The Wharton Africa Business Plan Competition

**Phase I submission due October 27**

Register and submit here

The 2007 Wharton Africa Business Plan Competition (WABPC) Finals will take place on Saturday November 10, 2007. The competition will be a key component of the 2007 Wharton Africa Business Forum and is organized to promote entrepreneurship in Africa. The intent of program is to link entrepreneurs with African business ideas to prospective investors such as banks, advice and investments toward the implementation of their business Idea.

The WABPC is organized in 3 phases. In Phase I, applicants submit an executive summary of their business plan

which will be reviewed for admission into Phase II by a group of professionals from the consulting or the investment world. In Phase II, the 6 admitted applicants from Phase I will pitch their business concept to a group of bankers, venture capitalists and private equity investors: The top 3 best ventures win predetermined prizes. In Phase III, follow up advice and funding is provided to co-opted ventures by investors and other professionals on their sole discretion. Finalists are eligible to win up to $3,000 in prizes.

Technoserve's - Believe, Begin, Become

Believe Begin Become is a Business Plan Competition developed by TechnoServe to support and grow new businesses. It is an incentivized, practical training and business development program to help entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into fundable and implementable business plans.

Over the past four years TechnoServe has run 9 national business competitions in Central America, and last year brought the BPC to Africa in Ghana and Swaziland. Since 2002 TechnoServe’s BPCs have helped launch or expand 205 businesses that have generated over $10 million in additional revenues and created more than 1200 new jobs.

The approach catalyzes the creation and expansion of profitable and competitive small and medium-scale (SME) enterprises—a vital engine of growth, jobs and income in the developing world. BPCs also create a vehicle for local financial institutions to provide access to capital, and build momentum for SME development, spurring governments into action.