Competitions

GBSN is pleased to present the 5th annual Africa Business Concept Challenge, 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).

Registration is Open through March 22, 2026.

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.

How can we inspire the business leaders of today – and tomorrow – to help accelerate the transition to a nature-positive economy and secure a sustainable future for all?

We are supporting the Accounting for Sustainability International Case Competition (A4SICC) to try and do just that. Today’s business and accounting students will have to manage a wide range of sustainability challenges upon entering the workforce. To succeed, and more importantly, to help shape and drive a sustainable economy, these students will require both theoretical and practical sustainability skills. Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) aims to address this knowledge gap – join us in supporting the competition!

What is the competition?

Established in 2018, A4SICC provides an opportunity for business and accounting students to develop and apply their skills to solve sustainability challenges in a commercial environment – supporting us all to transition to a sustainable economy. By engaging students in how we can solve pressing global problems, we are equipping them with the tools and skills to meet the social and environmental challenges ahead.

For the 2026 competition, students are invited to select one of the world’s 2,000 most influential companies from the World Benchmarking Alliance SDG2000 list and build the business case for nature, analysing how the company both depends on and impacts the natural environment.

Students can register their interest now and get access to resources to support their entry. The entry window will open on 3 November 2025 and close on 14 December 2025.

Get your students involved

A4SICC offers your students a transformative and practical learning experience as well as the chance to: 

• Travel to Toronto, Canada for the face-to-face finals
• Win a cash prize of CA$10,000 (winning team) or CA$5,000 (runner-up)!
• Access the internships linked to the competition
• Cultivate critical skills for sustainable business development
• Connect with industry leaders
• Contribute to the advancement of sustainable business practices

You can find an overview of the competition and links to easy-to-use templates to excite and engage your students in this A4SICC Communications Deck. Watching the video from A4SICC 2025  is a great way to get a feel for the competition. 

Find out more on the A4S website here, or contact the A4SICC team at a4sicc@a4s.org to get involved.

Participate in the virtual innovation laboratory and transform data into solutions for the challenges of the National Financial System.

About LIFT DATA

LIFT DATA is an open innovation program that promotes the development of technological solutions based on the analysis of public data . Created by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) in partnership with FENASBAC, the program challenges companies, data scientists, developers and experts to create solutions for issues relevant to society, related to the dimensions of the BC# Agenda.

In its first edition, LIFT DATA focuses on data-driven solutions for sustainability and green finance challenges.

Data to Finance and Monitor Sustainability and Climate Action

The climate crisis is one of the biggest global challenges of our time, and innovation plays a fundamental role in the search for effective solutions. Public data, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and machine learning can transform the way we monitor, finance and drive sustainable action.

LIFT DATA 2025 was created with the purpose of fostering innovation and promoting the intelligent use of data to face these challenges. In its first edition, the program will be aligned with the debates and goals of COP30, the UN conference on climate change that will be held in Brazil in November 2025.

How it Works: The LIFT DATA Journey

Register your project until 04/13

The proponent must choose one of the 3 proposed categories, aligned with the central pillars of COP30: 1) Emissions Reduction and Low Carbon Transition; 2) Financing for Adaptation, Resilience and Climate Justice; and 3) Preservation of Forests and Biodiversity or the transversal challenge of Rural Credit and submit their project through this link.

IMPORTANT: The proponent must use a dataset from among the Suggested Public Databases, or other additional databases that fit the LIFT Data objective, to create a technological solution related to the chosen category.

Project Selection Will Take Place Until 04/29

Up to 5 projects will be selected to be developed per category and up to 5 projects in the transversal category, totaling a maximum of 20 selected projects.

Development of Solutions Within 3 Months

Proponents will have 3 months to develop their solutions, and may benefit from remote mentoring by interested market experts. The goal of the mentoring is to provide guidance and make the process inclusive and participatory.

Evaluation & Announcement of Winners at Event 3F, October 9th

After the development of the projects is complete, the finalist projects will be evaluated and the most outstanding ones will be chosen as winners, with up to one winner for each category and, optionally, one more for the transversal category. The winning projects may be presented at COP30.

Following the success of the first edition, Innova Europe 2024 kicks off, calling students and alumni from major European business schools to identify innovative ideas and projects within the framework of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under the banner “Welcome to INNOVA Europe: Shaping tomorrow’s solutions today!”  the competition was one of the standout initiatives of 2023, so much so that at the recent AMBA and BGA Excellence Awards, among the awards celebrating excellence in the business school ecosystem, it was “highly commended”.

Innova Europe’s Growth: from Three to Ten Business Schools involved

Building on these results, the lineup of business schools participating in Innova Europe has expanded from three to ten Business School involved: so alongside POLIMI Graduate School of Management our school, which led the way last year, and together with EDHEC Business School (Lille, Nice, and Paris), ESMT Berlin, we now have Aalto University School of Business (Helsinki), IE Business School (Madrid), Imperial College Business School (London), Kozminski University (Warsaw), KSE Graduate Business School (Kyiv), Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Rotterdam) and UCD Smurfit School (Dublin). This year, the role of standard bearer falls to ESMT. The first round of the competition is a national phase, so for Italian students it will take place at our campus.

