ECOWAS opens application for Startup awards

By Clement Omanibe

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has opened applications for the second edition of its Startup Awards.

This comes with offerer of cash prizes totaling $65,000 to startups from across the region, including Nigeria.

The applications opened on August 3, 2026, and will close on August 31 2026.

The ECOWAS Commission announced the award on its X handle on Monday.

This, the Commission said, it aimed to identify, celebrate and scale innovative startups while advancing digital entrepreneurship, innovation and economic integration in West Africa.

The programme targets 60 startups from the 12 ECOWAS member states across six sectors: EdTech and Skills Development; FinTech; HealthTech; AgriTech and Food Systems; CleanTech, Climate and Green Innovation; and Tourism, Hospitality and TravelTech.

The second edition follows the inaugural event held in Niamey, Niger, in November 2021.

According the ECOWAS Commission, selected startups would participate in virtual masterclasses from September 21–25, 2026.

This shall be followed by a physical event in Abuja from September 28–30 and would culminate in the regional finals on September 30.

Prizes and benefits:

Winners will receive 20,000 for the first runner-up and $15,000 for the second runner-up.

Additional benefits include regional visibility across member states, access to investors through deal rooms, networking with founders, policymakers and development partners, a six-month post-award acceleration and mentorship programme, and digital tools such as computers.

Apply Here

Create an account by providing full name, email address, telephone number (optional but recommended) and a password of at least 10 characters.

Once registered, applicants can log in to the dashboard and start a new application.

The form covers Sections A through J and can be saved as a draft at any point.

Required documents include:

National passport or ECOWAS-approved identity document of the lead founder;

Recent passport photograph;

Business registration certificate (issued in an ECOWAS member state, if applicable);

Two years of financial statements, management accounts or projections;

Business plan (maximum 10 pages, single spacing, Times New Roman 12);

Pitch deck (maximum 10 slides); and

One-minute pitch video (MP4, MOV or WebM, maximum 100 MB).

Selection process

Selection occurs in two phases. In the national selection phase, each member state nominates half of its allocated slots while the remaining half comes from open public applications.

Finalists then proceed to the regional finals in Abuja, where they pitch before an independent jury of industry experts, investors and policy stakeholders.

Applications are scored on criteria including problem clarity and solution fit (20%), innovation and originality (20%), team capacity and execution ability (15%), market potential and scalability (10%), business model and financial viability (10%), social and economic impact (10%), alignment with ECOWAS priorities (10%), and pitch/online voting/data integrity (5%).