The Afri-Plastics Challenge reveals the 30 semi-finalists of strand 1, Accelerate Growth

The Challenge’s Judging Panel has selected 30 semi-finalist from across Sub-Saharan Africa – Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda. to move forward in the next phase of the challenge.

In July 2021, the Afri-Plastics Challenge announced a call for applications from small and medium enterprises across Sub-Saharan Africa who have a scalable solution or proof of concept that improves plastic waste management in a socially and environmentally responsible way. The shortlisted semi-finalist solutions address the reduction of plastic waste within the wider plastics value chain by reducing marine plastic litter in ways that aim to positively impact their communities.

What’s next for the Semi-Finalists?

In November 2021, the 30 semi-finalists will take part in a Digital Activation Workshop where they will be introduced to a capacity-building support package that will include expert mentoring in the following key areas: Innovation, Plastics, Market-Orientation and Narrative-Building. This will be followed by six weeks of further capacity building support with these mentors to help consolidate plans for scaling solutions. 

The semi-finalists will also be given grants of £10,000 each to support in the development and validation of their scaling plans. At the end of this phase, they will be required to submit a detailed scaling plan together with a pitch video for evaluation by the judges against the criteria. At the end of January 2022, 15 finalists will be selected to move forward in the Challenge and continue their journey to win one of the three final prizes.