Großer Jubel bei den Siegern von der Tunis Business School
Great cheers for the winners from Tunis Business School. Photo: Enactus Global
Jubel beim kasachischen Team
Enthusiasm and joy for the Kazakh team. Photo: Enactus Global

This year, student teams from all over the world that are engaged in social entrepreneurship came together this year in Astana (Kazakhstan) for the Enactus World Cup. Together, these teams are working to bring about sustainable impact and positive change through the projects they develop, always in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and under the motto “We all win”. The World Cup was also attended by many renowned personalities, including the country director of the UN Global Compact in Kazakhstan, Dinara Seijaparova, and the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Sayasat Nurbek, who gave a welcome speech on behalf of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

A special highlight was the release of the top 6 ranking of the thematic challenge Action with Africa, a contest that was launched in 2022. It is co-funded by the Wilo-Foundation and the Wilo Group as private sponsors, the main sponsor being 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 has been sponsoring the programme for the third consecutive year. As in the previous two years, the Wilo Group is again a sponsor for the topic of water (SDG 6) and the Wilo Water Excellence Award. Moreover, BASF sponsored further Excellence Awards again this year for projects that are aimed at fighting hunger and improving food security.

David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation, zweiter von links) bei der Award-Vergabe des Action-with-Africa Wettbewerbs
David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation, second from left) at the award ceremony of the Action with Africa competition. Photo: Enactus Global
Der Wettbewerb "Action with Africa" wird angekündigt
The Wilo-Foundation supports the "Action with Africa" competition. Photo: Enactus Global

The first prize of the “Action with Africa” challenge, with a monetary prize of 10,000 euros, went to the Nigerian team of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University with its Ecoresin project. Ecoresin produces organic resin from cassava starch. The resin can be used to manufacture packaging and containers and is an excellent alternative to the current polymer resins used to make plastic bags, for example. David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation) congratulated the teams personally and also sat on the international jury that evaluated the projects. All results and the winning teams of the Wilo and BASF awards can be found here.

The main prize of the Enactus World Cup, which this year brought together challengers from 30 countries, went to a Tunisian team. An audience of 2,000 people attended the breathtaking final at an impressive location, the QazExpo Congress Centre in Astana, and watched the student teams compete against each other, with the students of Tunis Business School beating the teams from Korea, Morocco and Germany. In its BOVITA project, the Tunisian team is developing a number of organic products designed to substitute antibiotics and chemical treatments in effectively curing and preventing bovine mastitis. This year’s national champion from Germany, DeBaCode of Enactus Karlsruhe, made it into the top 4 with its great presentations.

You can watch the highlights of the World Cups in the Official Aftermovie.

The 2025 World Cup, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Enactus, will be held in Bangkok, Thailand. 

David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation) bei der Award-Vergabe des Action-with-Africa Wettbewerbs
David Höltgen (Wilo-Foundation) at the award ceremony of the Action with Africa competition. Photo: Enactus Global