SFAN (Stars From All Nations) has announced the launch of the inaugural Student Entrepreneurship Week, a Pan-Africa programme for budding entrepreneurs on the continent. The event will hold from July 22 to 24 2019 in Ghana.
Africa is the youngest continent in the world with about 60% of its population under the age of 35. Nevertheless, despite the demographic dividends of a young and educated workforce, unemployment has remained a major challenge – with close to 50% of all college and university graduates lacking access to sustainable employment.
Student Entrepreneurship Week Pan-Africa is an initiative of SFAN (Stars From All Nations) established to help budding entrepreneurs access actionable, experiential knowledge and tools for building sustainable businesses. The event also creates platforms for: Showcasing undiscovered talents, quality networking, and startup funding.
The maiden edition was held at British Council Accra with over 400 participants, with speakers coming from Silicon Valley, the U.K, Nigeria, and Ghana.
✨🇬🇭.@sfanonline Opens Application For Inaugural Student #Entrepreneurship Week Pan-Africa https://t.co/cNNZE0sH21 via @tanoebusiness #SEWAfrica #SFAN pic.twitter.com/iWALnRkiF9
— SFAN® (@sfanonline) May 9, 2019
SELECTION CRITERIA
Applicants for Student Entrepreneurship Week Africa:
- Should lead, co-lead, have founded, co-founded or intends to found/lead their own venture/initiative and address one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Must have a good level of English that enables them to understand, present, and collaborate throughout the program – including the one-on-one investor pitch session.
- Should have the skills and know-how to be part of a special community of collaborative young innovators and be willing to play an active role within this community.
- Should be able to take care of their transportation and other logistics like accommodation and in-country transportation. We are unable to accept candidates that cannot finance their travel and accommodation logistics.
- Should be able to pay a subsidized participation fee of $30.
This Pan-African edition is organized with the theme “unlocking entrepreneurial potentials of young Africans for job creation,” and is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4 and 8.
“We are excited to create an experiential learning event that will help high potential creators and innovators on the continent launch their businesses and raise startup funding. We are also thrilled to be launching the Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award which will recognize the work of select young innovators on the continent.
“This is the first Student Entrepreneurship Week Pan-Africa and as per usual with SFAN events we have a remarkable lineup of speakers, and participants will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses to investors for funding.” Says Tom-Chris Emewulu, Founder & President of SFAN.
Applications are open until June 30, 2019, and for more information, visit studententrepreneurshipweek.com.
