GBSN is pleased to present the 5th annual Africa Business Concept Challenge (ABCC), a virtual business concept competition for African undergraduate and graduate students. The competition challenges student teams to develop a viable business concept that addresses a locally relevant challenge or problem related to Agenda 2063 and inclusive and sustainable development as outlined by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Africa Business Concept Challenge intends to assist young people from the African continent who have an entrepreneurial orientation and a desire to serve their community. With a focus on promoting responsible business, the competition identifies high-potential young people for mentorship and investment.
Eligibility: At least two members from each team must be currently enrolled at an African institution of learning, training, or development. GBSN membership is not required to participate. Each team must have a faculty mentor, who must also be from one of the represented African institutions. There is no charge to participate in the competition.
New for 2025: Participants will receive lifetime access to the Ennova platform, developed and run by the African Development Bank. The Ennova platform is powerful resource designed to help you kickstart and scale your entrepreneurial journey. With tailored opportunities, expert resources, and valuable networks, the African Development Bank’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Lab is here to support and empower the next generation of African business leaders. This is an exciting opportunity for students to access a world-class platform designed to support and empower aspiring entrepreneurs!
The Challenge
ABCC is a student challenge for teams of 2–5 students (ideally interdisciplinary) to identify and tackle a local challenge aligned with sustainable development goals. Together with a mentor that the student team will select, the team will develop a solid, viable business concept to address that challenge. The competition emphasizes collaborative learning and support among participants. This competition aims to foster innovative and impactful solutions to local sustainability challenges while providing students with valuable entrepreneurial and collaborative skills.
How it Works
Register your team
Establish a team of two to five members. We encourage you to form an interdisciplinary team! Each team must also have a mentor to work with. Mentors will help guide teams and enrich the learning experience. The ABCC is not just a competition but an opportunity for mutual support.
Identify a local challenge
Identify a locally relevant community need or challenge related to Agenda 2063 and sustainable development as outlined in the SDGs. Frame the problem or need and develop a creative, viable, practical business concept to address that community need or challenge.
Develop your solution
Develop a unique and implementable business concept and show how it can be applied in a specific, local context. Demonstrate your business concept through multiple phases of project development, incorporating feedback from an Investor Expert who will evaluate your work.
Deliverables
Student teams will engage in a phased project development process where their business concepts are evaluated and scored by a designated Investor Expert, who delivers critical feedback to improve their business concepts. To be accepted, projects must properly identify and define a local challenge and a business idea that addresses the problem.
Each phase will request specific information. Faculty mentors should be working with students throughout the phases. The top 5 projects will advance to the final round.
Competition Activities
Problem Statement
Your team will identify and describe either a deficiency, dysfunction, or a gap between the current state of a challenge or need and the desired one for a product, service, production process, infrastructure, etc. Good problem statements are centered on the product users and get to questions about what, why, when, and how they are affected or impacted.
Industry Analysis
Using consumer research to develop the problem definition, a good business concept also depends on having a solid understanding of the potential overall demand for what the product/service offers or does differently. It is also important to consider the industry dynamics and barriers, including comparable businesses, their geographies, relative sizes, strengths, etc.
Concept Illustration
Your concept illustration should clearly describe/illustrate how your business concept will be introduced. You will address key questions such as: how does your business concept improve society? How does it relate to one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What is the source of competitive advantage?
Go-to-Market Plan
Getting to market requires an integrated plan describing how, when, and where you’ll implement and deliver your concept. For example, how will you reach your target audience? How will you deliver on the promise offered by the concept? The go-to-market plan shows how the concept will be implemented, sold, distributed, and protected.
Written Report
Your team will prepare and submit your final business concept, incorporating feedback provided by the Investor Expert after delivery of your materials in each stage of the competition. This will be the last chance to make any changes to the business concept.
Recorded Pitch
Prepare a pre-recorded pitch presentation to submit in Phase 3. Each member of the team must play a part in the pitch. Teams are free to be creative with visual aids, like graphics, slides, video footage, music, etc. The pitch should be no longer than 5 minutes. Submit a .mp4 file.
2025 Competition Key Dates and Deadlines
| March 4 | Student Team/Investor Expert Application Deadline 9:00AM EST / 3:00PM CET and WAT / 4:00PM SAST / 5:00PM EAT |
| March 7 | Investor Expert Networking/Q&A Session 9:00AM EST / 3:00PM CET and WAT / 4:00PM SAST / 5:00PM EAT |
| March 12 | ABCC Kick-Off Session (Virtual) 9:00AM EDT / 2:00PM CET and WAT / 3:00PM SAST / 4:00PM EAT |
| March 12-26 | Student Teams Phase 1: Problem Statement + Industry Analysis FOCUS March 12-19 Student Teams Phase 2: Concept Illustration + Go-to-Market FOCUS March 19-26 |
| March 26 | Student Teams Written Report Submission DEADLINE: Wednesday, March 26 at 9:00 AM EDT / 2:00PM WAT / 3:00PM CEST and SAST / 4:00PM EAT |
| April 9 | Student Teams Final Submission and Recorded Pitch DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 9 at 9:00 AM EDT / 2:00PM WAT / 3:00PM CEST and SAST / 4:00PM EAT |
| April 22-23 | Top 5 Teams Live Pitches First Round 9:00-10:30 AM EDT – Apr 22, 2025 Second Round 9:00-10:30 AM EDT- Apr 23, 2025 |
| April 28-29 | Winner Announcement |
Finals Round
The top teams will be identified based on Investor Experts scores. These top teams will advance to the finals round where each team will deliver a LIVE pitch presentation to the international panel of judges. A live Q&A session will follow each pitch presentation.
