2022 World Bank Group Youth Summit: Enter the Pitch Competition

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2022 World Bank Group Youth Summit: Enter the Pitch Competition

Follow the event on Twitter #WBGYouthSummit

00:00 Welcome! 2022 WBG Youth Summit: Pitch Competition
03:47 Pitch competition overview and application process
18:41 Pitch desk tips and insights / review timeline
22:16 Previous year finalists: experience of being part of the summit
28:59 Getting your initiative off the ground and into implementation
35:58 Since the summit, how have you been working on your ideas?
41:19 Advice for the participants in preparing their pitch decks
49:09 What was your favorite part of the pitch competition?
52:51 Prizes / Mentorship
56:00 Closing remarks

The competition is open to individuals or teams not exceeding 4 people, aged 18 – 35.

Participants can be students, as well as people in the workforce or any other occupation. No prior experience in any particular field or topic is necessary. Diverse, gender-balanced team compositions are strongly encouraged.

Participants shall provide innovative and concrete ideas that showcase the role of the youth in fostering an equitable growth through social, environmental and/or economic inclusion.

NEW THIS YEAR: Proposals can be submitted in English, Arabic, French or Spanish. Submit your application for the pitch competition here.

  1. Information Session on February 11, 2022
    Add this event to your calendar or sign up for an email reminder and join the webinar to get all the information you need to submit a solid application.
  2. Submit Your Pitch Deck by March 4, 2022
    Submit your application for the pitch competition here. Pitch decks will be evaluated by an expert committee. Shortlisted individuals/teams will be announced and will proceed to the next stage.
  3. Refine Idea & Prepare Your Pitch (April)
    Shortlisted individuals/teams will receive feedback on their proposals and may be asked to submit further information, refine their proposals and/or submit short pitching videos.
  4. Pitch your Idea at the Youth Summit (May)
    Finalists will join the 2022 WBG Youth Summit at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Read the transcript


