2014 IDB Group Business Plan Competition for Sub-Saharan African Entrepreneurs.

Submission Deadline: April 30th 2014

The Islamic Development Bank Group invites all eligible entrepreneurs from IsDB Group Member Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa region to attend its 1^st Business Plan Competition. The business plan competition is designed in a way to foster entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan Africa region via providing;

• Seed funding in the form of cash prizes,
• Training materials for business plan development,
• Mentorship from prominent entrepreneurs,
• Networking opportunities with investors

The competition will include two tracks. First, the entrepreneurs who have an idea, research or technology but NOT established their venture yet will compete in the Idea Track. Second, the Growth Track will be for the entrepreneurs, who have already established their venture and looking forward to growing it.

Eligibility

• Individual application is allowed but application by teams are highly encouraged. In the case of team application, each team shall select a member who will be the “applicant” for the team in this competition,
• The applicant must be a citizen of the IsDB Group Member Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa Region (for the list of the countries, please see the link),
• The applicant shall be at least 18 years old and able to read and speak English or French proficiently,
• All members of a team can only enter the competition once with one submission,
• Team composition adjustments are allowed in Phase 1 and 2 but no changes are allowed after the submission of full business plans,
• The products or services offered or intended to be offered should have commercialization potential, be legal, and Shariah-compliant. The following applications will not be accepted

1. Projects which does not have commercialization potential,
2. Non-for-profit type projects such as charities, NGOs etc.,
3. Projects entailing production, sales, promotion, or distribution of the non-shariah compliant products/services (such as alcohol, gambling etc.)

The 1st IDB Business Plan Competition aims at fostering the entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa region, and to encourage new business ideas to flourish. In this regards, the competition will be open to entrepreneurs from 22 different IDB member countries listed below.

1)    Benin

2)    Burkina Faso

3)    Cameroon

4)    Chad

5)    Comoros

6)    Cote Divoire

7)    Djibouti

8)    Gabon

9)    Gambia

10) Guinea

11) Guinea Bissau

12) Mali

13) Mauritania

14) Mozambique

15) Niger

16) Nigeria

17) Senegal

18) Sierra Leone

19) Somalia

20) Sudan

21) Togo

22) Uganda

Cash prizes

• $25,000 for the 1^st Place Winner,
• $15,000 for the 2nd Place Winner,
• $10,000 for the 3rd Place Winner for each track of the competition

• Mentorship

• Networking Opportunities

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the ISDB Group Business Plan Competition