Are you a young business owner looking to shake up your hustle? For the second year running, MTN Pulse Youth Hustle Hub is offering South Africa’s young entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of a total cash prize pool of R1million – with the ultimate winner taking home R100 000 towards their hustle.

The MTN Pulse Youth Hustle Hub business incubation programme empowers young entrepreneurs in South Africa by providing them with business resources, mentorship, and most importantly, funding. Targeting individuals between the ages of 18-25, the campaign offers participants a chance to be one of 30 selected entrepreneurs who will each win a share of R1million – the 29 entrepreneurs will walk home with R30 000 each, and the ultimate winner takes home R100 000 in cash. The remaining R30 000 will be giveaway spot prizes.

To stand the chance of being in the top 30 winning "hustlers," interested entrepreneurs must upload a 60 second video promoting their hustle to social media tagging @MTNZa with the hashtags #MTNPulse and MTNYouthHustleHub2025.

In addition to the cash prize, the top 30 will also be hosted in Johannesburg by MTN Pulse to take part in an intensive week-long incubator programme. During this program, they will receive mentorship and undergo business analysis processes to assist them in identifying each of their business’ needs. On the final day of the program, the top 30 will present their business plans — which a panel of experts will have assisted them to refine and perfect — from which the ultimate winner of the MTN Pulse Youth Hustle Hub entrepreneur will be selected.

“To ensure that the Youth Hustle Hub programme empowers more than just the top 30, as part of the initiative, the public will be able to access entrepreneurial skills development podcasts, webinars, and additional content from entrepreneurship and business experts curated by the MTN Pulse team,” Seun Soladoye, GM: Consumer Prepaid at MTN South Africa explains.

"Already, before the first entry has even been posted on social media, MTN Youth Hustle Hub 2025 has been geared at ensuring it is empowering South Africa's young entrepreneurs. In that regard, for the artwork we are using across our marketing efforts for this year's Youth Hustle Hub, we specifically sought out exciting young creatives to partner with. All photography and videography were done by Rethang Sebeka and Lubabalo Mxalisa of In Common Productions. And as we see our work with Youth Hustle Hubbers as a long-term partnership between MTN and them, we also called on the class of 2024 to be the models for our artwork".

"Of course, we'd kept in close touch with our 2024 winner Thokozani Sibeko of Thee Light Bakery who with his winnings was able to expand his business and open a new bakery. But catching up with other members of the 2024 class of MTN Pulse Youth Hub and how they'd utilised their winnings to advance their businesses was both invigorating and a much-needed reminder of the hunger and the uniquely South African go-getter and 'vuk'uzenzele' spirit of our youth. But it was also a reminder just why MTN, through MTN Pulse, embarked on this initiative," Soladoye continues.

"While MTN Pulse Youth Hustle Hub kicked off last year, the class of 2024 really captures the spirit that underpins and drives MTN's new brand positioning of "Today We Make Moves." Perhaps no more so than this month, we are reminded that this spirit has always driven South Africa's youth, and as we kick off MTN Pulse Youth Hustle Hub 2025, we expect to see even more of that from this year's entrants,” concludes Soladoye.