THE JOBTECH ALLIANCE CROSS BORDER JOBS STARTUP COMPETITION 2025 ($10K

October 21, 2025

We’re launching the Cross Border Jobs Startup Competition to identify and support bold startups shaping the future of labour mobility for Africans. This competition seeks to source bold ideas, spotlight existing solutions, and build momentum for safer, fairer, and scalable pathways for the African continent to move across borders
If you’re building a platform or service that helps African talent move, connect, and thrive across borders, we want to hear from you.

Africa’s labour market is expanding at an unprecedented pace. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 10–12 million young people are joining the labour market annually, yet only about 3 million formal sector jobs are being created. This gap leaves millions without viable and formal employment options at home. Meanwhile, regions such as Europe and the Gulf are grappling with acute labour shortages in industries and sectors like hospitality, construction and nursing among others. This mismatch creates both a challenge and an opportunity: African talent is eager to work, and the global demand is rising; but the systems to connect workers with the demand remain broken, risky and underinvested. And yet, when migration works, its impact is extraordinary. A single move from a low-income to a high-income country can increase incomes by 400 to over 1,000% within just one year. For an unskilled worker with limited prospects in Ghana, it would take over 40 years of domestic economic growth to match the income gains achieved through migration. The ripple effects also extend far beyond the individual: families benefit through better education, healthcare, housing, and stability, while communities gain from remittances and returning skills.

Name of Organizer

Jobtech Alliance

Requirements/ Eligibility Criteria

We are seeking startups that:

Facilitate worker mobilityacross African or global borders, through recruitment, placement and/or service management
Offer enabling services focused on the needs of migrants such as finance, language training, compliance, housing, or recruitment
Expand existing jobtech solutions into the labour mobility space

Eligible startups must satisfy all the following conditions:

Offer cross-border labour mobility solutions for Africans, between Africa and globally and across African borders
Have a registered business.
Though the business can be at any stage (including idea/MVP stage), some evidence of traction is preferred.
Adhere to principles relating to responsible and professional labor migration

Prizes

The top 3 startups win:

Grants worth $10k each
Access to the Jobtech Alliance’s tech perks worth up to $200,000 per company (including AWS credits and more)
Mentorship + community access through Jobtech Alliance, LaMP, IOM, and partners
Eligibility for follow-on support for startups showing strong traction