100 Young African Entrepreneurs to be Rewarded with Cash Prizes, Others at TotalEnergies’ Centenary

Peter Uzoho

One hundred young innovative entrepreneurs from across 32 African countries including Nigeria will be recognized and rewarded via three prize categories in the fourth edition of the TotalEnergies Startupper of the Year Challenge which will coincide with the oil giant’s 100th anniversary.
This follows the success of the first three editions, where in the 2021/2022 Startupper of the Year Challenge in Nigeria, three young Nigerian entrepreneurs were recognised and rewarded by the company.

Announcing the new edition of the Challenge, which kicked off yesterday, during a virtual media briefing, the Country Communications Manager, TotalEnergies Companies in Nigeria, Dr. Charles Ebereonwu, said the fourth edition reaffirmed TotalEnergies’ commitment to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship and supporting the socio-economic development of African countries in which the company is present.

Ebereonwu said: “The Challenge strengthens the social fabric in local communities by helping the continent’s most innovative entrepreneurs carry out their projects. In all, 365 winners – selected from among some 40,000 applications received – have been rewarded and supported worldwide since 2015.
“For this 2024/2025 edition of the Challenge, TotalEnergies will support, and reward young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35 living in Nigeria who have a business creation project or a startup under three years old, in any business sector.
“A local jury comprised of experts, business leaders, startup ecosystem participants, local sustainability stakeholders and representatives from TotalEnergies Nigeria will select three winners.”

For the categories being contested for, he explained that there is Innov’Up winner, for the best entrepreneur; Cycle’Up winner, for the best project relating to the circular economy; Power’Up winner, for the best project relating to sustainable, affordable energy.

He noted that four additional projects in the Power’Up category will be selected by an international jury.
The company’s spokesman mentioned that all project entries will be assessed against four criteria including Relevance to sustainable development challenges; Innovation; Feasibility and development potential; and Respect for gender equality and inclusion of women in the project.

“Each winner will become a ‘Startupper of the Year by TotalEnergies’ and will benefit from a monetary award of N8,000,000.00 (eight million Naira), personalized support and a communication campaign to enhance their project’s visibility.
“Winners will also have the opportunity to promote their projects during a celebratory event, the details of which will be released at a later date.

“Registration opens on 13th May, 2024 directly online at http://startupper.totalenergies.com Applicants will then have until 18th June, 2024 to complete their applications”, Ebereonwu added.