LIVE Pitch Presentations & Q&A Session:
- A 10-minute video pitch delivered LIVE to a panel of judges.
- LIVE pitches will be recorded and uploaded to the GBSN competition webpage.
- All team members must participate in the LIVE pitch to qualify for the prize. Participation is defined as a minimum of 1 minute of speaking during the presentation.
- A 15-minute Q&A with the judges.
- Judge and team participation will be moderated by a GBSN staff member to keep time and ensure equal distribution of participation between judges and teams.
- The LIVE Pitch Presentation and Q&A portion will be recorded and broadcast LIVE for the public to watch.
Judging Process & Criteria
Students will be judged based on:
- Problem framing: Does the team showcase evident research in their solution development and framing of the problem? Is it a viable problem that can be solved by the solution presented? Are there new insights that were previously unknown?
- Relevance: How is the problem relevant to the SDGs/Agenda 2063? Does it make sense in the context of the community?
- Business potential: Is the solution feasible in the selected represented region? Does it include a feasible business growth model?
- Innovation: Does the team provide a convincing rationale for the actual innovation? Is the solution innovative?
- Presentation (for live pitches ONLY) Q&A: How effective and cohesive was the presentation? Are the students able to answer additional questions? Are all aspects included in the presentation?
- Additional: Style of presentation, was it well-rehearsed and easy to follow?
Registration Details
- The challenge will be virtual and take place during a 5-week period.
- Teams must consist of two to five members, and at least two must be current students at an African institution at the time of the competition. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.
- Each team must have a Captain who will handle communications with GBSN and register the team.
- Each team must have a Faculty Mentor upon registering. Mentors will help guide teams and enrich the learning experience.
NOTE: Teams are required to have a general idea of a business concept ready to complete the application form.
Investor Expert Application
GBSN welcomes applications from individuals interested in serving in this key role. The application will be live concurrently with the registration opening.
Drawing on their expertise and an investor point-of-view, Investor Experts provide critical feedback to students on early versions of their business concepts they intend to submit for the Challenge. Investor Experts can be anyone from entrepreneur practitioners and entrepreneurs-in-residence, to faculty, PhD students, researchers, and even non-African students.
Each Investor Expert can expect to be assigned multiple Student Teams to review. Investor Experts receive a digital certificate for their role in the competition and are highlighted throughout the process.
Sponsors
GBSN is grateful to the following organizations whose sponsorship funds the challenge prizes, resources, tools, etc., ensuring a meaningful virtual learning experience for each cohort of Student Teams.
Show your support by sponsoring this year’s challenge! Sponsorship will directly contribute to this year’s challenge. Sponsorships fund the challenge prizes, tools, resources, etc. that enable GBSN to build and execute a meaningful virtual learning experience for each cohort of student teams.
Stanford Seed partners with entrepreneurs from across Africa and South Asia to help them build thriving enterprises that transform lives. Stanford Seed delivers world-class business training and resources to founders and CEOs, helping them increase revenues, create jobs, and positively impact people and the planet.
Contact: Darius Teter at dteter@stanford.edu
The UConn School of Business
Established in 1941, the UConn School of Business has grown to become one of the most comprehensive business schools in the country. It provides access to a range of exciting academic programs at the bachelors, masters, doctorate and advanced certificate levels. Students can study these across four Connecticut locations – Storrs, Hartford, Stamford and Waterbury. The School of Business has established a strong reputation for high quality research, teaching, collaboration and outreach, spanning a wide array of functional disciplines, including accounting, finance, management, marketing, and operations and information management.
Purpose Driven
The UConn School of Business provides world-class research and life-transformative education to inspire next-generation innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and business talent to propel its graduates’ influence in the world of business. Globally oriented, environmentally responsible, and community-minded, the school’s students and alumni are driven to create what is next in the world, to be innovative agents of change in business and society. A committed ecosystem of faculty, researchers, staff, donors, and alumni support and contribute to a world-class educational experience for UConn students that prepares them for life’s challenges and opportunities.
Contact: Arminda Kamphausen at arminda.kamphausen@uconn.edu
GBSN also thanks past sponsors and supporters for their support in early offerings in the challenge.
Supporters
The Africa Business Concept Challenge is a multi-faceted academic opportunity, and GBSN welcomes organizations to provide their support in the form of in-kind contributions. This includes:
- Non-monetary prizes, such as academic opportunities for students, mentorship, or online certifications
- Platform support to host the competition
- Marketing support to a broader network of students and potential Advisors
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Questions?
Email programs@gbsn.org for questions or concerns.