Prizes and Opportunities: from an Idea to a Concrete Project

Every winner of the national phase will be guided by their mentor to face the challenge in September against winners from other countries. The final will take place in Paris at Station F, the renowned French incubator. In addition to an Idea Stage, there is an MVP Stage with a winning prize of €20,000 and the opportunity to be mentored at a prestigious business incubator.

Sustainability is an International Challenge

Innova Europe represents a unique opportunity to transform ideas into concrete projects, actively contributing to a sustainable future. This challenge goes beyond individual entities; sustainability is a theme that concerns everyone. Therefore, it is even more significant that the challenge involves business schools from many countries. Not only does it facilitate a stimulating international exchange of ideas, but it also provides the chance to see the winning idea transformed into a tangible reality.
It’s an unmissable opportunity for those who aspire to shape the future through innovative and sustainable solutions.
Register now at Innova Europe and contribute to shaping tomorrow with your revolutionary ideas. The challenge is open, and the future is waiting to be written by brilliant minds like yours!

The 2024 International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition (IBESCC) will be a hybrid competition held online and on the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) campus during the week of April 8-12.

Teams of 3-5 students, graduate or undergraduate, compete in 3 competitions during the event: 

• The 25 Minute Competition, in which teams will present their chosen business problem, an analysis of the ethical, sustainable, legal and financial aspects of a problem, and a viable solution on all fronts.
• The 10 Minute Competition, in which teams will incorporate the suggestions from judges during the 25-minute presentation to give a 10-minute presentation expanding on the ethical aspect of the problem.
• The 90 Second Competition, in which teams will give an elevator pitch explaining the importance of the sustainability component of the problem.

The online divisions will compete on April 8 and 9. IBESCC staff will work with each team to find a presentation time, accommodating schedules in different time zones. The in-person competition will convene April 10-12 in Los Angeles on the LMU campus. The winners for all divisions will be announced on the evening of Friday, April 12 at the Awards Ceremony, which will be live-streamed.

Registration for graduate and undergraduate teams is open until February 19, 2024.

Registration information and fees can be found on the 2024 Registration and Deadlines page. More details about the competition can be found in the Competition Overview and Additional Information pages.

If you have questions or would like to request financial aid to reduce or waive the registration fee, please contact us at ibes@lmu.edu or call Chiray Koo at (213)-268-0789.

This competition offers a unique chance to gain valuable skills, collaborate with peers, and create a positive impact in your community. Don’t miss out on this challenge to shape a brighter future. Good luck!

The Task

Design the energy infrastructure for a community of 2,000 families, each supported by the combined salaries of a nurse and a schoolteacher. Your design must be affordable, reliable, and sustainable, aiming to enhance community lives with clean, safe, and efficient energy access. No “professional” design experience needed!

The Design Challenge

The “Power the Community” design competition challenges student teams worldwide to design a livable community for 2,000 or more families. To succeed in this challenge, teams must take an integrative, cross-disciplinary approach to community infrastructure and housing design, focusing on achieving great living underpinned by affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy supply. 

​The competition is about integrating innovative approaches to energy and energy infrastructure at the community level. The scope includes how the community accesses energy sources, their distribution, and how families use energy in their homes. 

​The competition also requires designing a prototypical residence that exemplifies the community’s energy and sustainability practices in daily living. The residence should be affordable, energy-efficient, sustainable, and meet the local community’s needs.

​Additionally, teams can consider aspects of community planning, such as people transportation, water, and waste management, public spaces, etc.. Still, the primary focus should be energy use and infrastructure during daily living in the planned community.

Team Eligibility

• Teams may form ad hoc and need not be officially sponsored by a university, or their university can sponsor them. 
• Each team should have a team name and indicate their location, such as their university.
• Teams can decide on the number of teammates themselves. 
• Team members may include undergraduate students, graduate students, and persons who are not degree candidates. 
• Teams may draw on the knowledge and advice from any resources they wish. However, faculty and working professionals should not contribute to directly producing results and deliverables.

Submission Guidelines

• The community should be designed for approximately 2000 or more families. 
• A typical family consists of around four people, plus or minus.
• While the community could have a full range of income and assets, the target family should be able to afford housing and living expenses based on two employed adults: one being a nurse in a large hospital and the other a high school teacher. 
• Consider that a typical family may have two young children, plus or minus, who could be of different genders and who will live in the housing unit from birth through high school. 
• All components of the conceptual design must be available for purchase from worldwide sourcing as of the competition submission deadline.
• The community design should consider access to food/groceries, drug, and other retail stores, manufacturing, offices, medical care, social meeting spaces, recreation, places of worship, etc. Such need not be provided within the new community, and if not, the design should consider people and supply chain flow.

Submission Deadline

May 15, 2024. That gives you ample time to brainstorm and refine your solution. The winning team receives a US$10,000 grand prize and the chance to showcase their design to industry experts. The total prize pool is US$31,000, rewarding the best submissions.

