Next month will be the stage of the fourth annual Georgetown Africa Business Conference New Venture Competition for African entrepreneurs. The initiative is a collaboration between the Young African Professionals DC (YAPDC), Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, and the School of Foreign Service. 

In short, the New Venture Competition aims to showcase the diversity of African entrepreneurs who are making a difference on the African continent today. A total of 10 finalists will be invited to pitch their business in front of approximately 700 attendees and receive feedback from a panel of experienced judges. The competition winner and runner-up will be awarded cash prizes of $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

The top 20 shortlisted ventures will also have the opportunity to showcase their companies at the Startup Fair to network and interact with distinguished panellists and conference attendees. 

The New Venture Competition will coincide with a conference, featuring keynote speakers such as Agnes Binagwaho, a Rwandan paediatrician who served as the Minister of Health of Rwanda for 5 years. She has also led the National AIDS Control Commission, served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In the meantime, she is also a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, and a Professor of the Practice of Global Health Delivery at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda.