Annual entrepreneurs fete to feature East African companies

The fifth edition of the Founder of the Year Awards (Foya) will this year feature entrepreneurs from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

This is the first time the award, started in 2016 to empower young entrepreneurs, will be expanding beyond Kenya’s boundaries.

It will run under the theme “Have It All” and it will involve 28-categories. Foya founder and CEO Innocent Moranga said the expnasion will increase the quality of nominees.

“With each edition, Foya has grown from strength to strength, attracting entrepreneurs across various disciplines and providing outstanding solutions to challenges that we face daily in our quest for growth,” Mr Moranga said.

Some of the categories in this year’s edition are real estate, fashion, education, information communication technology (ICT), and entertainment.

He added that the extension will also see an increase in network of entrepreneurs, partners and sponsors.

“The categories will accommodate nominees who are under 30 and above 40 and we expect more than 5,000 entrepreneurs and support system actors to attend the award ceremony in July 2020,” he added.

Eligible entrepreneurs have until February 14 to submit nominations. Mr Moranga added that this year’s event is also aimed at motivating young people to start their own businesses.

In last year’s edition, its online nominees voting platform saw more than 49,000 users.

Some of the winners were Mkamboi Mwakale (Most Prominent Founder of the Year) and Ivy Nitta (Over 30 Social Founder of the Year).