U.S. Chamber of Commerce Africa Digital Innovation Competition 2022 | After School Africa
31st May 2022
Tell Me About U.S. Chamber of Commerce Africa Digital Innovation Competition :
As part of the 2022 Digital Economy Summit, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Center (USAfBC) in conjunction with AmChams across Africa, is hosting its annual Digital Entrepreneurship Competition for African Startups. The competition is targeted towards Digital SMEs and startups that are looking to facilitate the delivery of digital, cross-border, interoperable, and cross- domain services and solutions, while also accelerating their digitally enabled growth. Read more.
Which Fields are Eligible?
The competition will be focused on three broad thematic areas:
What Type of Scholarship is this?
Who can apply?
Within its strategic vision, the USAfBC is looking for innovative proposals that, through digital solutions, articulate stories of impact and clearly identify the challenges and actions to implement solutions in the digital space. The Digital Innovation Competition is open to entrepreneurs, startups, and independent innovators who have turned ideas into digital innovation to improve living conditions for Africans amid the pandemic.
To be eligible, an applicant (or their startup) must:
i. Be a startup or innovator with at least 51% African ownership
ii. Must be incorporated /registered with the appropriate country-based body, e.g., Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
iii. Not be a government agency, public administration, political organization, or non-profit of any type Africa Digital Entrepreneurship Competition 2022
iv. Startup must be head quartered in one of the African Countries.
v. Startup must Not be older than five (5) years and not be part of a franchise brand or licensing agreements for distribution in a different country
vi. Not be a Business engaged in any illegal activity and not listed on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Sanctions List
Selecting the Winners
Each applicant will be evaluated by a panel of judges based on the pertinence of the idea being resolved, the quality of the innovation/service response, the business model, its scalability, the size of the market, and the clarity and persuasiveness of the two-minute video pitch. The selection and evaluation process of submissions shall be reviewed and accredited by an external certified reviewer. The winners of the competition will be determined by the judges’ ranking of the applicants based on a set of pre-determined criteria.
Which Countries are Eligible?
African countries