of raising money from venture capital firms as a female founder including challenges entrepreneurs encounter and how to navigate them. These are a few examples of the articles you will find in this edition. As you read and learn from these stories in detail, be sure to check out our opportunity desk at the end where you will find opportunities ranging from job opportunities to courses and programs our community members are offering. We’re glad you are on this journey with us!? ABH Team? ?
In the article below we sat down with Ayman Bazaara, the Co-Founder & CEO of Sprints who is on a mission to bridge the tech talent gap in the Middle East and Africa. Ayman shares his journey to winning the 2nd prize in the 2023 Africa’s Business Heroes competition on his third attempt and shares words of encouragement with other prospective applicants who are planning on joining the competition this year.
In this edition, we sat down with Hannah Subayi who is an experienced impact investor in Africa, currently acting as a Partner at Launch Africa Ventures, a top-performing early stage fund in Africa, with a specific focus on frontier markets, deeptech, climate tech investments and gender-lens strategies. We also sat down with one of the entrepreneurs that Launch Africa Ventures invested in, Bola Bardet, to discuss her journey of successfully raising a 4.5 million Euro round in 2023. Bola Bardet is also a Top 10 Africa’s Business Hero.
Any business that grows to a certain stage is bound to undergo tough times as a result of turbulent macroeconomic conditions such as inflation, changing the regulatory landscape, and other factors affecting supply and demand or internal crises. One trait several entrepreneurs have in common though is resilience. We sat down with four entrepreneurs from Kenya who are leading businesses that have either survived those tough times or are still undergoing them to hear their journey on it. They are all Africa’s Business Heroes from previous years: Chebet Lesan (Grand Prize Winner 2020); Charlot Magayi (Top 10 2021); Tesh Mbaabu (Top 10 2022); and Tonee Ndungu (Top 20 2021).
In this edition, Amena Elsaie, Africa’s Business Heroes Top 10 Hero and founder of HELM, introduces us to a new app she has created that is revolutionizing accessibility and empowering persons with disabilities to explore the world without barriers.? Entaleq is not just an app - it's a catalyst for inclusivity. By merging cutting-edge technology with a user-centric approach, Entaleq offers a comprehensive solution that addresses the core challenges faced by persons with disabilities.
Our spotlight hero of the Month is Amadou Daffe who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gebeya - a company powering African talent sourcing and that offers configurable public, customized and recruitment clouds to qualify and place professionals worldwide. We are excited to share that Gebeya has entered into a partnership with Microsoft Talent Cloud.
? With a burgeoning population of tech-savvy youth, Africa could become the next global hub of digital innovation. Tech communities are flourishing, driving progress across all aspects of society, and attracting investment. However, to ensure local talent continues to thrive, we must first address major stumbling blocks, including limited access to skilling and employment opportunities within global tech firms. Microsoft is proud to work alongside Gebeya to help address these challenges and create much-needed opportunities for Africa’s young talent. ? The Microsoft Talent Cloud powered by Gebeya is a central platform where Microsoft distributors, partners, and customers can find the businesses and professionals they need to further their digital transformation ambitions. At the same time, talent looking to secure opportunities within the Microsoft ecosystem will now have a single platform from which they can acquire the latest Microsoft skills like Copilot and Fabric, find Microsoft-related jobs and gigs, access Microsoft-related business opportunities, and engage with a community of like-minded professionals. ?
We are excited to bring you the various opportunities that are emerging out of our broad community. Take a look and share them with your network as well. ?
THE 2024 ABH COMPETITION IS OPEN!
If you have always wanted to become an Africa Business Hero, this year can be your year. Our 2024 call applications is open until May 19th. Start your application today! ? If you are a returning applicant, you can log back into your account with your previously used login details and access your previous application. Make edits and re-submit! It’s that simple.
If you know entrepreneurs who will benefit from this impactful competition,
WE ARE COMING TO YOUR CITY
Africa’s Business Heroes is coming to the city near you. If you are in any of these locations, sign up and join us for an information session on how you can join Africa’s Business Heroes Community of Entrepreneurs. ?
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA: April, 4th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
DOUALA, CAMEROON: April, 9th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
ABIDJAN, C?TE D’IVOIRE: April, 11th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
ACCRA, GHANA: April, 12th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
LAGOS, NIGERIA: April, 16th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO: April, 17th: Sign Up Here to Join ?
OUR HEROES ARE HIRING
OPPORTUNITIES FROM OUR JUDGES AND PARTNERS
Country Lead @AFF| WEF Davos 50| Hope College 10 Under 10 | Kaizen
8 个月Ayman Bazaraa Amena Elsaie Charlot Magayi Chebet Lesan Tonee Ndungu Tesh Mbaabu Bola Bardet Hannah Subayi Kamuanga Amadou ??? Daffe thank you very much for your contribution to this month's edition!