NEF 5th Africa Energy Innovation Competition 2020 for Early-stage Energy Entrepreneurs (USD $5,000 prize)

Deadline: January 30, 2020

Applications are invited for the NEF 5th Africa Energy Innovation Competition 2020. The Challenge is set to advance the sustainability of early-stage energy firms across Africa. The aim is to develop clean, innovative and bankable energy services for households and businesses, based on low-carbon technologies.

This competition challenges early-stage energy entrepreneurs from Africa to collaborate with local research institutions or industries to develop a prototype model of a key device/equipment for a social energy enterprise or energy management system using local resources.

Benefits

Winners of the competition get the opportunity to:

• • Pitch their proposed solution/service/prototype model at the 2020 Nigeria Energy Forum, in Lagos, Nigeria, using a poster and short video.
  • Benefit from unique networking opportunities with other young leaders as well as some of the most senior decision makers in government, international development, academia, and the private sector.

• Attend business development workshops, receive support from start-up incubators and
• Receive a cash prize comprising grants or equity investments of up to USD $5,000 to demonstrate or scale the proposed solution.

Eligibility

• • Young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 years from Africa are invited to participate in the competition and nominate a relevant local research institution or organization.
  • Applications may be submitted by a team of up to three people.

• At least 1 member of the team must be from the local research institution or industry.
• Teams may be formed across different schools, institutions, companies, countries etc. Individuals or teams may submit multiple applications.

Evaluation Criteria

The first round of submissions will be evaluated using the following attributes:

• • Local Content: utilize local resources, demonstrate use of local expertise, alternative energy services or efficient solutions for powering agriculture, education, healthcare, industries etc.; and be significant enough to impact large numbers of people, households and/or businesses.
  • Originality and creativity: present solutions that are original, creative in areas that are either underdeveloped or severely underdeveloped in research and literature.

• Commercial Viability: proposed prototype model should be realistic, practical rather than just theory, cost efficient and outline commercial arrangements that address obvious roadblocks, using a specific prototype model.
• Clarity: ideas should be presented in a clear and concise manner with realistic completion timeline.

Application

Your proposed prototype model submission must not exceed 1-side of an A4 page and should include the following:

• Project title
• Your Solution (250 words)
• Partner Organization (s)
• Expected Impact (50 words)
• Short abstract (50 words)
• Design tools and method (50 words)
• Problem Statement (50 words)
• Estimated costs and timeline (50 words)

Submissions must be in Microsoft Word or PDF format and sent by email to [email protected].

• The subject line of the email should follow the format: [Country] Title of the Project.
• Submissions that exceed the word count may be disqualified.

Shortlisted submissions would be invited to participate in the final round by submitting a 1-page poster to summarize their design, with a detailed budget, 2-page Design Brief, and a Short 2-minute video to describe a prototype model of the proposed solution