Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) has selected 20 entrepreneurs from 12 African countries to compete in the 2026 semi-final in Nairobi on Aug. 21-22, after receiving more than 24,000 applications from across the continent.

The entrepreneurs were selected from an expanded Top 100 cohort following judging-panel interviews and due diligence, ABH, a philanthropic initiative of Alibaba Philanthropy, said. Ten will advance from the semi-final to the competition’s Top 10.

The 2026 Top 20 includes eight women, or 40% of the cohort, and represents 11 sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, climate technology, financial services, education and energy. Their businesses generated about $85 million in revenue in 2025, according to ABH.

The finalists include four entrepreneurs from Egypt, four from Kenya, two each from Nigeria and Morocco, and one each from Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Benin, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Ghana.

Egypt is represented by Farah Emara of FreshSource, a business in agricultural technology; Nour El-Assal of Tagaddod, which operates in renewable energy; Salma Tammam of healthcare company REME-D; and Ahmed Shaaban of manufacturing company Simplex.

Nigeria’s representatives are Affiong Williams of Reelfruit, a manufacturing business, and Kelvin Umechukwu of Bumpa, an enterprise software company.

Kenya has four representatives: Ikechukwu Anoke of Zuri Health, Naom Monari of Bena Care, Joseph Mungai of AceleAfrica and Louisa Gathecha of Bottle Logistics East Africa. Their businesses operate in health technology, healthcare, energy and climate technology, respectively.

Morocco’s finalists are Meriem Benabad of Z.6 or Z.SYS INC, a retail marketplace business, and Nidal Tafah of MIRRIAH, an agricultural technology company.

The remaining finalists are Samson Fentaye of Ethiopia’s Thur Biotech Manufacturing, Jess Roussos of South Africa’s BluLever Education.

David Kamugundu of Rwanda’s eFiche, Joseph Paul of Tanzania’s Dawa Mkononi, Gildas Zodome of Benin’s Bio Phyto, Appessika Adanin Laurent Koffi of Ivory Coast’s Green Agro Valley, Hagasata Rakotoson of Madagascar’s Solidis S.A and Rodney Kofi Kyei of Ghana’s Crux Global.

ABH said the selection process included interviews conducted by three-person judging panels that assessed leadership, innovation, impact, scalability and commercial strength.

It also carried out visits to each company advancing to the semi-final, while PlusVC conducted comprehensive due diligence.

The organisation said the additional checks were intended to compare information provided in applications with the businesses, teams and communities in which the entrepreneurs operate.

The semi-final will return ABH to Nairobi, which hosted the competition’s first semi-final. The event is expected to bring together entrepreneurs, investors and other business ecosystem participants, with the organisers saying a larger investor audience will attend this year.

The finalists will appear before a four-member judging panel comprising Kome Oruade-Etim, global programme manager for Acumen Angels; Wandia Gichuru, co-founder and chief executive of Vivo Fashion Group; Thomas Njeru, co-founder and chief executive of Pula Advisors and a 2023 ABH Top Three finalist; and Jason Pau, executive director (International) at the Jack Ma Foundation.

The competition is backed by Alibaba Philanthropy and the Jack Ma Foundation. Its 2026 edition opened with more than 24,000 applications from all 54 African countries, according to ABH. The programme expanded its initial Top 50 cohort to 100 entrepreneurs this year.

The 2026 Top 100 businesses collectively generated $170 million in revenue in 2025, employed more than 6,200 people and served about 10 million customers, according to figures released when the cohort was announced in June. The Top 100 represented 27 African countries and 16 industries.

The 20 semi-finalists will also have access to opportunities beyond the competition. ABH said about 40 participants from more than 10 African countries are expected to join its second Hangzhou learning and market-access trip in China from Sept. 14-18.

The programme is expected to include mainly 2024 and 2025 Top 10 Heroes, alongside other alumni, selected entrepreneurs, judges and participants from Alibaba’s Digital Lion programme, ABH said.

The 2026 semi-final comes as African startups and other entrepreneurial businesses continue to attract attention from investors seeking opportunities across technology, agriculture, healthcare and other sectors.

For the 20 entrepreneurs selected for Nairobi, the next stage will determine which businesses progress to the Top 10 and remain in contention in the 2026 ABH competition.