German Entrepreneurship Award
for Development
Congratulations to Autarcon and Saving Grains!
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The awardees of the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2023 are Autarcon and Saving Grains. State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Bernhard Longin, Chairman of the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft e.V., honoured the commitment of the two companies, from whose projects people in India and in Ghana and Kenya are benfitting. The award ceremony took place as part of the G20 Investment Summit German Business and CwA Countries in Berlin. Find out more here.
Find out more about the award-winning projects here: AUTARCON, Saving Grains.
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Award ceremony 2023 as part of the 4th G20 Investment Summit German Business and the CwA countries in Berlin.
From left to right: Wolfgang Mittmann and Kelvin Lotsu Tyron (Saving Grains 301 GmbH), State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth (BMZ), Philipp Otter (Autarcon GmbH), Bernhard Longin (CDG), Alexander Goldmaier (Autarcon GmbH).
(c)Jens Schicke/DIHK
THE AWARD
The German Entrepreneurship Award for Development is conferred every two years on the initiative of the Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft e.V. (CDG) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The award honours the commitment of companies in developing and emerging countries that goes beyond the corporate objective and that benefits the local people. The award is given in two separate categories: Category A “Business for Development” and Category B “Innovation for Development”.
PRIZE MONEY
The Entrepreneurship Award comes with prize money of EUR 30,000 in each of the two categories. The money flows into the prize-winning projects and product ideas, providing additional impetus for the companies' international activities. The recipients commit to using the prize money for the dedicated purpose of continuing the company’s engagement for the benefit of the local population.
You can find further information in our award criteria.
WHO IS ENTITLED TO TAKE PART?
European companies with a project that matches our award criteria are eligible to apply for the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development. Associations, clubs, societies and private individuals are not eligible to take part in the competition.
HOW IS THE DECISION MADE?
An independent expert examines whether the applications conform with the funding principles, the up to five best projects are presented to the jury. The jury is made up of members of CDG plus representatives of the German business community, civil society, the media and politics, who choose the winning projects on the basis of the selection criteria set out in the funding principles. The prize is awarded every two years.
The CDG is a private sector initiative. Since 1949, it has supported the professional and personal development of specialists and managers focused on international development policy.
AWARDEES 2023
Congratulations to the awardees of the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2023: Autarcon and Saving Grains!
Awarded project of Autarcon is: Safe drinking water supply in rural developing regions through adapted treatment technology and innovative operator models. Project country is India.
More information see here
Awarded project of Saving Grains is: A better supply chain for small holder farmers and aggregators in Africa. Project countries are Ghana and Kenya.
More information see here
(c)Jens Schicke/DIHK
AWARDEES 2021
Learn more about the award and the inspiring projects, e.g. of the awardees in 2021 Polycare Research Technology and Helioz in our video.
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PRICE CATEGORIES
The German Entrepreneurship Award for Development is conferred in two categories:
Category A – Business for Development –
is intended for companies that are already operating successfully abroad and make a contribution towards improving local social or environmental conditions, over and above their entrepreneurial activity.
In Category B – Innovation for Development –
the award recognises entrepreneurial ideas for innovative products or services that promote sustainable business practices and improve people’s lives over the long term. The award is primarily aimed at companies that have developed a product or service through to market readiness and would now like to put it to use. Poorer sections of society are the target group for the proposals.
In 2021, Helioz was pleased to receive the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development in Category B.
In 2019, ecoligo GmbH was awarded in this category.
Award Winners 2021
In Category A "Business for Development" Polycare is the winner of the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2021.
Companies on the shortlist of category A:
Renner GmbH Kompressoren, Fairafric, Olenex Edible Oils GmbH.
In Category B "Innovation for Development", Helioz was awarded the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2021.
Companies on the shortlist of category B:
TFE Energy GmbH, Africa Green Tec AG, Grino Water Solutions GmbH.
Award Winners 2019
In Category A "Economy for Development",
HAWE Hydraulik SE on the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2019.
Companies on the shortlist of category A:
El Puente GmbH, Kaffee-Kooperative.de, getINNOtized GmbH
In category B "Innovation for Development",
ecoligo GmbH was awarded the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development 2019.
Companies on the shortlist of category B:
e.Ray Europa GmbH, BIO-LUTIONS International AG, EPOS Health Management
Award Winners 2017
The winner in Category A – Business for Development – was Zwick Roell GmbH und Co. KG.
The other companies on the shortlist in this category were Bean Auction Limited, Messer Group GmbH, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Seidentraum and TEEKANNE GmbH & Co. KG.
GreenTec Capital was awarded in category B – Innovation for Development.
In this category the other companies on the shortlist were Autarcon, Glow Efficiency, Lenox and Phaesun.
Jury
The winners of the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development will be chosen in a multi-stage process. First, an independent expert will examine whether the submitted applications match the award criteria. The up to five best projects will then be presented to the entrepreneurship award jury, which will select the winners in the two categories.
The jury is made up of members of CDG plus representatives of the German business community, civil society, the media and politics, who choose the winning projects on the basis of the selection criteria set out in the funding principles.
Award Ceremonies
The German Entrepreneurship Award for Development is awarded every two years. The 2023 award ceremony took place as part of the G20 Investment Summit German Business and CwA Countries on November 20, 2023 in Berlin. In 2021 the 14th German-African Energy Forum of the German-African Business Association was host of the award ceremony. In 2019 and 2017, the German African Business Summit in Accra (Ghana) and Nairobi (Kenya), organised by the Sub-Saharan Africa Initiative of German Business, provided a suitable and festive setting for the award ceremony.
Watch the video to get insights of the 2021 award ceremony and the projects awarded.
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