A Madagascan Agric-entrepreneur just won the $25,000 grand prize

Heritiaina Randriamananatahina, a 22-year old agriculture entrepreneur, has emerged as the winner of the 2016 Anzisha Grand Prize for African youth entrepreneurship.

Heritiaina, who is from Madagascar, is the founder of Fiombonana, an agro-processing enterprise that makes diary products and confectioneries using only raw materials sourced from Madagascar and employing local farmers too.

The first runner-up of the competition is environmental entrepreneur Yaye Souadou Fall, a 21-year old entrepreneur from Senegal who got a cash prize of $15, 000.

N'guessan Koffi Jacques Olivier, a 19-year old from Cote D'Ivoire, emerged as the second runner up with a prize of $12,500.

ALSO READ: Applications, nominations now open, $100,000 up for grabs

Grand prize winner, Heritiaina impressed the pan-African panel of judges with his startup which solved a real need in his community, effective business model, job-creation potential, scalability and his unique leadership qualities, according to a statement from the organisers.

“I am so excited to win the Anzisha Prize for 2016, even though I had to drop out of school when I was in grade six. My hard work in my business is paying off. I appreciate the training I have already received so far. Now that I have won, I will invest in my own education and grow my business,” says Heritiaina.

The Anzisha Prize is the result of a partnership between the African Leadership Academy and The MasterCard Foundation. The 12 finalists for the Anzisha Prize were handpicked from a pool of over 500 entrepreneurs across 32 African countries.