  • 00:01 [O’Neall Massamba] Hello, everyone. My name is O’Neall Massamba. I'm  
  • 00:05 the Manager of the World Bank Youth Summit 2022.  And I'm happy to welcome you to this information  
  • 00:11 session on the Youth Summit Pitch Competition.  The Youth Summit is annual event hosted by the  
  • 00:16 World Bank that invites you globally to engage  on the most pressing topics facing [inaudible]  
  • 00:21 generation. As part of the Youth Summit Pitch  Competition invites young change makers to be  
  • 00:27 part of the solution by developing innovative  and action-oriented solutions that contribute  
  • 00:32 to development. Last year, we received over  700 proposals from 84 countries, including 572  
  • 00:39 proposals from emerging and low-income countries.  And we are expecting even more this year.  
  • 00:46 With the 2022 Youth Summit, we decided  to focus our conversation on inclusion.  
  • 00:52 We have a summit themed, Unlocking the Power of  Inclusion, by Equitable Growth. Indeed, the idea  
  • 00:57 of inclusive growth has emerged as a central theme  in the discussion on the recovery and growth in  
  • 01:03 the post COVID world. And we will believe that  having the youth perspective and the importance  
  • 01:08 of inclusion by equitable growth is key. Globally,  the loss in human capital due to gender inequality  
  • 01:16 is estimated at 160.2 trillion US dollars.  Additionally, the pandemic's economic impact is  
  • 01:23 estimated to increase extreme poverty by between  88 and 115 million people globally. These numbers  
  • 01:30 reveal that the challenges our communities are  facing are multifaceted since they have a social,  
  • 01:36 environmental, and economic impact. This is the  reason why for the pitch competition this year,  
  • 01:42 we invite young innovators to propose a solution  for equitable growth tailored under at least  
  • 01:47 one of these three pillars: social inclusion,  economic inclusion, and environmental inclusion.  
  • 01:53 And as we're striving to be even more inclusive  this year, we've added new features to the pitch  
  • 01:58 competition process to make sure even more  young change makers get their voices heard.  
  • 02:03 This session will give you all the information  you need on the pitch competition process  
  • 02:07 and guidance to [inaudible] proposal.  So stay tuned to learn more.
  • 03:46 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Hi, everyone. My name is Jescinta Izevbigie.  
  • 03:50 I am one of the co-leads for the pitch competition  this year, and I'm going to walk us through what  
  • 03:55 this informational session is going to be about.  And so we really want this to be a space for you  
  • 04:00 all to get all the information you need to be  able to submit a really strong application for  
  • 04:05 the pitch competition. And to support with that,  we're going to first start with a PowerPoint  
  • 04:10 overview of what the pitch competition is and what  are the different components of the application  
  • 04:15 as well as also providing you all with different  tips and insights on how to submit a strong pitch  
  • 04:20 deck. After that presentation, we're going to  transition to our fireside chat with finalists  
  • 04:26 from previous years' pitch competition. And this  will be a really exciting opportunity for you all  
  • 04:31 to really hear from individuals who have gone  through the process, who have been a part of  
  • 04:35 the summit and also hear about how their work, and  the companies and their ideas, have changed since  
  • 04:41 then. So you'll be able to hear, again, their  firsthand tips, their experiences, any challenges,  
  • 04:47 any highlights of them sort of going through  the pitch competition application process.  
  • 04:52 Lastly, we'll end with hearing from you all. We  encourage you to continue posting questions on  
  • 04:57 the World Bank Live; we have live bloggers who  are responding. And any questions that you would  
  • 05:03 want to ask us the organizers, as well as the  finalists, we'll have space for an audience Q&A. 
  • 05:09 So with that, let's begin with the  PowerPoint overview of the pitch competition.  
  • 05:22 For the pitch competition this year, similar  to what O'Neall expressed, we're really seeking  
  • 05:26 innovative action oriented solutions and projects  that align with this year's theme of unlocking the  
  • 05:32 power of inclusion for equitable growth. Given  this theme, the pitch competition is going to  
  • 05:38 be divided into three different pillars. We have social inclusion as the driver for  
  • 05:43 equitable growth, environmental inclusion  as the driver for equitable growth  
  • 05:47 and economic inclusion as the driver for equitable  growth. Giving the multitude of challenges that  
  • 05:53 the global community is facing today across the  social, environmental and economic dimensions,  
  • 05:58 the need for innovative, inclusive ideas  could not be more critical right now.  
  • 06:07 Let's take a moment to dive into these three  things and for me to explain a little bit more  
  • 06:12 about what we're looking for. As I mentioned  before, the entire competition is structured  
  • 06:17 along the three pillars: social inclusion,  environmental inclusion, and economic inclusion. 
  • 06:23 With social inclusion, what we're talking about is  how can we devise solutions that really increase  
  • 06:29 opportunities for people to participate fully  in markets, services, technologies, and society.  
  • 06:36 And what sort of solutions can really address  the deep rooted, systemic inequalities across  
  • 06:42 education, health, gender, and social safety nets. What you'll see in the box are some illustrative  
  • 06:49 examples of what submissions can touch on. Again,  submissions should not be limited to these areas,  
  • 06:54 but we just wanted to give some examples of  what they can speak to. We're looking for  
  • 07:00 solutions around how can we enable affordable  education through innovative, accessible,  
  • 07:06 different models. How can we also think about  solutions that can overcome the poverty trap by  
  • 07:12 sort of addressing inclusive last mile service  delivery and social protection methods? Like I  
  • 07:17 said earlier, these ideas around education,  health, gender, and social safety nets are  
  • 07:23 illustrated. So we encourage applicants to  touch on areas that we haven't covered here. 
  • 07:29 Now, with environmental inclusion in this second  pillar, we're thinking about how can you increase  
  • 07:34 channels for open dialogue and action-oriented  solutions around the environmental harms that  
  • 07:39 are disproportionately impacting underprivileged  communities around the globe. It's clear that  
  • 07:44 global development has unfortunately  come at a cost to the planets, leaving  
  • 07:48 vulnerable communities to bear the burden  of rising climate shocks. Moving forward,  
  • 07:54 what solutions can you all propose around how  to build more green-resilient communities, how  
  • 08:00 to foster inclusive green growth and how to ensure  that global communities are no longer left behind  
  • 08:07 in tackling climate change and environmental  degradation? And so solutions can touch on climate  
  • 08:13 change mitigation, resilience efforts, climate  smart technologies, and the encroaching effects of  
  • 08:19 environmental pollution. Like I said earlier, this  is just an illustrative list: if there's something  
  • 08:24 that we haven't covered and an idea that pops in  mind that isn't in this box, please contribute. 
  • 08:34 Lastly, the final pillar is economic conclusion.  What sort of solutions out there can provide a  
  • 08:41 more inclusive, equitable access to economic  opportunity? Given the COVID 19 pandemic,  
  • 08:47 it's really compounded a lot of disproportionate  barriers and left devastating economic  
  • 08:52 consequences. What solutions out there can  really address the inequitable access to economic  
  • 09:00 opportunity right now? Again, these solutions  can range from leveraging private sector  
  • 09:04 mobilization to even tackling, at the household  level, financial decision-making power. One  
  • 09:11 really important thing to notice while  we have these three distinct pillars,  
  • 09:15 we're also strongly encouraging applicants to  think of solutions that cuts across these pillars.  
  • 09:20 We want to push applicants to stretch  their innovative thinking and to devise  
  • 09:25 cross-thematic solutions that weave through  social economic and or environmental inclusion. 
  • 09:34 This is what we're really excited about. This year  we are seeking to shake things up a bit and we've  
  • 09:38 sort of incorporated different dimensions to the  pitch competition that really speaks our overall  
