BeChangeMaker Africa Entrepreneurs make their live pitch debut

They have made it through to the final stage of the 2020 competition, which promotes and supports young social entrepreneurs in Africa. The teams represent Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tunisia, and Uganda, bringing ideas as diverse as finding work for skilled refugees to supplying clean water to rural communities.

Launched four years ago, BeChangeMaker has grown rapidly, with a pilot competition dedicated solely to Africa launched this year with the support of WorldSkills International, the HP Foundation, the African Union, United Nations Development Programme, and the German development agency GIZ.

The Africa contest began earlier this year with a remarkable 315 applications from 42 countries. Just five teams will pitch their ideas at the grand finale.

They include Steer Analytics from Cameroon, with a proposal to make financing easier for vulnerable communities. The team says being in BeChangeMaker Africa has helped take their idea and show them how to implement it and that their “biggest achievement has been the skills gained so far,” including sales, negotiation, customer relationship management,  and pitching.

Hand Speaks from Egypt hopes to improve communication technology for the hearing impaired. With BeChangeMaker Africa “our team learned how to make the prototype and landing page, and how to market our idea,” they say.

Helping skilled refugees find work and connecting them with businesses around the world is the goal of Invicta from Ethiopia. They also credit BeChangeMaker with getting their project off the ground.

“It has given us the tools and confidence to pool our resources and accomplish our biggest goals,” they say. “Our biggest accomplishment to date was successfully launching our mobile and web-based application.”

Tunisia’s Glarina, which seeks to support suffers from celiac disease, also credits the coaching and mentoring they received though BeChangeMaker for their success.

“We improved our skills on pitching and critical thinking,” they say.

Finally, there is RUWAFIKI from Uganda, which stands for Rural Water Filtration Kit. When COVID-19 hit, they feared the project might not go ahead. Instead, BeChangeMaker Africa has helped see them through to the final.

“It provided the platforms to develop our prototype, take useful courses and connect with other change makers,” they say. “Going forward, we have been empowered with the right skills and mindset.”

Grace Lung, Senior Manager of Partnership Programmes at WorldSkills International says “Africa is definitely an emerging entrepreneurship hub as so many young people are very driven and passionate about resolving the toughest challenges they face in the countries or the continent as a whole. You will be amazed by the creativity and skills demonstrated by the top five teams chosen for the first BeChangeMaker Africa.”