The top 10 Africa’s Business Heroes finalists were announced on 2 September, after the conclusion of the semi-finale pitching. The top 50 finalists were announced on 27 June and the top 20 on 24 July. Two South Africans were among the top 10 finalists: Nthabiseng Mosia, CMO and Co-Founder of Easy Solar, and Theo Baloyi, CEO and Founder of Bathu. There’s some big prize money coming to them.is one of South Africa’s leading sneaker brands.
Bathu is about fostering an environment that encourages breaking barriers in what is possible. It now employs over 400 people at its 35 retail stores across the county. It does this while caring for its communities, as is evident through the Walk Your Journey initiative, which has distributed over 50 000 pairs of school shoes to local schools. Ultimately, Baloyi aims to donate one million pairs of shoes to schools across the country over the next decade.
Over a 10-year period, ABH will recognise 100 African entrepreneurs and commit to allocating grant funding, training programmes and support for the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Every year since the first edition in 2019, entrepreneurs from across Africa apply for the competition and go through several rounds of rigorous evaluation conducted by ABH judges.
Every year, ABH spotlights outstanding participants through traditional media and social media channels, including providing significant exposure to the top 10 finalists through a series known as the ABH Show. The show captures the best moments of the annual ABH competition and showcases the top 10 finalists of each previous edition on their exciting journey to the Grand Finale, including their on-stage pitches as well as behind-the-scenes moments from the competition.
This year, there were 27 267 applications received from across all 54 African countries, with the most diverse applicant pool yet in terms of geographic, gender and age distribution. On November 23 and 24, 2023, Africa’s Business Heroes will host a 5th Anniversary Summit and 2023 Competition Grand Finale in Kigali, Rwanda.