  • 09:44 theme of promoting inclusion. The first area is a  stronger regional focus. One thing we're going to  
  • 09:49 be intentional about this year is we plan to have  six finalists representing each geographic region.  
  • 09:56 Instead of sort of concentrating in a particular  region or geographic area, we're opening it up and  
  • 10:01 seeking to highlight innovative solutions that are  happening across the regions and having a finalist  
  • 10:07 represented per region. The next area is a greater  emphasis on the pitch. Instead of submitting a  
  • 10:14 written proposal, we want applicants this year  to submit a pitch deck. Having a concise pitch  
  • 10:20 deck is very vital as this is oftentimes the  first communication tool used by entrepreneurs  
  • 10:26 to engage, to incite and to impress potential  investors, mentors and different partners. We're  
  • 10:33 really seeking to look for scalable solutions and  we want our applicants to have thought through the  
  • 10:40 entire cycle of idea generation from the financial  model to the market size, to the business model.  
  • 10:48 We're going to help applicants by actually  creating a standardized pitch deck template.  
  • 10:55 All applicants will have access to this, and  we're really encourage applicants to use this  
  • 10:58 template to convey their ideas. My colleague  Arvind is going to speak about that in a second.  
  • 11:04 The other area for this year that's new is an  intentional emphasis on language inclusion.  
  • 11:09 In line, again, with our inclusion theme, this  year applications can be submitted in English,  
  • 11:14 Arabic, French, or Spanish. We're doing our best  to accommodate this to really ensure that we have  
  • 11:20 a global reach and we're able to inclusively  represent idea generation and solutions across  
  • 11:26 these four languages. And one thing we're quite  excited about are new prizes. I think one thing  
  • 11:31 we want to be intentional about this year is  providing support to the winners long after the  
  • 11:36 summit. We want to focus on intentional tailored  capacity, building ranging from connecting the  
  • 11:42 finalists to tailored entrepreneurial skills  building courses, to tailored mentoring. We're  
  • 11:47 really trying to drive home our goal of providing  that support to finalists long after the summit  
  • 11:53 has ended. Lastly, this speaks to what I just  spoke about around the importance of crosscutting  
  • 11:58 solutions. We really want to push for innovative  ideas that cut across the three pillars and  
  • 12:04 shows how collectively we can invoke solutions  that touch on social inclusion, environmental  
  • 12:11 inclusion, economic inclusion, to collectively  build this equitable growth that we're seeking to. 
  • 12:19 The application process. Let's start with  the target group. We are open to individual  
  • 12:28 submissions as well as team submissions. If you're  looking for team submissions, we're trying to  
  • 12:33 hone in on teams around two to five aged 18 to  35. And there's no prior experience in any field  
  • 12:43 or topic that's necessary. You can be a student  or you can be employed in the workforce. Again,  
  • 12:48 what we're really seeking for the target  group is if we're going to have a team,  
  • 12:53 to make sure that it's gender bound and  diverse. This speaks to our overall theme of  
  • 12:57 encouraging and really integrating inclusion  throughout the pitch competition this year. 
  • 13:03 When we speak about what information you  all need to submit, there are two items.  
  • 13:06 There's the application form, which is going  to provide some basic information of what your  
  • 13:10 solution is and your team composition.  But the most item is the pitch deck,  
  • 13:16 which we're going to get into in a little bit. And criteria of what we're looking for. We're  
  • 13:21 looking for scalable solutions. We want solutions  that respond to the challenge statement, solutions  
  • 13:25 that are clear well articulated and address  the challenge at hand. We're also looking for,  
  • 13:30 again, encouraging these cross-thematic  solutions, and we're looking for feasibility. We  
  • 13:35 there to be a clear potential for viability, and  we want the pitch deck to outline the activities  
  • 13:42 that are needed to successfully implement the  solution. Objectives have to be realistic, they  
  • 13:47 have to be achievable and they have to be feasible  at the end of the day. Lastly, there needs to be a  
  • 13:52 proof of concept. We want to see that you've  thought all elements of feasibility. That  
  • 13:57 you validated your assumptions to show that your  solution can be implementable. And not only that;  
  • 14:03 your solution has potential for impact. We're  looking for solutions that are able to achieve  
  • 14:08 the desired impact in a sustainable manner  that could even be scaled and/or replicated. 
  • 14:14 The application review, what are the next steps?  We are going to be launching the application very  
  • 14:24 shortly. At that point, you're able to submit  your pitch deck as well as that short application  
  • 14:30 form. After submitting, we're going to have a  team of experts, technical experts, to review  
  • 14:35 the pitch decks and there'll be a stage for  refinements and pitch preparation. Essentially,  
  • 14:40 shortlisted individuals and teams will receive  direct feedback from us on their pitch decks  
  • 14:46 and maybe asked to submit further information and  even sort of a short virtual pitching video. The  
  • 14:52 last stage of this is where you get to pitch your  idea live. I think this is a great opportunity  
  • 14:58 to really let's hear your pitch in person, let's  hear your pitch at HQ. So we're going to invite  
  • 15:04 finalists to join in, to come to our headquarters  in DC and be able to pitch their idea live. 
  • 15:10 Now, let's get into the nuts and  bolts of what the pitch competition…  
  • 15:14 or what the pitch deck actually entails.  I'll hand it over to my colleague, Arvind.
  • 15:18 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Thank you, Jescinta. Jescinta walked through the  
  • 15:22 overall theme of the competition, as well as the  application review process, the criteria we are  
  • 15:29 looking for in applicants. Now I'd like to speak  about what you should be doing in your pitch deck. 
  • 15:41 Before I start, I would like to mention that,  while the basic application form is in English,  
  • 15:46 you can submit your pitch decks in four languages:  English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. We would  
  • 15:52 also advise potential applicants to access pitch  deck template or anything that is on the website  
  • 15:58 that you could use to structure your pitch decks. Diving into key information to include in your  
  • 16:04 pitch decks… First, we are team-focused.  It is the mission that has brought you and  
  • 16:09 your team together. This helps us understand  your team's motivations, why you're solving  
  • 16:15 what you're solving for. We will also be  evaluating the problem that you're solving,  
  • 16:20 how does it fit into the theme of this year's  competition, and why this is important to solve.  
  • 16:27 We are interested in knowing if you've thought  through the problem in-depth. The theory of change  
  • 16:34 is the framework, which you could use to explain  the cause-and-effect model of the solution,  
  • 16:39 and how that's going to impact potential  beneficiaries. You could also use your  
  • 16:45 solution slide to demonstrate your solution's  unique value proposition and provide use cases,  
  • 16:51 if any. Examples include if there's  a mobile app, you could include  
  • 16:57 the mobile app's screenshot, how you will use  it to fix bugs, or if it's a product, you could  
  • 17:05 include screenshot of photos of that product,  which helps us to get a sense of your solution.  
  • 17:12 In terms of market size, we are interested  to know if that is a marketable solution,  
  • 17:18 and what is the potential size of this market.  Is it sizeable enough for your solution to scale?  
  • 17:25 Be sure to also include information on the  competitive landscape that you plan to operate in.  
  • 17:31 Is it a crowded market? Are there other  solution-providers who are solving for the same  
  • 17:36 solution? What are the drawbacks of the existing  model's availability market? And where you fit  
  • 17:43 in in the competitive landscape. One of the key  factors that legitimize the substance of your  
  • 17:49 solution is also the business model that you have.  You can discuss your financials in this section.  
  • 17:57 We also look at the business model very  closely to see how feasible your solution is.  
