Wennovation Hub Partners with Africa Leadership Academy to Launch Anzisha Prize in Nigeria

The Wennovation Hub (www.wennovationhub.com) has just entered into a partnership with the African Leadership Academy Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership (with a multi-year grant from a leading global foundation - The MasterCard Foundation) towards partnering to launch the Anzisha Prize Tour in Nigeria ( http://www.anzishaprize.org/

The Anzisha Prize is the premier award for Africa's young entrepreneurial leaders ages 15-20. Starting in March we will be holding summits to promote the prize and get youth in Africa excited about entrepreneurship. The Partnership was agreed to in a Memorandum of Understanding executed on February 24, 2012. 

According to the Program Director of the Wennovation Hub: Idris Bello, the Wennovation Hub "plan to hold two information summits in Lagos at the Wennovation Hub on March 17. The goal is to have a diverse audience of about 100 representatives of secondary schools, universities, and youth organizations (in the target age range) attend, and be enlightened about the process, and who can then act as ambassadors for the competition and get their friends and colleagues to register."

The Wennovation Hub operational team acknowledges the strategic synergy between the Anzisha Prize and the strategic objectives of the hub going forward to develop a robust pipeline of young entrepreneurs that will eventually feed the hub's incubation platform. The Africa Innovation Prize that focuses more specifically on higher education students further enriches this objective and is also set launch later this year by the Wennovation Hub in Nigeria.

ABOUT THE ANZISHA PRIZE:

The Anzisha Prize seeks to award young innovators who have developed and implemented innovative solutions to challenges facing their communities. Fifteen finalists from across Africa will win an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to be a part of a week-long entrepreneurship workshop and conference at the African Leadership Academy campus on the outskirts of Johannesburg.  The grand prize winners, selected from these finalists, will share prizes worth $75,000 USD. The Wennovation Hub will also provide mentorship and support to selected Anzisha Prize finalist(s) based in Lagos

ELIGIBILITY:

·  Applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 20.

· Innovations in all fields (science and technology, civil society, arts and culture, sports, etc.) will be considered by the Prize Committee.

· Some projects are carried out by small groups or teams that see themselves as equal. Should this be the case with your project, the primary initiator who assembled the project team should apply for the prize on behalf of the group. Should the group be named a finalist, only the primary initiator of the winning group will attend the workshop in South Africa, though winnings may be shared amongst the group.

Email: prize@anzishaprize.org
Call:    +27 11 699 3000 

Nigeria: +234-805-951-7814

Download application form (500KB)

http://www.anzishaprize.org/export/sites/ala-prize/downloads/AnzishaPrize_Application_Form.doc

Wennopreneurs Go to Funding...!

The Wennovation Hub is pleased to announce the first funding window opportunity for Wennopreneurs within the Wennovation Eco-System. On Friday, February 17 2012- the top Wennovation Hub Companies, will have an opportunity to pitch their products, showcase working "demos" and the market opportunity to top investors under the auspices of a funding initiative conceived with the Tony Elumelu Foundation & Heirs Holdings Limited.

The private closed-door "Investors Speed Dating Event" is the first of a series of events designed to put start-up entrepreneurs in contact with top-notch potential funders, and marks the last phase in the series of successive milestones in the first Wennovation Cycle that began in June 2011.

Four Wennovation Portfolio companies from both the WennoCamp and Wennovation Platform tracks will be showcased. These are:

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is an Africa-based and African-funded not-for-profit institution dedicated to the promotion and celebration of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa.

Heirs Holdings is an African investment company focusing on principal investments in a variety of sectors across Africa. Our investment universe extends from start-up ventures to established high growth companies.

The Wennovation Hub as a true hub for start-up business development located in Ikeja, Lagos with a focus on synthesizing high impact start-up growth, facilitation and development in West Africa. It is operated by LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited.