AYuTe Africa 2022 Nigeria Challenge for Entrepreneurs

Published: 29 Aug 2022

The AYuTe Africa Challenge Nigeria is an enterprise development program initiated by Heifer International and implemented by Enactus Nigeria to identify, nurture, and support innovative, relevant and technology-driven agric-centric enterprises to grow, scale and thrive.

Candidates should be early-stage or growth-stage youth-led agritech businesses/companies with innovative solutions impacting smallholder farmers at scale.

AYuTe Africa Nigeria Challenge

Benefits of AYuTe Africa Nigeria Challenge

Challenge applicants can expect to receive the following benefits:

• Coaching and mentorship, personalized to unpack training into business implementation for the top-5 finalists

• Technical assistance at the various levels of the challenge to strengthen the MVP and the business and financial model of the start-up

• Links to financial and investment opportunities

• Networking opportunities to showcase your solution and meet with investors and other stakeholders

• Cash prize awards of a total of $20,000 for the top three winners:

  • Winner: $10,000

  • First Runner-Up: $6,000

  • Second Runner-Up: $4,000

Requirements for AYuTe Africa Nigeria Challenge

• Applicants must:

  • • Be aged 18-35 by the closing day of submission to the AYuTe Nigeria challenge

    • Be a youth with innovative ideas focusing on the agriculture sector

    • Have ideas that are proven to solve social problems and are implementable, technically feasible, economically sound (affordable), and environmentally smart (eco-friendly)

    • Hold Nigerian nationality with official ID (national identity card, international passport, or permanent voters’ card)

    • Produce financial statements for the venture

    • Be the founder or co-founder of the enterprise represented in the competition and play an active role in its operations and leadership

    • Have no criminal record related to corruption, tax evasion, financial impropriety, felony or other offences

    • Have the potential for partnership and collaboration with other actors/stakeholders

    The company must have:

  • An identifiable technological innovation that addresses the following problems for smallholder farmers:

    • Smallholder farmer productivity

    • Smallholder farmer income

    • Labour intensiveness of operations

    • Resilience

    • Access to information

    • Strong competitive advantage

  • Alignment with relevant national policies and international treaties (e.g., SDGs)

  • The potential for job creation and poverty reduction

  • The ability to scale and impact a large number of smallholder farmers, including recorded evidence of demonstrated impact on smallholder farmers’ revenue and/or operations

  • Been registered/incorporated with the relevant government agencies in Nigeria

Application Documents

• Soft copy of any National Official ID (national identity card, international passport, driver’s license, or temporary/permanent voters’ card)

• Soft copy of a clear headshot photo

Application Deadline

How to Apply