  • 18:03 Your financials, the funds you raise, how you  plan to fund your solution… all of this can go  
  • 18:09 into your business model section and it helps us  evaluate your solution better. Finally, please do  
  • 18:15 include your team's profile and how each of you  would contribute to the idea. You could keep it  
  • 18:22 brief. It helps us to get a sense of the talent  mix that's part of your team. So, keep it brief,  
  • 18:31 explain in a line or two how each of you fit  into the team and what you bring to the table. 
  • 18:35 In terms of  
  • 18:42 best practices for your pitch deck, I would  recommend the pitch competition’s five-points  
  • 18:48 rule. This is something that we brought this  year because we are calling for pitch decks  
  • 18:55 early on in the competition. This includes things  that you should keep in mind as you structure your  
  • 19:03 pitch decks. Remember that your pitch deck  is the key material for your evaluation. We  
  • 19:08 do collect basic information in the application  form, but your solutions will be judged based on  
  • 19:13 the merit of the case you have made in the pitch  deck. This is the meat of your solution. This is  
  • 19:20 the way you make your case, so please pay close  attention to how your structure this. Be sure  
  • 19:26 to also include quantitative information that is  financial, potential impact, number of customers  
  • 19:32 and beneficiaries, anything you find that would be  relevant for us to make a decision on your pitch.  
  • 19:38 Thirdly, I would also remember the words to  keep your slides to minimal length. We recommend  
  • 19:46 that your slides should not exceed 15 slides,  your pitch deck should not exceed 15 slides.  
  • 19:53 But in case if you do feel the need to  add extra information to support your  
  • 19:59 pitches, we have one extra where you can include  any supportive information for your pitch decks,  
  • 20:08 and we will look at them. We've also provided  a list of resources in the pitch deck template,  
  • 20:14 so feel free to use it to structure  your pitch decks. This is at the end  
  • 20:18 of the pitch deck template. We have  a bunch of resources, which we've  
  • 20:23 put together on business forming, on anything you  might want to know about business model, problems,  
  • 20:30 and solution-finding. Use them to your advantage.  Finally, use the pitch deck as your guardrails  
  • 20:38 for presenting your idea, but also be creative. We  are interested in seeing interesting pitch decks,  
  • 20:45 so use all your creative energy and thoughts to  make the pitch deck interesting, because at the  
  • 20:53 end of the day, we are looking at a lot of pitch  decks, and interesting ones stand out for us. 
  • 21:06 Just briefly, talking about the outcomes  of the previous edition of the competition,  
  • 21:09 we had a total of 725 proposals from 84 countries  last year. Majority of these proposals were from  
  • 21:17 emerging markets in low-income countries. I'd  like to highlight that one of the successes of  
  • 21:23 last year's summit was that three out of five  finalists were female-led [inaudible] teams,  
  • 21:28 which is a huge success to the pitch competition  and we also look forward to that sort of  
  • 21:34 participation in this year's competition. Now, presenting to you, the hardworking  
  • 21:45 team behind this year's summit. We've got  [inaudible] IFC and IMF, and come with significant  
  • 21:52 domain experience. We are looking forward to  putting together a successful competition and  
  • 22:01 ultimately a successful youth summit this year. That's it. Thank you for your time. We now move  
  • 22:12 on to the next part of this webinar, in which we  engage with the finalists from previous editions  
  • 22:18 of the pitch competition. If you do have any  questions, please load them or drop it in the  
  • 22:25 chat box. We will be addressing  them in the next part of the  
  • 22:30 webinar, after the fireside chat. But  the panel today, we have two finalists,  
  • 22:38 Itoro and Nonso. Itoro Inoyo is the COO and  co-founder at Clafiya. She is a global health  
  • 22:47 specialist and advocate with seven years of  experience with government and development  
  • 22:53 organizations to improve health outcomes of  vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa.  
  • 22:59 She has experience working with national and state  governments to coordinate the implementation of  
  • 23:04 sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child  health, and also HIV/AIDS programs in Nigeria,  
  • 23:12 Malawi, and the United States. She has  developed and led research studies to inform  
  • 23:18 health system solutions to address HIV/AIDS,  cancer, and nutrition outcomes. She has a Bachelor  
  • 23:27 of Science in biology and a minor in psychology  from the University of Massachusetts, as well as  
  • 23:33 a Master of Public Health from. Welcome, Itoro.  Thanks for joining us. Next up, we have Nonso.  
  • 23:45 Nonso is the founder and chief growth officer  at SOSO CARE. He is a social entrepreneur,  
  • 23:51 and in his words, is obsessed with solving  for healthcare financing for the poor.  
  • 23:57 In 2018, he founded Jaracare Innovation, a digital  platform which improves access to healthcare  
  • 24:05 through telemedicine, and was selected as  one among the seven start-ups from Africa  
  • 24:10 to be supported by the University of Basel,  Switzerland. In 2019, he founded SOSO CARE,  
  • 24:16 a low-cost health insurance service, which  aims to solve health inequality in Nigeria,  
  • 24:23 by over 90% of the 200-million population,  does not have health insurance coverage.  
  • 24:30 Nonso owns a diploma in business studies and  an MBA in policy and strategic management  
  • 24:37 from Greenwich University, UK. In  October '20, he was also part of  
  • 24:42 eight delegates from Nigeria invited by the French  government for the BBI big event [inaudible].  
  • 24:50 Welcome, Nonso. It's great to have you on  the panel as well. Thank you for joining us. 
  • 24:55 We now move on to the questions. We started  some of the questions that Jescinta and I have  
  • 25:03 to the panelists, and then we move  on to questions from the chat.  
  • 25:11 I'll start with the first question. Each of you,  Nonso, Itoro, were selected from hundreds of ideas  
  • 25:20 in the previous edition of the competition. Can  you recount your experience and how it was to be  
  • 25:26 part of the pitch competition and the summit in  your respective years? Itoro, you can go first.
  • 25:34 [Itoro Inoyo] Okay. Hey, everyone. Honestly,  
  • 25:37 I can't believe it's been a couple of months  since we pitched at the Youth Summit last year.  
  • 25:42 It was definitely a great, eye-opening  experience. To have pitched on a global stage  
  • 25:48 such as this was, one, it was super exciting.  Secondly, it was a little nerve-racking,  
  • 25:54 but also, it was just great exposure for the  work that we're doing at Clafiya. I remember  
  • 25:59 getting an email about it and I shared it with  my co-founder, Jennie. So, hi, Jennie. After  
  • 26:05 looking at the eligibility criteria, we thought  it would be a great opportunity to shed light on  
  • 26:11 the work we're doing in Nigeria and our vision  for healthcare service delivery across Africa. 
  • 26:18 Of course, I think Arvind, you had mentioned  this, last year's theme was "Resilient  
  • 26:22 Recovery," so we wanted to make sure that the  work we were doing was aligned with the theme.  
  • 26:27 We decided to throw our hats in the ring and  apply. One thing led to another, we had the  
  • 26:32 interview, and we were selected to pitch. Last  year was a little different from this year,  
  • 26:38 where we had to record our pitch and then  have it submitted, then a real live pitch. But  
  • 26:44 I think in that moment, we were both just  super excited that we had the opportunity to  
  • 26:48 share our idea, and we quickly got to work  in creating our pitch deck and our video.  
  • 26:55 Today, I think we're both still  very proud of that moment.
  • 26:58 [Arvind Rajasekaran] 
  • 27:02 Thank you, Itoro. Last year was a virtual pitch  competition and the thing is, we received a  
  • 27:11 historical number of applications, Clafiya,  so congratulations on making it as a finalist.
  • 27:16 [Itoro Inoyo] Thank you.
  • 27:17 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Nonso,  
  • 27:18 how was your experience being part of  the summit and the pitch competition?
  • 27:24 [Nonso Opurum] I think my experience…  
  • 27:28 When we got into the program, we had launched  just two months before we got selected into  
  • 27:31 the program, so we were not expecting to join the  program. I think that was when we ended our pilot.  
