Nominations Open for RUFORUM Young African Entrepreneurs Applications (West African)

Deadline: 30 September 2019

Nominations are open for Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Young African Entrepreneurs Competition (RUYAEC) to catalyse entrepreneurship through promotion of business innovation and provision of seed funding to young entrepreneurs with creative and innovative business ideas among African youth.

RUYAEC invites young (<35 years) African entrepreneurs and incubates to compete for 20 awards to show case their innovations, enterprises and business concepts and propositions.

This third round of the RUFORUM Young Innovators Competition is targeted for West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) countries. The awards will be delivered at the Cape Coast, Ghana during the RUFORUM Annual General meeting convening 2-6 December, 2019.

RUFORUM targets to award 20 awards in the following fields: Food and agribusiness, Incubations, ICTs, Health, Engineering, Natural resources, and Meteorology among others. All the 2016 and 2018 RUFORUM Young Innovators Awardees are NOT eligible to apply.

The RUYAEC operates within one of RUFORUM’s values and principles of creativity seeking to offer opportunities to develop innovative solutions both in addressing the problems faced by smallholder farmers, and in managing research projects in remote areas.

Eligibility Criteria

• Persons with an established business enterprise and/or those with innovations that can potentially be commercialized and/or those with business concepts.
• The business enterprise/potential enterprise should have a defined business model that show case the innovativeness of the proposed enterprise/business/innovation.
• Persons in the age category 16-34 years.
• Submissions should be in English or French using the template provided.
• Be a citizen and resident of the targeted West African region (see the countries listed above).
• Not one of the 2016 and 2018 RUFORUM Young Innovators Awardees.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

Eligible Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

For more information, please visit http://www.ruforum.org/younginnovators/