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The Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship is the award for the most entrepreneurial education programs in Africa. The award is run by UK based education charity Teach-A-Man-To-Fish. The 2008 edition, sponsored by 'Educating Africa', sought to identify the very best organizations rising to the challenges of supporting education across Africa, highlight their ways of working, and to reward their achievements.

Nik Kafka, Managing Director from Teach-A-Man-To-Fish said: “We were knocked out by the standard of entrants from across Africa. This competition set out to prove that the entrepreneurial spirit is thriving in all types of educational projects across the Continent, and we were proved right. The awards have drawn international attention to the achievement of some of Africa’s great educational entrepreneurs. We now hope that others will be encouraged to follow their example.”

Entries were assessed against the criteria of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and impact. The winners were selected by a panel of international judges, and the top three awardees travelled to South Africa to receive their prizes at 'Education That Pays For Itself 2008', an international conference on 'Sustainable Education'. The winners: 1st Prize: Soft Power Education, Uganda, a charity that elicits the help of over 1,000 tourists yearly to improve the quality of life for children in primary education helping build or renovate over 370 classrooms, and supporting pre-school and adult learning in local communities. 2nd Prize: Whiz Kids Workshop, Ethiopia, a private production company that produces a television show for children from ages three to six.

The show seeks to educate children about personal values such as honesty and justice, as well as preparing them for school. 3rd Prize: 'Africa Now', Kenya, an organization in Western Kenya with an innovative project teaching entrepreneurial and agricultural skills through the practice of bee keeping. Already established in two schools, 'Africa Now' is expanding its program to six other schools in the region. Melinda Baker from Soft Power Education said: “We were thrilled to win this competition. It is great to know that our work is appreciated by our peers across the globe. The prize money will help us develop new projects and help more children into education.”

Teach-A-Man-To-Fish is an international non-profit organization working to improve the relevancy, quality, and availability of education in developing countries. Its pioneering approach uses profit-making school-run businesses to teach entrepreneurship and livelihood skills. This model allows schools to generate additional income, improving their financial sustainability, while at the same time enabling them to offer a more relevant and higher quality education. Educating Africa, sponsors of the awards, is a foundation committed to introducing cost effective and sensible education initiatives throughout Africa, and to acknowledging some of the tremendous educational projects that have been developed across the continent.

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