RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Competition

RUFORUM invites young African entrepreneurs and incubates aged below 35 to compete for 20 awards to showcase their innovations, enterprises, business concepts, and propositions.

Competition Overview

The primary purpose of this competition is to promote business innovation through entrepreneurship.
Through this competition, RUFORUM will provide seed funding to young entrepreneurs with creative and innovative business ideas, as well as foster a spirit of entrepreneurship among African youth.

Competition Aims

The aims of this competition are:-

To provide young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to showcase their businesses and share their development as an inspiration to other young African entrepreneurs
To bring forth collective action towards the provision of seed funding to young entrepreneurs through a transparent and competitive process
To provide a platform for young entrepreneurs to demonstrate their impact and also pitch their businesses to stakeholders and investors through capacity building opportunities
To create a network of young entrepreneurs across Africa who work together and share experiences that escalate youth contribution and job creation in Africa

Award Categories

Target Group

African youth between 16 and 34 years in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

What do the winners receive?

Each winner receives:

An all-expenses-paid trip (air ticket, conference registration, and hotel costs) for participation at the 2019 RUFORUM AGM in Cape Coast, Ghana on the 2^nd to 6^thOctober 2019.
A cash prize of US$ 2000

How many business enterprises will be selected?

Am I Eligible to Apply?

Individuals and enterprises who meet the following criteria are invited to apply

Persons with an established business enterprise and/or those with innovations that can potentially be commercialized and/or those with business concepts
The potential enterprise/ business enterprise should have a defined business model that showcases the innovativeness of the proposed business/enterprise/innovation.
Persons aged 16-34 years
Individuals who are residents or citizens of the countries in the targeted West African region
Persons who are not previous recipients of a RUYAEC award

Note: All submissions should be in English or French, and done using the template provided

How Do I Apply – Next Steps

All applications should be submitted through the RUYAEC (young innovators) website.
Download the application form from the website, fill it in, and upload it online.

Closing Date

How do I get more information?

For more information on the competition, contact: