Group to Reward Entrepreneurs

Seven young African social entrepreneurs will take the centre-stage at this year’s World Export Development Forum (WEDF) to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges with a chance of winning seed funding to develop or scale up their projects.

The seven finalists – from the Gambia, Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, and Mali – were selected by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in collaboration with partners including Impact Hub Geneva’s Accelerate2030 programme and NyamukaZambia.

The seven shortlisted social entrepreneurs are Alan Chanda of Dytech, Zambia; Chisepo Chirwa of Out Source, Zambia; Diego Dieudonné Twahirwa of GashoraFarm Ltd, Rwanda; Omar Jallow of Green Hectares Farm, the Gambia; Victoria Muzumara of Shopzed, Zambia; Hamadoum Niangado of KoolFarmer, Mali; and Charles Ofori of DextTechnology, Ghana.

The pitching contestants would have their business cases assessed by a panel of judges that include Parminder Vir, Chief Executive Officer of the Tony ElumeluFoundation, and Michael Ocansey, founder of AgroCenta, a Ghanaian start-up that won the 2017 Young Social Entrepreneurs Competition.