African entrepreneurs under the age of 22 have until April 15 to submit applications for the fifth Anzisha Prize, which aims to identify Africa’s most exciting young social and business entrepreneurs.

This year, the prize is bigger to provide increased support for entrepreneurial youth and partner organisations in driving Pan-African economic growth to 2020.

There are more than 600-million people under the age of 25 in Africa and the Anzisha Prize is a growing social-impact programme focused on accelerating the entry of millions of young Africans into viable and exciting entrepreneurship opportunities within high-growth economic sectors.

The impact of the programme, to date, has encouraged cohosts the African Leadership Academy and the MasterCard Foundation to extend their collaboration for another five years.

The Anzisha Prize will be a feature of the entrepreneur landscape in Africa until 2020 and will work to not only encourage young entrepreneurs, but also strengthen and celebrate the ecosystem of organisations that develop young African entrepreneurial talent.

MasterCard Foundation president and CEO Reeta Roy says in a statement that Africa needs strong, innovative entrepreneurial young leaders to create jobs, solve problems and drive economies, and adds that the continent’s future will be determined by entre-preneurial leaders across all sectors.

“We’re excited about expanding our support of the Anzisha Prize so that many more young entrepreneurs in Africa can make a lasting impact in their communities and countries,” notes Roy.

Each year, 12 finalists win a two-week trip to South Africa for a learning experience at the African Leadership Academy and share over $75 000 in cash funding.

The grand prize winner is announced at a gala dinner and receives $25 000 to grow his or her business.

From this year, Anzisha Fellows will be actively supported through the recently launched Youth Entrepreneur Support Unit (YES-U), based at the African Leadership Academy, which collab-orates with business incubators on the continent.

Mentorship, consulting services, community gatherings and travel opportunities will define the fellow experience as they grow their business ventures. New programmes that focus on and invest into other areas of the youth entrepreneur value chain will be announced soon.

“There are few programmes with the reach and potential of the Anzisha Prize that are as focused on this age group.”