  • 27:38 I saw the application online, I trained the  application, and luckily, we got it reviewed, and  
  • 27:44 in the middle of the night, I couldn't believe  that we were selected to be part of the program.  
  • 27:48 It was something that we were  never, never expecting to happen,  
  • 27:52 being a very small business that were just  coming out of the pilot state at that time. 
  • 27:56 But I think one of the things from the feedback  and the mail I got was our ability to articulate  
  • 28:02 what we want to do and what our mission was, and  more on inclusion, to ensure that we are not just  
  • 28:08 solving the problem of healthcare, but improving  access in terms of environmental sustainability. 
  • 28:16 The process was quite easy, but I didn't  join the program physically. I had to do it  
  • 28:20 online at the World Bank Office in Niger. But  I think it was a straightforward process where…  
  • 28:28 after we submitted a first application, we had  to be interviewed and we had to send a couple of  
  • 28:34 documents to validate some of the things  that we said on the application and we  
  • 28:39 got it in the mail. I think it was a very  easy and smooth-going process for us.
  • 28:44 [Arvind Rajasekaran] 
  • 28:47 Well, we are glad that you took the decision  to apply, Nonso, and we are proud of you as a  
  • 28:53 finalist. Also, moving on to my next question, how  did the summit help you in getting your initiative  
  • 29:01 off the ground and into implementation? Most  specifically, the pitch competition, the support  
  • 29:07 you received, the mentorship you received.  If you could speak a bit more about that,  
  • 29:12 that would be helpful for potential applicants.  Nonso, you want to take this one first?
  • 29:18 [Nonso Opurum] Yes. That was actually the first application we  
  • 29:24 made with the company and we got in, and that was  when we were trying to define what we were doing.  
  • 29:30 I still see the post World Bank made about  the application. Then, when we launch,  
  • 29:34 we are trying to do assist to community  healthcare as well as providing food stamps.  
  • 29:41 But one of the things I learned from the pitch,  doing the program and the mentorship I got then,  
  • 29:45 was, it was best we focus on one thing and be able  to grow in that angle, have more understanding  
  • 29:52 and be able to attract the right team. So, at the  end of the program, we were doing too many things  
  • 29:57 at the same time. We limited from them. We  had to say, "Okay, it's best we focus on  
  • 30:00 technology and waste, as well as insurance. That  way it's been easier for us to scale and leverage  
  • 30:06 on the support of World Bank. It's easy for us  to get government validation, because we have  
  • 30:13 an institution like World Bank having validated  our work. Recently we signed a partnership with  
  • 30:17 two state government to provide insurance for  70,000 people using wealth generated in their  
  • 30:21 states, which means the people who have  healthcare and environment to be clean. 
  • 30:27 When we make such applications, we put reference  documents, we go from World Back issues validation  
  • 30:32 from the angle of the government that we are  committed on the right path to ensure inclusion  
  • 30:38 and environmental sustainability. I think the  program, in general, brought us two things: it  
  • 30:42 brought us validation and, importantly, it brought  us network. There are programs that I attended or  
  • 30:48 instances we tried to do. But once they check up  and see that at the early stage, we have support  
  • 30:54 from World Bank [inaudible] our model, it gives  them the credibility and the support to give  
  • 30:59 us the support that we need as we progress. I  think in all, it was really a great experience.
  • 31:03 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Thank you. I also think you mentioned validation.  
  • 31:09 One of the key things that early stage startups  or these stage companies need at B, C level or  
  • 31:18 C stage level is validation.  And the bank's validation does  
  • 31:24 help in further fundraising or  even getting potential clients,  
  • 31:29 as well as institutional clients. Thank you  for sharing that. Itoro, would you like to…?
  • 31:35 [Itoro Inoyo] Yeah, sure, I think  
  • 31:37 similar to Nonso. At the time of the summit,  we had actually just launched in Enugu State.  
  • 31:43 And so maybe we're a few weeks in, we had  finished training our health workers at the time,  
  • 31:49 rolling out our implementation plans  in Enugu State. And I think for us,  
  • 31:54 the summit gave us fresh perspective and new  perspective of how we can tweak some of the  
  • 31:59 things that we initially wanted to do. So for  one, some of the questions that we were asked  
  • 32:04 during the pitch allowed us to go back to the  drawing board in regards to our business model. 
  • 32:10 Right now our business model looks a little  different than what we had pitched initially.  
  • 32:14 And I think for us, it was really important  to identify: how do we make revenue? How do  
  • 32:20 we make sure that how we're paying our health  workers is equitable, right? How do we know that  
  • 32:26 we can sustain this business model over time? So  some of the questions that we were asked allowed  
  • 32:32 us to go back to the drawing board to say,  maybe we can do things a little differently. 
  • 32:36 Secondly, our go-to market strategy. We had  presented some of the ideas that we had and we  
  • 32:44 were given other tips like, okay, have you thought  about maybe partnering with businesses. Now with  
  • 32:51 Clafiya, we are not only providing healthcare  services to individuals and their families,  
  • 32:56 but we've also pivoted to provide healthcare  services to small, medium enterprises as well,  
  • 33:01 which is something that we probably wouldn't  have thought about if we hadn't put ourselves  
  • 33:05 out there in pitch competitions,  such as this World Bank Youth Summit. 
  • 33:09 Lastly, just strengthening our  engagement with our health providers.  
  • 33:14 A lot of the questions that we were asked was,  how do you validate the quality of your health  
  • 33:19 providers? How are you sure that they're able to  provide the best quality care for your patients?  
  • 33:25 And we felt like we were able to articulate  that, but it, again, made us go back to say,  
  • 33:31 okay, how do we present the work that we're  doing in an effective manner? Because one  
  • 33:36 thing is, you can have an idea, but if  you're are not able to articulate it,  
  • 33:41 then there is a problem. And so we were able  to identify ways that we can really strengthen  
  • 33:46 our engagement with health providers. Now we have  not just community health workers, we have nurses  
  • 33:52 who are willing and are really excited to work  with Clafiya as a way to provide primary care  
  • 33:58 services to their community members. The last  thing I would say is we decided really tweaking  
  • 34:04 and thinking about some of our ideas in regards  to disease surveillance. When we pitched… COVID  
  • 34:12 is still here, but I think it was really the  heart of COVID, so we decided to really look  
  • 34:16 at predictive analytics when it comes to disease  surveillance, how are we able to monitor things  
  • 34:22 over time so that we can potentially catch  something like COVID when it does happen again?  
  • 34:28 That's something we're also working on. So I do  think that applying to stages like World Bank  
  • 34:35 Youth Summit is a great opportunity because,  yes, it's great exposure, like Nonso says,  
  • 34:41 it really does validate what you're doing. It  also makes you feel good. But then I think,  
  • 34:46 the second thing is you are able to think of new  ideas, think of things in a different perspective.  
  • 34:53 We were able to meet with other finalists as well  and I think when you hear what they're doing,  
  • 34:59 wow, I'm really and inspires me to do great work.  So yeah, it was just an all round great experience  
  • 35:06 and it allowed us to pivot our implementation  plan even stronger if we hadn't been a part of it.
  • 35:12 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Thank you, Itoro. That was  
  • 35:18 almost every startup's journey, figuring out  the business model, operational model, and  
  • 35:23 then pivoting and then, again, figuring it out all  over again. So thanks for sharing that experience.  
  • 35:31 But it's also good to know that somewhere in  that journey; the validation that the Bank  
  • 35:37 provided was useful. So with that, I hand over  to Jescinta who has questions to ask you guys.
  • 35:46 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Yeah. Thank you,  
