Ten leading African entrepreneurs have received funding to expand their businesses after reaching the final stage of the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition. The awards were presented during a ceremony held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at the Kigali Convention Center, marking the conclusion of the seventh edition of the competition. Africa’s Business Heroes is an initiative of the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy, launched under Alibaba’s broader program to support African entrepreneurs and promote job creation across the continent. This year’s competition attracted mor

Ten leading African entrepreneurs have received funding to expand their businesses after reaching the final stage of the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition. The awards were presented during a ceremony held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at the Kigali Convention Center, marking the conclusion of the seventh edition of the competition. Africa’s Business Heroes is an initiative of the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy, launched under Alibaba’s broader program to support African entrepreneurs and promote job creation across the continent. This year’s competition attracted more than 32,000 applications, from which 10 finalists were selected. Tanzanian entrepreneur Diana Orembe, founder and Chief Executive Officer of NovFeed, a company that produces animal feed, particularly fish feed, emerged as the overall winner. Orembe said her company collects organic waste from households and markets and processes it into fish feed. The initiative aims to reduce dependence on imported fish feed, cut food waste, and limit the use of industrial fertilizers. “I thank Jack Ma and his partners for choosing Africa and supporting entrepreneurs on the continent,” she said. “This funding will help us create more jobs and establish additional fish feed production facilities.” Orembe received $300,000 in prize money. Kenyan Abraham Mbuthia, founder of technology services firm Uzapoint Technologies, finished second and was awarded $250,000. South African Adriaan Kruger, founder of NuvoteQ, a research-driven healthcare services company, placed third and received $150,000. The remaining seven finalists each received $100,000. They included Kenyans Wyclife Onyango, founder of the digital transport and ticketing company BuuPass, and Janet Kuteli, who runs the financial services firm Fortune Credit. Rwanda was represented by Diane Mukasahaha, the founder of DIKAM Ltd, a clothing manufacturing company, while Tanzania was also represented by Baraka Chijenga, founder of the agribusiness firm Kilimo Fresh Foods Africa. Other finalists who received $100,000 were Senegalese Siny Samba, founder of Le Lionceau, a child nutrition company; Egyptian entrepreneur Gohar Said, owner of the food distribution company Suplyd; and Cameroonian Jean Lobe Lobe, founder of Waspito, a technology-enabled healthcare services company.

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