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The Afri-Plastics Challenge reveals the 15 finalists of strand 1 & 25 semi-finalists for Strand 2. 

Accelerating Growth: Meet the 15 Finalists for Strand 1!

These finalists have been selected from 30 semi-finalist teams announced in November 2021. Each has already received grants of £10,000 to grow their ideas and demonstrate their scalability in advance of judging. The 15 finalists will now receive a further £100,000 each to advance their solutions to plastic waste management. In addition to financial support, they will receive expert advice and capacity building in the fields of plastic management, human-centered design, market readiness and communications.

Three winners will be announced in March 2023 – first place will be awarded £1 million, second place will be awarded £750,000 and third place will be awarded £500,000.

Creating Solutions: Meeting the 25 Semi-Finalists for Strand 2!

In addition to the 15 finalists in the Accelerating Growth strand, the Afri-Plastics Challenge has selected the 25 semi-finalists in the Creating Solutions strand.

Each semi-finalist will be supported with a £25,000 grant and additional expert support to develop and validate their solutions. From these semi-finalists, 10 finalists will be selected in June 2022. 

Solutions through to the semi-finals of Strand 2 come from across sub-Saharan Africa, with many developing plant- and nature-based alternatives to plastics in everything from food packaging to construction materials. Several semi-finalists are developing sustainable and plastic-free sanitary products for women and others are working on safe drinking water alternatives that don’t rely on single-use plastic bottles.