Prominent Ghanaian media maven Anita Erskine, staunch advocate for Entrepreneurship in Africa, has been appointed Brand Ambassador and official Host of the 2020 edition of the Africa Netpreneur Prize.

The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) which was created by Jack Ma founder of Alibaba Group and the Jack Ma Foundation after his first trip to Africa in 2017, identifies Africa’s Business Heroes - male and female entrepreneurs who are building a more sustainable and inclusive economy for the future of the continent. In the first year of its 10 year journey, approximately 10,000 entrepreneurs from 50 African countries applied.

The final competition, which was was held in Accra, Ghana in November 2019, awarded the top three finalists Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder and CEO, LifeBank (Nigeria), Dr. Omar Sakr, founder and CEO, Nawah-Scientific (Egypt) and Christelle Kwizera, founder, Water Access (Rwanda) $250,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively. In its 2020 edition, the ANPI will have Anita Erskine as the anchor of their April 6th webcast launch and the host of their final event.

“Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative is excited to have Anita serving as the official host and brand ambassador of Africa’s Business Heroes. Anita reflects the boldness, creativity and strength that we look for in our entrepreneur heroes,” says Jason Pau, Senior Advisor for International Programs at Jack Ma Foundation.

Since 2013, Anita Erskine has actively placed her advocacy for Entrepreneurship, Girls’ Education and Women in Leadership at the core of her media career. Anita has a special focus on developing content that showcases innovative solutions to Africa’s socio-economic challenges. In her shows, for example: Sheroes of Our Time and Ifactory’s Making of a Mogul, Anita has consistently highlighted young African Entrepreneurs both on the continent and in the diaspora who are fueled by their innate desire to find homegrown solutions to the continent’s socio-economic challenges. Anita has created platforms such as the Women’s Elevation Fund which helps marginalized girls access Education and the STEM Women Project which highlights the role of STEM in Gender

Equality. She is conscious of the unique opportunities that enable her to lend her voice and personality to the empowerment of Africa’s youth through entrepreneurship.

“There is an army of resilient and innovative entrepreneurs in whose hands, I believe, the emergence of Africa truly lies. The opportunity to win money that helps them scale up, ultimately means these Entrepreneurs will be able to provide homegrown solutions to some of the continent’s biggest problems faster. In my opinion, the ANPI is a timely enabler, allowing dreams to migrate from exciting conception to outstanding reality. l have been given the responsibility to drive stories that will inspire more Africans to make big changes with their small businesses. I deem it an extraordinary honor to commit my voice, advocacy for sustainability and skill in the art of story telling to the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative,” says Anita Erskine

The Africa Netpreneur Prize is a search for Africa’s Business Heroes. Anita Erskine will be at the helm of the launch via webcast on 6th April 2020 at 3pm GMT. The webcast will have a plethora of discussions and presentations by a range of dynamic speakers including: the founder and executive chairman of Econet Global - Strive Masiyiwa, Jason Pau Snr. Advisor for International Programs at Jack Ma Foundation, ANPI 2019 Africa Business Hero Finalists: Christelle Kwizera, Moulaye Taboure, Waleed and El Rahman and Kevine Kagirimpundu.

One of the major highlights of the launch will be to showcase the special role of Entrepreneurs in the fight against COVID - 19. To register for the launch sign-up here: https://bit.ly/ANPIwebinar and follow Africa’s Business Heroes on Social Media for exciting updates:

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