Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH), the flagship philanthropic initiative of Alibaba Philanthropy, has unveiled the Top 50 finalists for its 2025 Prize Competition, celebrating a record-breaking year in participation, regional diversity, and innovation.
Now in its 7th edition, ABH continues to shine a spotlight on entrepreneurs driving change across the continent. This year’s competition received a staggering 32,000 applications—the highest ever in its history—with submissions from all 54 African countries, reinforcing ABH’s position as one of Africa’s largest and most inclusive entrepreneurship competitions.
The 2025 Top 50 offers a compelling snapshot of Africa’s dynamic entrepreneurial landscape. These innovators are leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as fintech, AI, and digital platforms to transform key sectors including healthcare, education, agriculture, and renewable energy.
Sustainability is a recurring theme, with startups developing eco-conscious solutions that address climate resilience, boost food security, and support inclusive economic growth. According to ABH, these ventures are not only solving real-world problems but are also creating jobs and opening new avenues for financial inclusion and digital access.
Expanding Reach, Deepening Impact
The 2025 competition saw a 300% increase in applications from historically underrepresented countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Togo, Gabon, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Mauritius. This dramatic growth highlights the initiative’s expanding grassroots reach and the rising vibrancy of Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystems.
To further build community, ABH embarked on a 9-city roadshow across Casablanca, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Kampala, Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, and Dakar—the host city for the 2025 Semi-Finale slated for September 10–11. The roadshow brought together ecosystem leaders, investors, innovators, and past ABH Heroes to share resources, stories, and opportunities.
A major milestone this year was the deployment of ABi, ABH’s AI-powered co-host built on Qwen Turbo, introduced at the 6th ABH Summit in Kigali. ABi enhanced applicant experiences by offering real-time support and streamlining the screening process, demonstrating ABH’s commitment to using technology to drive efficiency, transparency, and inclusion.
Celebrating the 2025 Finalists
The Top 50 entrepreneurs hail from 17 countries, span 16 industries, and reflect 36% female representation and 10% Francophone inclusion—underscoring ABH’s emphasis on gender and linguistic diversity.
Each finalist was selected for demonstrating bold thinking, measurable impact, and potential for scale across Africa. As part of the next stage, the 50 finalists will enter a virtual bootcamp, with training sessions on team-building, investment readiness, AI integration, and digital marketing, led by investors, past winners, and ecosystem experts.
“The 2025 ABH Prize has raised the bar, yet again. We are seeing greater depth, diversity, and innovation across the span of applications,” said Zahra Baitie-Boateng, Managing Director, Africa at ABH. “These 50 finalists are solving real problems with global potential, and we’re excited to amplify their work.”
Alongside training and mentorship, finalists gain media visibility, access to strategic partners, and inclusion in a powerful pan-African network of ABH alumni and supporters.
The Road to the Grand Finale
The Top 50 will now undergo Round 2 evaluations, including interviews with judges and due diligence assessments led by PlusVC. From this process, 22 entrepreneurs will be shortlisted, with the Top 20 to be announced in August.
The Top 10 finalists will emerge from the Dakar Semi-Finale and advance to the Grand Finale in Kigali this December, where they will compete for a share of the US$1.5 million grant and the title of Africa’s Business Hero 2025.
