Ezinne Uko (Nigeria) and Peter Wachira (Kenya) have been selected as the two winners of the $200,000 Kwesé Inc #GoGettaz entrepreneurship competition held at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Both walk away with a $100,000 USD investment, a similar amount in credit facility from Equity Bank Kenya, and a two week mentorship at Kwesé’s headquarters in South Africa with Strive Masiyiwa, founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Global. The 10 runners up each receive $10,000 USD investment in their ventures.
Ezinne Uko and Peter Wachira have taken the grand prize from a group of 12 finalists from DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Judged on their business/non-profits’ sustainability, originality, social benefit, and scalability as well as votes garnered from the general public in a month-long social media voting phase, which closed on 30 November 2017, Contrail Stores and A Remote Youth Venture impressed the judges and receive a $100,000 injection into their business/venture from Mr. Masiyiwa.
As one of the largest entrepreneurship competitions on the African continent, 4,800 competition entries were received, 50 million social media shares and over 200,000 web page visits. The winners endured, and their businesses will not only benefit financially but, as first-ever Kwesé Fellows, they will also continue to receive best business/venture practices from Mr. Masiyiwa for the duration of their mentorship program.
In the words of Mr. Masiyiwa:
“At our eighth Africa Entrepreneurship Town Hall today, we had hundreds of people from different walks of life, all in the same room, all focused on solutions for the future: top business leaders, government officials, technology experts, academics, students… all thinking about how new technologies can help rather than harm society.
Today is how we build for Africa’s century and end poverty globally. Together we listen, we innovate and we take action — with data and vision, and without delay.”
To inspire upcoming entrepreneurs and pave the way for new generation innovators, the Kwesé Inc #GoGettaz Entrepreneurship Competition finals will be broadcast on Kwesé Inc, an exclusive channel for entrepreneurs on the pay TV platform Kwesé TV, now available in over 10 countries with more to launch soon.