  • 35:47 Arvind. Even just listening to both of you, I'm  learning so much more about your entrepreneurial  
  • 35:53 journey and how the Bank and the Youth Summit  supported that. The question I have for you,  
  • 35:58 you both have already alluded to it, but it would  be great for you to speak a bit more about what's  
  • 36:02 happened since the summit. Where is your business  right now? Where's even your professional growth  
  • 36:07 as an entrepreneur yourself. If you could share  a little bit more about what that trajectory has  
  • 36:12 been like since you participated in the summit.  I'll let Nonso, you could go first on this one.
  • 36:16 [Nonso Opurum] Okay. Thank you, Jescinta. It's been  
  • 36:21 two years since we attended the Summit  in 2019. Two to three years now, I think.  
  • 36:30 We've seen significant growth in terms of  measurement, in terms of impact. For us, we've  
  • 36:34 measure growth in different things. We measure  growth on the impact that our work is doing.  
  • 36:40 How much income we are looking for people to  assess healthcare, as well as creating job for  
  • 36:46 low-income people that are collecting recyclables. And we grew up from a business of less than  
  • 36:51 five people to a business of close to  17 people now, which is quite huge.  
  • 36:58 We scaled not just within our current operation,  we've been able to partner with two state  
  • 37:03 governments launching across some of these two  states and trying to go into the [inaudible]  
  • 37:07 new state as well, which is a third one. We've seen some growth and we are also exploring  
  • 37:12 partnership with government of Bangladesh,  because we understand Nigeria, [inaudible] where  
  • 37:16 millions of people don't have healthcare.  It's also a huge problem in countries like  
  • 37:20 Bangladesh, where we receive some grant. So we are  looking at opportunities of being able to scale  
  • 37:25 our work in other countries across Africa, as well  as Asia, whether it's urgent need for healthcare  
  • 37:30 intervention, as well as our environmental  sustainability. I think in general, we still  
  • 37:36 always use World Bank as a reference wherever we  go, because in general, that validation has really  
  • 37:45 opened a lot of things for us, a lot of paths,  conversations with government, with institutions,  
  • 37:50 seeing the value that we create, not  just as a business, but in terms of  
  • 37:55 ensuring that development its self-sanitation and  access to health inclusion. I think that since the  
  • 38:01 Summit, we've seen a high level of growth in terms  of business wise, as well as impact. Thank you.
  • 38:10 [Jescinta Izevbigie] That's really wonderful to hear. I think this is  
  • 38:13 all part of the evolutionary journey and it seems  like it's in an upwards [inaudible] since the  
  • 38:18 Summit. I feel like you'll have something similar  to say, Itoro, but I'll hand it over to you.
  • 38:23 [Itoro Inoyo] I know, as Nonso's speaking, I'm like,  
  • 38:25 wow, that's super amazing, so congratulations  Nonso and on all the work that you've been doing.
  • 38:29 [Nonso Opurum] Thank you. Thank you, Itoro. [Itoro Inoyo] It's really, really inspiring.  
  • 38:32 I think I've talked a little bit about some of  the things that we changed over the last couple  
  • 38:37 of months and, like I mentioned, when we had  first presented, we were just in Enugu State.  
  • 38:43 So now we are actually going to be launching  another state. We have not mentioned it yet.  
  • 38:48 But just doing the work, trying to enroll  new healthcare workers into our platform,  
  • 38:54 still working on our go to market strategy, to  get people to be more aware. I think I had already  
  • 39:01 mentioned how we're now expanding our services  for SMEs. We realized that that was an interesting  
  • 39:07 need that was unmet. So you had a lot of people  who had businesses, but they were not insured,  
  • 39:13 they didn't have any health coverage, or  they didn't seek primary care services  
  • 39:17 because it was simply too expensive when  it came to high out of pocket expenses. 
  • 39:23 Building those stronger partnerships. As of today,  we have 425 registered patients on our platform.  
  • 39:31 We have about 50 healthcare  workers that we're working with.  
  • 39:34 And now we have new formed partnerships, which  allow our patients to get additional service  
  • 39:41 like drug delivery. Ideally for Clafiya, we want  to close all the gaps of the continuum of care. 
  • 39:47 So yes, we do provide home based primary care  services at the convenience of your home,  
  • 39:52 so on your phone, on your laptop and you  don't need internet for this. You can request  
  • 39:57 a healthcare worker to come and provide primary  care services. But then the next question was,  
  • 40:02 “Okay, well, if you needed medication, how do  you get that?” We actually don't feel like we  
  • 40:06 need to solve every single problem. That's why  strategic partnerships are super important. And so  
  • 40:12 building these relationships with logistic  companies, with pharmacies who are able to deliver  
  • 40:18 the drugs to your home when you need it, for  a laboratory test if you need follow up care,  
  • 40:23 even in regards to ambulatory care and  secondary or tertiary care that you need,  
  • 40:27 and you need to go to the facility, then  we would just refer you to that place. 
  • 40:31 One of the things that we've seen is building  these strategic partnerships that allow to  
  • 40:36 solve the world's problems together and not  in silo, which was the trend, but I think a  
  • 40:42 lot of people are seeing if we just partnered  together, we would probably go a lot farther.
  • 40:47 [Jescinta Izevbigie] 
  • 40:50 Yeah. This is so wonderful to hear. I know I'm  thinking about questions, but as you both are  
  • 40:54 speaking, I'm just absorbed in what you're saying.  Round of applause to both of you. It seems like  
  • 41:00 the growth is not just internal, but external  as well. I think to your point about strategic  
  • 41:04 partnerships and collaborative engagements with  others, the reality is we can't solve these  
  • 41:10 problems on our own and in silos. We recognize  our strengths and our competitive advantages and  
  • 41:15 we leverage others as well through the process. Obviously, what we're here for is to not only  
  • 41:22 hear about your experiences, but to give some  advice to others, like a lot of our listeners are  
  • 41:26 potential applicants. And they're eager to hear  from you both about what advice do you have and as  
  • 41:32 they start to put together their pitch deck. I'm  sure you all have, you've mentioned, that you've  
  • 41:37 refined your pitch deck since then. But imagine  putting yourself in the shoes of someone who  
  • 41:43 may not even have ever developed a pitch deck or  an application like the pitch competition, what  
  • 41:48 advice would you have for them as they're starting  this process? Itoro, if I could start with you.
  • 41:52 [Itoro Inoyo] Yeah. First, I would  
  • 41:55 say just put your idea out there, because a lot  of times, as human beings we do have self-doubt,  
  • 42:00 you question yourself, am I ready? Does the World  Bank even want to hear what I have to say? Yes  
  • 42:06 they do, they do. It's amazing. And just like  myself and Nonso, when we applied either we were  
  • 42:13 still very, very early. We were either in our  pilot phase or just finished the pilot phase,  
  • 42:18 and yet we made it to the finalist, and it's  literally because of a couple of things. 
  • 42:22 The first thing I would advise is practice,  practice, practice, honestly. Because when  
  • 42:28 you're developing your pitch deck, you may want  to have another eye, second, third, fourth eyes,  
  • 42:33 how many you wish. But having eyes on that  pitch deck to make sure that it's refined,  
  • 42:37 how are you telling your unique story? How are  you making sure that your idea is being heard? And  
  • 42:44 you're able to articulate that effectively to not  just the panelists and the people who are going to  
  • 42:50 be possibly creating, but even the audience as  well, because you've never ever know if there's  
  • 42:54 someone in the audience who is interested in  investing you, interested in partnering with you.  
  • 43:00 Working with some of our advisors, they were able  to give us tips on what to add, what to take out,  
  • 43:06 how to even tell our story. We did a bunch of  dry runs to make sure that we got it right.  
  • 43:13 Again, our pitch was a little different because  we had to record it ahead of time and we had a  
  • 43:19 time limit. So we went through a whole lot  of dry runs and then also recording it.  