The Partners

UC Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The American University in Cairo’s School of Business kickstarted the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) in 2010, a pioneering initiative in the MENA region. EIP played a vital role in spotlighting entrepreneurship’s impact on economic development, contributing significantly to Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. By fostering ideation and innovation, EIP supported startups across various stages, linking them with accelerators, incubators, and investors. In 2015, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, EIP evolved into the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI). This transformation expanded its focus to include critical themes such as gender, climate, and sustainability. Over time, entrepreneurship and innovation became central concepts for achieving key objectives like financial sustainability, employment, and gender equality. CEI’s evolution demonstrates that fostering entrepreneurship and innovation as a mindset can contribute to community development. Today, CEI stands as a respected brand in the ecosystem, serving as a go-to reference for stakeholders engaging with youth, women, startups, MSMEs, and underserved communities.

African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec)

The African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec) is a pan-African collaboration of technology-focused universities from across the African continent. The creation of Afretec is a defining moment for the digital transformation of Africa. The network will build a strong knowledge creation and educational infrastructure on the continent. It will also provide a platform for its members to engage in deep collaboration that drives inclusive digital growth in Africa. The purpose of Afretec is to create a platform for technology-focused universities in Africa to drive inclusive digital growth by collaborating on teaching and learning, knowledge creation, and entrepreneurship activities within the area of engineering and technology.

Key Focus Tracks:

The Environment Track

• Regenerative agriculture and sustainable food production
• Access to reliable, green, and affordable energy sources
• Ensuring clean water and proper sanitation
• Utilizing water energy
• Food nexus applications and technologies

Social Track

• Enhancing supply chain management with added value
• Implementing sustainable waste management practices
• Considering population and resource dynamics
• Evaluating the impact of developmental projects on communities
• Exploring other social impact avenues

Economic Track

• Designing eco-friendly products through eco-design
• Exploring shared economy models
• Exploring other economic innovations

General Track

This track includes any other ideas that are related to the main competition theme, but does not fit perfectly in any of the first 3 tracks.

Objective & Rationale

The goal is to positively impact the planetary boundaries (PBs), considering factors like climate change, biodiversity, and more. The nine planetary boundaries are:

1. Climate Change: Measures carbon dioxide concentration impacting global temperatures.
2. Biodiversity Loss: Focuses on species extinction, vital for ecosystem health.
3. Biogeochemical Flows: Tracks nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, critical for ecosystems.
4. Ocean Acidification: 5-Absorption of excess carbon dioxide makes oceans more acidic, affecting marine life.
5. Land-System Change: Concerns land conversion for human use, impacting habitats and biodiversity.
6. Freshwater Use: Addresses consumption impacting rivers, lakes, and aquifers, affecting ecosystems and communities.
7. Atmospheric Aerosol Loading: Involves microscopic particles affecting climate and organisms.
8. Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: Protects the ozone layer, crucial for filtering harmful UV radiation.
9. Novel Entities: Involves chemicals, new materials, and organisms with potential irreversible effects on Earth’s systems, including pollutants like plastics and genetically modified organisms.

Therefore, the students are encouraged to create prototypes and proof of concept for products, services, and systems that address critical issues in pollution, ecosystem degradation, social injustice, and climate change impacts.

Description

The William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan (WDI) cordially invites you to enter their competition and submit your academic business case study about a novel product or service technology appropriate for a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) setting that contributes toward improving, maintaining or monitoring the health of a given population.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development and adoption of health technology in LMICs, including telehealth, remote monitoring, health data management, more efficient vaccine distribution, and digital literacy, among other innovations. According to a 2023 report from the World Bank, investment in digital solutions that improve access, value and affordability and value are critical for managing and delivering high-quality healthcare. According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the emergence of  technologies in artificial intelligence, sensor networks, mobile communications, and bioengineering could be transformative to human health, especially in LMICs.

WDI Publishing is proud to offer a competition aimed at increasing the number of academic business cases available about this very important topic.

Why enter? Winning cases receive cash prizes and will be professionally published and distributed via WDI Publishing.

Please see our Submission Requirements for more information.

Competition Objectives

• Encourage and reward the development of new business case studies that focus on novel health-related technology innovation appropriate for low- and middle-income country settings.
• Publish higher education case studies that will help develop the necessary student critical thinking skills regarding the unique health-related technology needs of LMICs.
• Accelerate global knowledge of novel health-related technology innovations being implemented by businesses in LMICs.

Requirements

• Individual students or student teams (graduate or undergraduate) and other professionals may enter, but must enter in collaboration with a faculty member or instructor from an accredited university/college, in the U.S. or internationally.
• Individual faculty/instructors or teams from an accredited university/college (in the U.S. or internationally) may also enter.

Key Dates

• Jan 17, 2024 (10am-11am EST): “Competition Overview & Case Writing Tips”REGISTER NOW
• Jan 31, 2024: Intent-to-Enter forms due.
• March 15, 2024: Final submission documents due.
• July 2024: Public announcement of winners.

How to Enter

• Review Submission Requirements, as well as Resources.
• Review Frequently Asked Questions.
• Submit online Intent-to-Enter Form by Jan 31, 2024.
• Submit online Submission Form and final documents by March 15, 2024.