Apply: African App Launchpad Initiative 2019 for Young African Startups

The President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, announced the African App Launchpad initiative within the closing ceremony of the World Youth Forum (WYF) 2018 on Nov 6, 2018 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The African App Launchpad (AAL) initiative is an Africa-wide platform aiming to build capacity of Egyptian and African youth and foster establishment of sustainable Egyptian and African startups in the area of the advanced ever-changing app and game technologies.

AAL targets building capacity of ten thousand learners and establishing one hundred startups. AAL works by availing a high-quality, technology-learning online platform through crowd-sourcing top online content developed by prestigious universities and leading companies, and delivered through three leading MOOCs; Coursera, edX, and Udacity.

Objectives:

Building capacity and certifying young African calibers on the recent advances in app and game technologies.
Supporting the creation of job and business opportunities for the African youth through wage employment, freelancing, and startup establishment.
Increasing the competitiveness of African ICT companies by availing an abundant talent pool.
Forming Africa-wide learning networks in leading technologies to act as a platform for fostering technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

Eligibility:

Citizens of each participating African state can submit their application through the initiative website currently being developed.
Applicants are accepted as learners subject to fulfilling the following criteria:
1. Higher-education graduate of year 2006 or after or about to graduate in the next two years.
2. Good knowledge of essential ICT technologies as proven by
  - University degree in ICT specialization.
  - Min 5-year work track in ICT proven by stamped reference letters and approved by the corresponding African state’s focal point
  - Min 6-month international training record in software technologies proven by formal certificates and approved by the corresponding African state’s focal point.
3. In case of limited seats, priority is given to those with a university degree than to those with work experience or to those with training record.

Benefits:

Free top-quality learning track in one of the advanced app and game technologies.
Prestigious international certificate after successfully completing the learning track.
Potential chance to attend a local learning group to experience cross learning and discuss the business impact of the underlying technologies.
Opportunity to join startup competitions where each winning startup is awarded USD 2K in additional to possible seed fund or incubation service.
Being informed of Africa-wide employment opportunities.