  • 43:27 I think it was definitely an interesting part. But also another advice was probably to  
  • 43:31 do a lot of due diligence and do research,  because you're going to be asked questions.  
  • 43:36 It's not a negative thing if people ask  questions, in fact, it's a good thing,  
  • 43:41 because it shows that they're interested, but  you want to be sure that you're able to at least  
  • 43:46 answer some of the questions that are being thrown  your way during the pitch. Of course, not to be  
  • 43:52 too defensive. You want to make sure that you're  able to take the advice that are being provided,  
  • 43:57 because it will help you in the long run.  So for us, hearing some of the feedback, it  
  • 44:02 allowed us to go back into the… I feel like I said  drawing board so many times in this session. But  
  • 44:08 going back to the drawing board and making  sure that we refined what we were doing. 
  • 44:13 I think the last advice I would give is to make  sure that as you're telling your story, it aligns  
  • 44:18 with the theme. This year's theme, I think,  is unlocking the power for equitable growth.  
  • 44:25 Make sure that what you are pitching aligns  with that. How are you unlocking this power  
  • 44:30 for equitable growth? What's your team like?  What's the vision and mission for your company?  
  • 44:37 It's not just about revenue. What's your "why"?  What made you even go into this in the first  
  • 44:42 place? What I mentioned, the last question was our  pitch that looks completely different. Honestly,  
  • 44:50 when I look at it now, because I went back to  see what we present, I was like, oh my goodness.  
  • 44:55 But we have definitely refined it and  made sure that we added a few more  
  • 45:04 information that people may have access over time,  but I think if you're thinking about applying,  
  • 45:10 just do it. Just do it. It's  a great opportunity for sure.
  • 45:15 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Nonso, go ahead.
  • 45:18 [Nonso Opurum] I think Itoro used the  
  • 45:19 action word there. Just do it. First for me,  that was what I did. Being in business that was  
  • 45:26 a couple months old when we launched and we just  throw in the… We just did it, like Itoro said.  
  • 45:31 We are sending the application, it  was just an idea. And for us then,  
  • 45:35 it was a side project. We are doing other things,  but getting the validation of World Bank meant,  
  • 45:40 "Oh, wow. This is going to be good.  Okay. Let's keep doing it." We got  
  • 45:44 feedbacks. We had to refine what we are doing. So my only advice, I think between 2019 and  
  • 45:52 before the last Summit, I got a couple of people  reach out to me online, on LinkedIn, asking me  
  • 45:58 how I could assist them. So when I look at some  of the things they'll feel, I let them know it's  
  • 46:02 important that your work focus on sustainability.  How can you keep this going without external  
  • 46:07 funds? How can you grow the business too in a way  that you ensure that you're also maximizing profit  
  • 46:13 without focusing just on grant? And how is this  business solving problem in terms of inclusion,  
  • 46:21 solving the [inaudible] problem of poverty or  creating an economic opportunity for people?  
  • 46:25 I think if you are building anything, no matter  how small you want to start it, have the big  
  • 46:30 picture: Where do you want this business to be  in the next five or 10 years? That's important.  
  • 46:34 That vision is what guides you. One of the  things, I think, World Bank looks at for,  
  • 46:42 like Itoro said, your ability to articulate your  idea and importantly, the vision of your project.  
  • 46:48 How big is it? How scalable is it? How much  people do you [inaudible] to reach? If you can  
  • 46:54 serve more people, if you're thinking of serving  a small niche, of 1, 200 people, 300 people,  
  • 47:00 that application may not go through because  institutions like this look at how more they could  
  • 47:04 support solutions that are making greater impact  around the world. So my simple advice is: It's  
  • 47:10 always good to think big. Put in the application  but start very small. Thank you, Jescinta.
  • 47:16 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Thank you, Nonso. Such amazing  
  • 47:19 words of advice. The only thing I would add that  speaks to both of what you both touched on is  
  • 47:26 just to A: just do it. The worst-case scenario is  that we say no, but the best-case scenario is so  
  • 47:34 much more. One other thing I'd like to emphasize  is, obviously, I explained some of the different  
  • 47:39 rounds of the application process, and know  that myself and Arvind and our broader steering  
  • 47:44 committee team and the expert review committee,  we're all here to support and see your idea grow  
  • 47:49 and develop. All the comments and feedback is…  we're sort of on your team in this. Really, we've  
  • 47:55 invested in your idea and we want to think about  how we can help to sort of scale and improve it. 
  • 48:00 See us as one pit stop along your entrepreneurial  journey and really take advantage of this moment,  
  • 48:06 because at the end of the day, we want to do  what we can to provide the advice, the guidance,  
  • 48:10 the insights on how you can really have  a stellar pitch. The reality is that,  
  • 48:14 to Itoro's point, your pitch is going to keep on  growing, developing, and iterating following the  
  • 48:20 Summit. The moment that we have here with you, we  want to do our best to really make it the best it  
  • 48:25 can be at this stage and for the advice, the  support, and the mentorship that we provide to  
  • 48:30 support you along the way post-summit. So thank  you, Itoro, Nonso, for your amazing insights. 
  • 48:37 We have around five, seven minutes to open  it up for Q&A from the audience. Again,  
  • 48:43 these could be questions directed at Arvind and  myself about sort of the overall organization  
  • 48:48 and application, but also take advantage of the  fact that you have two amazing, stellar finalists  
  • 48:53 who have gone through the process and you've  heard about their experiences afterwards. So  
  • 48:58 please definitely direct some questions  towards them. As we wait for some questions  
  • 49:03 to come through the Q&A, I think I'll  just pose one to you, Itoro and Nonso.  
  • 49:09 It's been great to hear about your favorite part.  Obviously going through this, we've heard about  
  • 49:14 not challenges but different difficulties and  situations you've had to sort of work through. But  
  • 49:19 it'll be excited to hear about what's  something that you look back on fondly,  
  • 49:24 your favorite part of participating in  the overall pitch competition. Nonso. Or  
  • 49:35 actually Itoro, go ahead. [Itoro Inoyo] 
  • 49:37 Okay. Honestly, I think being able to be on that  platform to share what we were doing, how we were  
  • 49:45 bringing convenient, affordable, fast, quality  healthcare to people in Nigeria and across Africa.  
  • 49:52 But I think honestly, my favorite moment was  just having my friends and family cheer me on  
  • 49:58 in the crowd, virtual crowd. It was just  a very proud moment for myself and Jenny  
  • 50:05 to see how far we've come. And even now looking  back, we're even further than where we were  
  • 50:11 at that time. It definitely was a proud  moment. It felt good to be able to sit across  
  • 50:19 other youths that are doing work to change the  world and to make sure that, I don't want to  
  • 50:25 sound cliché, the world is a better place  through innovation and through technology. 
  • 50:31 I think another thing that I loved was seeing  people who look like me. My background is in  
  • 50:37 health. I'm just entering this tech space. And  I think initially when I started, maybe we would  
  • 50:43 have conversations, I didn't really see a lot  of black women or women from where I'm from.  
  • 50:49 I'm Nigerian. And it was really great to be on a  panelist with… I believe half of us were women. It  
  • 50:59 was just a really great experience to see that and  to see the work of young, bold, brilliant, minded  
  • 51:07 people who are doing work in their home countries  and around the world trying to provide solutions  
  • 51:13 to some of the problems that we all face today. I  think I just left the whole experience inspired.
  • 51:22 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Nonso, what about you?
  • 51:23 [Nonso Opurum] Well, I think, again, Itoro  
  • 51:26 has said it all. I was inspired. And being the  only company that was selected from West Africa,  
  • 51:32 it meant a lot to us, as a very small, tiny  business, and you get into such a huge and massive  
  • 51:38 platform. So we were really excited, the entire  team, friends. When we see all those small posts  
