Harambeans Africa Jobs Fund Prize
Apply now →When you apply, select the Africa Jobs Fund Prize.
What is the Harambeans Africa Jobs Fund Prize?
You see an opportunity others don't.
A product Africa could make.
A market Africa could serve.
A company that could create jobs and compete beyond the continent.
Maybe you've been thinking about building it for years. Maybe you've already started. Maybe you've built a career outside Africa and know there is a business waiting to be built back home.
Now you have a chance to build it.
The Harambeans Africa Jobs Fund Prize is looking for exceptional African entrepreneurs and members of the African diaspora with the ambition to build export manufacturing businesses in Africa and take them to the world.
Start with $20,000
The winner receives $20,000 in grant funding and admission to the Harambeans Alliance. That means you don't just get a check, you become part of a community of exceptional African entrepreneurs, with access to capital, relationships, knowledge, fellowships, partnerships, and opportunities that help you build for the long term.
$20k is just the start
The Prize can open a pathway to substantially more capital through the Africa Jobs Fund.
| Step | Stage | Amount | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Win the Prize (Grant) | $20,000 | Start Building. Capital to turn an opportunity into a business or help an early-stage venture reach its next milestone. |
| 2 | Test It (Investment) | Up to $100,000 | Prove it works. AJF scoping and pilot funding to validate the market, build a prototype, secure a first customer, or run an initial production cycle. |
| 3 | Scale It (Investment) | $100,000–$1,000,000 | Build at scale. If the pilot proves the model works, a potential pathway to $100,000–$1,000,000 in scale-up investment, structured as debt or revenue-based financing, not a grant, to build the operation and take it to market. |
What will you build?
Export Manufacturing — Build in Africa. Sell to the world.
We are looking for high value-add, labour-intensive export manufacturing — businesses where Africa's cost and talent advantages compound, not businesses that simply repackage raw materials for a small margin.
Exporting isn't just a go-to-market choice. Industrialisation is the only way that countries (and continents) become rich. Manufacturing goods for global markets is at the core of that. Exporting changes what kind of company you can build:
- Access to global markets: you're not splitting a small domestic market — you're selling into the purchasing power of the entire world.
- Growing the size of the pie: every export dollar is new money entering the economy, not money moving between local pockets.
- Global productivity standards: to win international customers, you have to operate at world-class productivity from day one — which is what turns a company into a durable competitive advantage, not a protected local player.
- Jobs Jobs Jobs: Manufacturing businesses can create thousands of higher-paying jobs for low-income workers.
That's the opportunity. We are looking for entrepreneurs who see a product Africa can make, at real scale and real value, that the world wants to buy.
| Category | What That Could Look Like |
|---|---|
| Light manufacturing | This could be anything from wood and furniture, to leather goods and apparel. It brings higher value-add and great complexity to the economy, while creating many jobs. It is the first rung on the manufacturing ladder that has driven transformative growth in China, Vietnam and others. |
| Agriculture & agro-processing | 50% of Africa's population works in agriculture but productivity has not been rising fast enough and most exports are raw unprocessed commodities. Africa's agricultural sector has huge potential that can be unlocked by processing commodities into higher-value products for global markets, creating direct jobs but also raising incomes for farmers. |
| Consumer products | Demand for African products is growing across multiple categories. We're excited to back companies that can manufacture in Africa and build a successful scalable brand in the global market, capturing the value-add margin for Africa and creating thousands of jobs. |
| Industrial products, components & intermediate goods | From chemicals such as adhesives and insecticides, to vehicle components, to joinery and decks, Africa has the potential to manufacture the goods and inputs that growing economies need. |
| Export enablers | Seafood export does not work without a cold chain, inefficient logistics is costly and hinders cost competitiveness, certification is a gatekeeper to trade — there are many infrastructure challenges across Africa blocking exports. The right enabler in the right market could unlock the whole sector, not just one product. |
| Other export businesses | Anywhere Africa has a compelling cost, talent, resource, or market advantage. |
Who should apply?
You must either be born in an African country or be of African descent.
You may:
- Have an early-stage venture;
- Have a compelling idea but not yet have incorporated a company;
- Have identified an opportunity you believe others have overlooked;
- Be considering returning to Africa to build, have already returned and are still finding your footing, or never left and are building from where you are;
- Already be building and need the right capital and partners to take the next step;
- Or have a vision for a business but need help turning it into a company.
You don't need a polished business plan. We're looking for entrepreneurs, not PowerPoint presentations. We care about how you think, how you see opportunity, how you solve problems, and — most importantly — whether you can execute.
A special invitation to the African diaspora
You've built a career the world recognizes — Ivy League degrees, global companies, capital and relationships earned far from home.
What if you brought that home?
You don't have to choose. Taiwan's tech economy was built by engineers who connected Silicon Valley to home, not by people who left it behind. If you've already made that leap and are building alone, this is your room too.
The Harambeans–AJF Prize is a seat at the table: 417 exceptional entrepreneurs across 36 countries who know how to build here, open doors, and become partners for the journey.
Winning is more than capital. It's recognition and access — from a community that selects roughly 30 entrepreneurs from 5,000 applicants each year.
Come build. You won't be building alone.
Key dates
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| September 30, 2026 | Early Application Deadline |
| October 14, 2026 | Regular Application Deadline |
| November 12, 2026 | Winner announced at the Harambeans Session, British Parliament, London |
| April 27–30, 2027 | Winner inducted into the 20th class of Harambeans at the Harambe Bretton Woods Symposium (MIT, Harvard, and Bretton Woods) |
The winner will be announced at the Harambeans Session at the British Parliament in London on November 12, 2026 — and will join the 20th class of Harambeans, with induction taking place at the Harambe Bretton Woods Symposium, April 27–30, 2027, at MIT, Harvard, and Bretton Woods.
Build in Africa. Sell to the world.
Apply for the Harambeans Africa Jobs Fund Prize
Apply now →When you apply, select the Africa Jobs Fund Prize.
About Harambeans
For nearly two decades, the Harambeans Alliance has identified and united Africa's most exceptional entrepreneurs into a trusted pan-African alliance. Today, the Alliance comprises 400+ entrepreneurs across 19 classes, whose ventures have raised more than $2 billion in capital, while 10 Harambean-led venture funds now manage over $360 million in assets. By recycling knowledge, networks, and capital across generations, the Alliance is building the trust infrastructure that powers Africa's entrepreneurs.
About the Africa Jobs Fund
The Africa Jobs Fund (AJF) backs exceptional entrepreneurs building businesses in export manufacturing and international labour mobility that create high-productivity jobs for Africa's next-generation. AJF works with promising founders to test ideas, build from 0 to 1, and provide capital to scale what works — from up to $100,000 in scoping and pilot investment to $100,000–$1 million in scale-up investment. The goal: help exceptional entrepreneurs turn ideas into scalable businesses that create lasting economic opportunity and higher-paying jobs for African workers.