On his second trip to Africa in August last year, Jack Ma said it is the entrepreneurs who will propel the African economy. The dynamic executive chairman of Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant, made the comment while speaking at a special event in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was there to announce a new $10-million prize to support African entrepreneurs.

Six months later, the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) was born and is expected to officially launch a call for applications from March 27 this year. Over the next decade, 10 finalists from across the African continent will compete and take a proportional share of $1 million annually. The 10 finalists will also receive a grant from the Jack Ma Foundation, as well as access to the African Netpreneurs community, which will provide them with resources, advice and expertise.

"We strongly encourage young people and female entrepreneurs to apply," Beth Yu, Executive Secretary of the Jack Ma Foundation told ChinAfrica, adding that apart from the 10 finalists, the 50 or 100 best candidates will also receive training or mentoring during the process, with the support of local partners.

Regional partners

To successfully complete this competition, four regional partners have been appointed. Nine in Abuja, RiseUp in Cairo, 22 On Sloane in Johannesburg and Nailab in Nairobi, covering the four cardinal points of the continent. "The ANPI has brought together a strong ecosystem of players to support both technology-driven and traditional businesses. We look forward to unveiling the full slate of regional partners and to receiving applications from promising African entrepreneurs in the coming weeks," stated Sam Gichuru, Founder and CEO of Nailab.

Graca Machel, a member of ANPI Advisory Board, said the regional partners would contribute in the "inclusive and community-based approach" to the award. "There are so many undiscovered entrepreneurial heroes, women and men alike, who once unearthed can become game-changers of the African entrepreneurship landscape. I am happy the Africa Netpreneur Prize has decided to make women a priority," she remarked.

Ma explained at a press conference following the Youth Connket Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2017 that the $10 million award is fully funded by his equity. It was during this first trip to Africa that he had the idea to create this prize. He met many entrepreneurs with good ideas, and he wanted to support them. "I want to show my confidence in Africa. So I set up a $10-million special fund for young African entrepreneurs at the Jack Ma Foundation to help them realize their dreams and ideas," said the philanthropist.

Since his first visit to the continent in 2017, Ma has built a firm bond with Africa.

Jack Ma (left) talks with Derrick Muturi (right), CEO of e-commerce platform Herdy, and Kago Kagichiri, co-founder of Eneza Education, at Nailab in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2017 (JMF)

Entrepreneurship spirit

In the past two years, Ma's attention on Africa has grown steadily. Alibaba has long-term strategic plans in Africa. One of them is to train young Africans to get digital skills in order to build a sustainable ecosystem.

ANPI is the second initiative launched by Ma to support African entrepreneurs. In 2017, Alibaba Business School and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) jointly announced the eFounders Initiative. The program will train 1,000 emerging-market entrepreneurs in the following five years, 200 of whom will come from Africa. So far, 52 African entrepreneurs have participated in this initiative at Alibaba Headquarters in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

"Regarding the training of the laureates of ANPI, we want to cooperate with Alibaba, which already has a lot of experience," Yu affirmed.

Support from local governments is essential to foster entrepreneurship. "Our program is educational, giving young Africans the entrepreneurial spirit. This will have an influence on the whole continent, which would attract the attention of local governments and could lead to more favorable policies on taxation and financing," she explained. Her idea was approved by international partners. "We need to engage in dialogue with the governments of African countries. They need to attach greater importance to entrepreneurship and the development of e-commerce," said Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD.

"Of the 1.2 billion people on the African continent, 60 percent are under 24 years old. The 100 winners over the next 10 years will be examples to other young people. Through our program [ANPI], we want to make them inspiring models, which together could promote the economic development of African countries," Yu concluded.

(Comments to glj@chinafrica.cn)

The Jack Ma Foundation

The Jack Ma Foundation is a charitable organization founded in 2014 by Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group. Registered in Zhejiang Province, the foundation aims to promote human development in harmony with both society and the environment, while its mission is to work toward a world of bluer skies, cleaner water, healthier communities, and more open thinking. From education to environment, public health and personal development in the philanthropic sector, the foundation intends to awaken social consciousness and responsibility to cultivate an innovative and sustainable model for a better world.

(SOURCE: THE JACK MA FOUNDATION)