  • 51:45 on the internet from different organizations  tagging us, it was like a fulfilled moment for us.  
  • 51:52 In general, it was a great experience. Again, is  the mentorship that we got, the feedbacks from  
  • 51:58 the mentorship within the program and after the  program. They were all great. They had to look  
  • 52:04 internally into business model, tell us is best  to do this and that. We took in those feedbacks  
  • 52:09 and we went back and we implemented most of them. And post the program, we still have most of these  
  • 52:14 mentors that I can always send a mail to. And if  I need something from a place, I can send a mail  
  • 52:19 to them. They may know one or two person in that  country and they can always reference me. So it's  
  • 52:23 been a great experience for us in general. I  think in all, it's been super great for us.
  • 52:31 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Wonderful. Thank you both. As  
  • 52:35 much as we want to provide information, we also  want to build momentum and excitement. It's  
  • 52:39 good to know that looking back on the Summit,  you definitely have some memorable moments.  
  • 52:45 We see some questions, and I'm  actually going to pose this to Arvind.  
  • 52:49 We see some questions in the chat about some of  the prizes that I spoke about earlier. Arvind,  
  • 52:54 if you could just provide some  responses around the mentorship,  
  • 52:58 how we're going to structure that this year, as  well as if there's a cash prize for the winner.
  • 53:04 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Thank you, Jescinta. Before answering that  
  • 53:07 question, I think in the interest of time, we also  have the chat room where our [inaudible] live team  
  • 53:15 is logging and answering the questions. If there  is any question that you'd like to clarify,  
  • 53:20 I would urge the audience to look at the  chat box first. Coming back to your question,  
  • 53:25 Jescinta, I think the mentorship is one  of the key prizes for this year's Summit.  
  • 53:34 What we are planning and what we are in  the process of doing is to put together  
  • 53:40 a panel of experts who can provide time-bound  mentorship for our participants to help them  
  • 53:47 figure out key aspects of their business, business  model, customer acquisition strategy, etcetera.  
  • 53:55 These are experts who've already been there, done  that. Something that Itoro also mentioned about  
  • 54:02 iterating your business model becomes so  much more easier with a little more guidance.  
  • 54:07 That is something that we've learned from  previous participants that we're incorporating  
  • 54:11 into this year's Summit. It'll be time-bound.  It'll be a fixed number of sessions that  
  • 54:18 the mentor would spend with the  finalists and kind of work with them. 
  • 54:25 The second part about the cash prize. One of the  key things to remember is the World Bank's Pitch  
  • 54:33 Competition, Youth Summit Pitch Competition, is  more than the cash. It's also about the validating  
  • 54:39 factor that both applicants spoke about. It  is that platform that gives the applicants  
  • 54:50 a sort of validation where they can go and raise  more funds or even validate the [inaudible].  
  • 54:56 Having said that, I think cash is important  to get started. Your funding is what gets you  
  • 55:03 off the ground. That's the reality. So what we  are planning to do is also to have the finalist  
  • 55:11 pitch in front of potential investors. This is  an opportunity that the finalists can use to test  
  • 55:18 their ideas, if it's funding-worthy or go back to  the drawing board and re-work things. It's really  
  • 55:26 that opportunity that I think potential finalists  could use. I think that answers the question.  
  • 55:36 Jescinta, over to you. [Inaudible]. [Jescinta Izevbigie] It did. Thank you. One question that came  
  • 55:40 up around how many finalists, we're going to have  six finalists this year from each region and we  
  • 55:45 also plan to have two honorable mentions. And one  of the honorable mentions will actually be voted  
  • 55:50 on… will be selected live during the Youth Summit  and it'll be a fan audience favorite. In the  
  • 55:58 interest of time, we're sort of wrapping up and I  think it'd be great to hear just last advice and  
  • 56:03 comments from Itoro and Nonso. Again, for those  in the audience, please continue to post your  
  • 56:09 questions on the chat, but it'd be great  to end with partying words from Itoro and  
  • 56:18 Nonso. Nonso, do you want to go first?
  • 56:19 [Nonso Opurum] No, Itoro can go.
  • 56:21 [Itoro Inoyo] 
  • 56:22 Ah, Nonso, he put me on the spot. I think we've  said this theme about just doing it. Just do it.  
  • 56:29 I think one of the advice I would give is don't  doubt yourself. You have a brilliant idea. You're  
  • 56:36 capable of fulfilling this idea and making  it work. There's a reason that idea came to  
  • 56:42 you. You might be the best person to actually  implement this idea and see it through. And so  
  • 56:48 no more hiding. We're not going to dim  our light this year. It's a new year.  
  • 56:52 So I would advise that if there is a project,  an idea or something that you're working on,  
  • 56:58 this is the best place to just put it out  there. Let's all hear what you're doing. 
  • 57:03 It's not about who wins this grand prize. I think  they both have mentioned it's way more than the  
  • 57:07 money. You never know the partnerships that you'll  be able to develop from this, the friendships,  
  • 57:12 what you can learn from even co-finalists as  well. So there's so much more you stand to gain.  
  • 57:19 I would hope that at the end of this,  people just throw in their application  
  • 57:22 and start working on their pitch  deck, because it's so worth it.
  • 57:25 [Nonso Opurum] Well, for me, I think my  
  • 57:31 only advice to you there is be sure that you send  in your application this week. Use this weekend to  
  • 57:37 work on your application and turn it in. Don't  procrastinate. It's best to turn it in now,  
  • 57:42 so you can focus on other things and keep building  the business. No matter how early the business is,  
  • 57:48 just believe in yourself, like Itoro said.  Bring it out there and let them review it.  
  • 57:53 You never can tell the future of your business.  Don't doubt yourself. Go out there. Start the  
  • 57:58 business and see what would be the outcome of  the business. So in all, I wish you the best.
  • 58:02 [Jescinta Izevbigie] Wonderful. Thank you both so much. I feel  
  • 58:07 like I have nothing more to add. So I'm going to  hand it over to Arvind for some closing remarks.
  • 58:12 [Arvind Rajasekaran] Thank you so much, Jescinta. Thank you,  
  • 58:16 everyone. With that, we come to the end of this  informational webinar. We, from the Summit team,  
  • 58:23 would like to thank all of you for participating,  taking the time out and participating on Friday.  
  • 58:29 I'd like to thank our panelists, Itoro  and Nonso, for joining us despite your  
  • 58:35 busy schedules and growing your respective  organizations. Thank you so much [inaudible].  
  • 58:41 In terms of the key question about when and  where you can apply to the competition, we'll  
  • 58:48 be opening the application soon. Stay tuned  with the Summit's social media handles  
  • 58:55 for the launch dates of the competition  and any other updates that you might  
  • 59:00 keep track of. Thank you all  everyone. Have a great day. Bye.
Read the chat
Liviane

Hello everyone! Please submit your questions and comments now, using the chat feature. We look forward to interacting with you LIVE on February 11th!
Thu, 02/03/2022 - 18:23
khoa

Do you discriminate against the homeless like us?
Fri, 02/11/2022 - 09:39
Donatus Chanagia

what is the required length of a proposal ?
Fri, 02/11/2022 - 09:47
beyayem

Good day sir,Being a single person in a large and so populated a world is enough for one's opinions to be tossed out or overshadowed by opinions of a mass of people even if those opinions are not necessarily the best for everyone.we have seen this to be true and we can say the world is populated by alot of illiterate who can be motivated by a single act to rise up creating so much uproar that good politicians have no option but keep being good about1. Can we do this based on our personal understanding and acceptance of what is right or wrong about the three pillars of development mentioned2. Or we can just loose ourselves in the opinions of others so we try and look acceptable in their eyes.We go for 1Thank you
Fri, 02/11/2022 - 09:50
Adedayo

I am 37, can I join the summit?
Fri, 02/11/2022 - 09:51
 

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