Five programmes are taking applications from African founders, with deadlines between October 16 and November 2, and the short descriptions circulating online leave out several conditions that decide whether you can apply. We checked each against the organisers’ own pages where we could. Deadlines other than MineTech’s come from third-party listings, so confirm every date on the official page before you start an application. Here is the list, in order of deadline.
- Pan-African MineTech Exploration Technology Pre-Incubation Programme (timbuktoo MineTech Hub and UNDP)
- Deadline: October 16, 2026.
- Who can apply: Teams of two to five people, all aged 18 to 35 and all based in the same country, which must be Botswana, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia or Zimbabwe. Teams need complementary skills in at least two disciplines, such as data science, mining engineering, geomatics or software engineering. You do not need a registered company, but you need a clear problem in mineral exploration, mining or related environmental work and an initial technology idea. Female applicants are strongly encouraged.
- What you get: Ten weeks of validation, then pitching and selection, prototyping through online workshops and hands-on work at local innovation hubs (UniPods), technical mentorship, industry contacts, intellectual property guidance and a technical review that may lead into incubation. Selected teams can receive seed funding, but UNDP does not state an amount.
- What to prepare: A valid national ID for each team member.
- Apply: Application form. Questions: zambia.minetech.hub@undp.org or coordinator@unipod.org.mw.
- Founder Dojo Imo, Cohort 2 (Imo Digital City and the US Market Access Center)
- Deadline: The listing says October 19, with a final deadline of November 2, 2026. We could not find either date on the pages we opened, so confirm before relying on them.
- Who can apply: Founders from across Nigeria, with or without a business idea. The site names no formal criteria.
- What you get: A year-long, no-cost programme. The structure, per Imo Digital City, runs from a three-day in-person bootcamp for 100 candidates down to 40 participants, 12 teams, six startups and finally three teams that spend three weeks in Silicon Valley. In-person sessions are in Owerri, Imo State, with remote mentoring from Silicon Valley founders. The UC Berkeley Sutardja Center is named as a partner. The site does not say whether the programme provides funding, so do not assume it does.
- Apply: Click “Register your interest” at founderdojoimo.com. Contact: info@founderdojoimo.com.
- Orange Corners Nigeria Innovation Challenge (unverified)
- Deadline: The listing says October 20, 2026. We could not confirm it.
- Who can apply: The listing says recent graduates based in Lagos or Ogun State.
- What it is said to offer: A six-week hybrid challenge on problems in Nigeria’s food system.
- What we could confirm: Orange Corners, the Netherlands-backed programme implemented in Nigeria by the FATE Foundation, runs cohorts in Lagos and, since 2024, Ogun State, for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35. We found no page describing this particular challenge, so check the Orange Corners Nigeria page or its official social channels, and be wary of any application link that does not lead back to orangecorners.com.
- DarE Program (Dar Ventures and Plug and Play)
- Deadline: October 24, 2026, according to one listing. Another announcement says only that applications opened on September 24.
- Who can apply: Pre-seed to pre-Series A startups building technology for architecture, engineering, construction and the built environment, with a working product or MVP and some early validation. It draws mainly from Europe, the Middle East and Africa and accepts international startups that want to enter the region.
- What you get: A 12-week, mostly virtual programme with three in-person touchpoints, starting with a kick-off week in November 2026 and ending with an expo in March 2027. Benefits include one-to-one mentorship, expert sessions, investor introductions and access to the Dar, Sidara and Plug and Play networks.
- Check before applying: The listing calls it equity-free, but none of the pages we read confirm that, so ask about equity and fees.
- Apply: Plug and Play’s DarE page.
- Her Startup, Cohort 2.0 (Founder Institute training)
- Deadline: October 26, 2026, from a third-party listing. The official site does not state a date.
- Who can apply: Women founders, co-founders or CEOs aged 18 to 35, running a technology-enabled business with an MVP or product on the market and at least US$500 in monthly revenue sustained for six months. Fintechs are capped at 20% of selected companies, and the programme aims for at least 15% from French-speaking Africa. Any African country is eligible, and applications can be in English or French.
- What you get: A 12-week Founder Institute intensive, a monthly stipend (amount not published) and six months of mentoring. The official site also mentions 14 weeks in one place, so confirm the length.
- About the $5,000: It is not an automatic grant. Founders who complete training can pitch to an investment committee for up to $5,000 in convertible revenue-based financing, repaid from revenue, and a pitch does not guarantee an award.
- Apply: apply.her-startup.com. No application fee is listed. The official site names the Tomorrow Foundation, the KSH Foundation and eha Impact Ventures as founding partners.
Before you apply to anything here, check that your country and team structure match the eligibility, that the deadline is on the organiser’s own page, and what you would give up, such as equity or revenue-based repayments. None of the programmes publishes acceptance rates, so apply early and prepare your documents now.
Sources: UNDP call for applications, Pan-African MineTech Pre-Incubation; Imo Digital City Founders Development Program; Founder Dojo Imo; Orange Corners Nigeria; Orange Corners on its Ogun State expansion; The Startup Scene on DarE; Startup Researcher on DarE; Morocco World News on the DarE and Plug and Play partnership; Her Startup; MSME Africa Online on Her Startup Cohort 2.0.
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