VertreterInnen von ENACTUS Germany und der Gewinnerteams
Representatives of ENACTUS Germany and the winning teams after the TOP 4 winner announcement at the ENACTUS World Cup 2022 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo: ENACTUS

From 30 October to 2 November the 2022 Enactus World Cup (EWC) with more than 3,000 participants from all over the world took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico (highlight video). A special highlight was the release of the Top 4 ranking of the Action with Africa Race, a thematic contest that is co-funded by the Wilo-Foundation and the Wilo Group as private sponsors, in additon to financial support from the main sponsor, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, BMZ), represented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)). The Wilo-Foundation provides funding for the programme; the Wilo Group has been a partner of Enactus for the thematic area of “water” since this year and sponsored the “Wilo Water Excellence Award” in this context.

In national competitions, which take place annually and during the international World Cup, Enactus student teams develop business projects that focus on the global 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. They then present these projects to a judging panel that is made up of experts and scientists as well as representatives of companies and foundations. The winning teams receive financial prizes, advice and mentoring support from committed volunteers of the corporate sponsors.

Kinder liegen auf dem Boden in einem Kreis
Photo: ENACTUS

The winner of the “Action with Africa” race was the “Fish Waste” project developed by a team of students from Cairo University, followed by two other teams from Egypt who came in second and third. The team from Nigeria ranked fourth (to watch the video of the award ceremony, please click here).

These are the top 4 teams of the “Action with Africa” race:

First place: “Fish Waste” project (Cairo University, Egypt)

The project is based on the processing of fish waste. This waste would otherwise be thrown away and is now being used to make two products that will be launched on the Egyptian market.

Second place: “Sayla” (Ain Shams University, Egypt)

The project is aimed at overcoming health, environmental and economic problems that are caused by disposable diapers.

Third place: “Grow Green” project (Modern Academy, Egypt)

The project focuses on reusing agricultural waste, especially cotton stalks.

Fourth place: “Bettacoal” project (University of Agriculture, Nigeria)

BettaCoal is a smokeless, affordabe solid cooking fuel made of dry waste and forest products and agricultural residues.

In addition to the winners of the “Action with Africa” race, the 2022 winners were also announced in four other global races. The winner of the Race for Climate Action was the Indian project “Shrimati”. The team from Cologne University with its “Save the Grain“ project won the first prize in the Race to Feed the Planet. The Race 1 Race 4 Oceans, which was also supported by the Wilo-Foundation in 2020 and 2021, was the Mexican project “Cplantae”. And in the Race to Rethink Plastic it was also a team from India who won the first prize, having impressed the jury with its “Amanat” project.

The champion of this year’s Enactus World Cup, winning prize money of 50,000 US dollars, was the “Crevita” project team from Ain Shams University in Egypt. Crevita is a social business specialising in the harvesting and use of crayfish shells from the river Nile. Crevita has created 325 jobs, generated revenues of 6.5 million Egyptian pounds and increased the incomes of beneficiaries by 260 per cent.

The next Enactus World Cup, which will also feature the second edition of the “Action with Africa” race, will be held in Utrecht, Netherlands, from 17 to 20 October 2023.