MTN Backs Eco-Entrepreneurship as Africa’s Key to Resilient Growth

MTN is betting on Africa’s young innovators to tackle the continent’s most pressing sustainability challenges, expanding its flagship eco-entrepreneurship platform, the Africa PachiPanda Challenge, to five countries this year.

Launched in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Challenge empowers youth-led ventures to design solutions at the intersection of food, energy, and water security. The 2025 edition, themed “Nourishing Tomorrow: Innovations for Food, Energy and Water Security,” will run in Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Cameroon, and, for the first time, Uganda.

MTN Group said the initiative reflects its belief that technology, connectivity and youth innovation are the continent’s most powerful levers of change. “Through PachiPanda, we are building a platform where ideas can mature into enterprises, and where eco-entrepreneurs can be recognised as leaders of Africa’s green and digital transformation,” the company said in a statement.

The programme comes against a backdrop of mounting climate and resource pressures. According to MTN, one in five Africans still face hunger despite the continent’s vast uncultivated farmland; more than 600 million people lack reliable electricity access; and by 2030, water demand in many African cities is projected to exceed supply by 40%.

Uganda’s inclusion is significant, MTN noted, given the country’s exposure to both floods and droughts that threaten agricultural livelihoods. Local environmental challenge statements will guide participants to develop scalable yet context-specific solutions, ranging from renewable energy in Cameroon to water conservation in South Africa and resilience-driven food systems in Uganda.

The Challenge has already gained traction. In 2024, it drew 2,484 applications, producing 53 finalists across participating countries. The overall winner, Cameroon’s Moses Afopezi, developed AgricFresh, a platform to reduce post-harvest losses through professionalised farm management and improved market access. Judges praised the project for its scalability and measurable impact.

Beyond funding, MTN said the initiative offers mentorship, skills training, and networks to ensure ideas move beyond prototypes. The company also stressed the role of enabling policies in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and water management to support scale-up across value chains.

“This is an investment for a sustainable future that works,” MTN said. “By nourishing tomorrow, these young innovators are not only feeding families, powering homes, and conserving water, they are also strengthening Africa’s competitiveness in a world where sustainability is fast becoming a driver of trade, capital flows, and consumer choice.”

Read More