MIT & MasterCard Foundation in Cross-Continent Tour in Search of Africa’s Most Innovative Entrepreneurs

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship (MIT Legatum Center) has partnered with The MasterCard Foundation to launch a series of events in three cities across Africa to discover and support local entrepreneurs who are bringing their knowledge to bear on their continent’s greatest challenges.

“Africa represents the fastest growing region for entrepreneurship in the world,” said Georgina Campbell Flatter, the MIT Legatum Center Executive Director and lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “Open Mic Africa is designed to unearth, inspire and celebrate the next generation of global technology ventures that are powering this movement. The Legatum Center community is looking forward to working with all the entrepreneurs we encounter during our summer tour.”

Open Mic Africa will bring together local entrepreneurs, investors, and MIT. African entrepreneurs who have successfully taken their ventures to scale will be selected to speak; workshops on understanding customers and venture pitch training; mentoring sessions; and an “open pitch” competition where participants could win up to US$2,500.Open Mic Africa will take place in Lagos, Nigeria on July 26-27, 2017 and in Dakar, Senegal on September 23-24, 2017 and in Cape Town, South Africa in September 27-28, 2017. The MIT Legatum Center will also visit Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya during the tour to meet with local stakeholders and to foster the relationships with its alumni community.Open Mic Africa is the first phase of the 2017 Zambezi Prize for Innovation in Financial Inclusion which will officially open in August 2017. The Zambezi Prize was established in 2015 by the MIT Legatum Center in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation. The Prize awards US$100,000 to Africa’s most promising early-stage start-up that is solving a major financial inclusion challenge in the most innovative way. Prize finalists are eligible to receive additional cash prizes and for a chance to attend MIT’s acclaimed Entrepreneurship Development Program, a one-week immersive executive program at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

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The 2017 Prize will also honor one African leader with a Legatum Leadership Award for his or her extraordinary contribution to African entrepreneurship. In total, the Zambezi Prize will award US$200,000 in cash prizes to entrepreneurs from the continent. The 2017 Zambezi Prize’s inclusive approach is reflected in the diverse teams of supporters that will be working together to celebrate Africa’s entrepreneurship landscape in the months ahead.

The inaugural Zambezi Prize went to Umati Capital, a Kenyan financial service company that raised Seed and Series A rounds from Accion Venture Lab, Blue Haven Initiative and the Lundin Foundation.

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