The Apprentice Africa is an African version of the original American Reality TV format,
The Apprentice, hosted by
Donald Trump. The show was hosted by Mr.
Biodun Shobanjo, an advertising magnate, co-founder of Insight Communications and CEO of Troyka Group. It gathered 18 contestants from across six African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda,Kenya, Cameroon and Guinea.
The Apprentice is described as the ultimate, sixteen week job interview, where contestants will compete in a series of rigorous business tasks, many of which include major companies and require street smarts and intelligence to conquer, in order to show the CEO that they are the best candidate for the job.
The Apprentice Africa will gather 18 contestants from across Africa and the diaspora who will compete for a lucrative corporate job with befitting perks and an annual salary of US$200,000 and a luxury car.
premiered in February 2008 and ended in June 2008.
The premier edition, shot in the
Nigerian commercial capital
Lagos, had eighteen episodes where contestants competed in seventeen business tasks requiring street smarts and corporate intelligence to conquer. Contestants were arranged into two groups and in each episode, the winning team was rewarded while the losing team meet the CEO and his associates in the boardroom to explain why they lost. The Project Manager for that task would choose two teammates perceived to be the reason for the lost or the weakest link in the team, one of whom would then be fired.
Isaac Dankyi-Koranteng, a 31 year old Sales and Marketing Manager from
Ghana, won the first season. He was hired by Biodun Shobanjo.