Citi Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Citigroup, yesterday launched Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards for 2016 as part of its continuing efforts to promote micro-entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

The purpose of the awards is to put the spotlight on the local micro-entrepreneurs, who are helping uplift the economic fortunes of their communities and generating greater opportunities, said Wahiduddin Mahmud, chairperson of the awards' advisory council, at a press briefing at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.

One of the key features of this year's awards is that a new category has been added to the existing five categories, and that is -- best youth micro-entrepreneur, he said.

From this year, banks and financial institutions that provide microcredit can also apply for the awards in the institutional categories, he added.

Any enterprise, whether micro or small, should be grown gradually -- from micro to small, small to medium and then medium to big, Mahmud said.

“There should not be a missing middle that we see in many countries.”

The awards, which were initiated in 2005, will be given in six categories to promote micro-entrepreneurship.

A grant of $100,000 or around Tk 78 lakh from the Citi Foundation will be used towards implementing the awards programme as well as the winners' prize money.

The award giving ceremony is expected to be held in February and each winner will get prize money from Tk 1 lakh to Tk 4.50 lakh.

The best micro-entrepreneur will get Tk 4.5 lakh, while the best woman micro-entrepreneur, agriculture micro-entrepreneur, and youth micro-entrepreneur will receive Tk 3.5 lakh each. 

The runner-up in each category will receive Tk 1.5 lakh as prize money, while the second runner-up will get Tk 1 lakh.

There will be no prize money for the best microfinance institution and the most innovative microfinance institution from this year.

The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards is being supported by Citi Foundation, and implemented by Citibank NA Bangladesh and SAJIDA Foundation as local partners, with Credit and Development Forum (CDF) being the strategic partner.

The Daily Star and Channel i have joined the initiative as media partners, while Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation and Microcredit Regulatory Authority will provide technical support. Rashed Maqsood, Citi country officer for Bangladesh, Zahida Fizza Kabir, executive director of SAJIDA Foundation, and Abdul Awal, executive director of CDF, were also present.