Queen's free online business programme for students in Africa

This guide is for a Nigerian student, or a fresh graduate, who has a business idea, or the start of one, and no money, no connection and nobody abroad. Queen's University, a university in Kingston, Canada, runs a free eight-month business programme online for African students and recent graduates. Its name is the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship. It is one programme, about building your own business, and it takes students of any course, from any university, polytechnic or other school after secondary school in Africa. In January you could be signing in to a Canadian university's course from your own room, with a coach of your own, building the business you have been turning over in your head. You do it from your phone or laptop at home: there is no visa, no travel and no fee. More than a thousand people start in January 2027. The programme runs in three online stages (phases). Up to sixty are picked for the last one in May; each gets a one-off payment (a stipend) of close to half a million naira, and at the end a few of them present their business to judges (a pitch) for prizes. The form closes on Tuesday 1 December 2026 at 6:59 pm Nigerian time.

This guide takes you from the idea in your head to your first day in the programme in January, and on to the final pitch in August, one stage at a time: what you do, where, what you need, what it costs, how long it takes and what comes next. Every date, amount and rule in it comes from Queen's University's own pages. Updated on 3 November 2026.

Applying costs you nothing and taking part costs you nothing. What you spend is your data and at least ten hours a week. Nobody can promise you a place, a spot among the sixty, the stipend or a prize, including us. Only Queen's decides who joins and who moves up.

Where the window stands today

On 3 November 2026 the form for the 2027 programme is open. The form reads: "Applications are due December 1, 2026, at 12:59 pm ET." ET is the time in Kingston, Canada. On 1 December Kingston is six hours behind Nigeria, so 12:59 pm there is 6:59 pm in Nigeria on Tuesday 1 December 2026. Not midnight: the evening.

If you are reading this after 6:59 pm on 1 December 2026, this window has closed. If you sent the form in time, go to Stage 5 (the wait). If you did not, go to Part 8, If the window has closed.

From today: what you can still finish

Count the days from today to 1 December 2026 and find your row. Then find the column for what you already hold. What the form asks after its first page: we cannot tell yet. Whatever it asks, the work only you can do is thinking about the problem and the people who have it, and that is where the first phase starts.

If you are not a citizen of an African country, or you are neither a student now nor a recent graduate, read "Who it's for", below, first.

The real form, who it's for and the steps to start

These are the three things this route turns on. Each comes from Queen's University's own pages.

The real form

Apply here, and only here: Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship Application Form, opens in a new tab. It is Queen's own form. Its first page says: "Please note that this application and program is offered at no cost. All official communications will be sent from jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca."

Two buttons. Only one is the form. On the programme's page (Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship, opens in a new tab) there are two buttons:

• "Apply By December 1, 2026" opens the form above. This is the one.
• "Sign up to be notified when applications launch!" opens a different page, a mailing list (its title is "Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship Application Launch Mailing List"), and today that page says only "Sorry, this survey is not currently active." It does not mean the programme is closed. The form is open. Go back and press "Apply By December 1, 2026".

The close: Tuesday 1 December 2026, 6:59 pm Nigerian time ("12:59 pm ET" on the form).

The cost: nothing, to apply or to take part.

The one email address: every official email comes from jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca, and questions go to the same address. Queen's posted a fraud alert in November 2024 after someone "solicited application fees for the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship". Queen's centre that runs the programme (DDQIC) and the foundation that pays for it (the Mastercard Foundation) say: "The DDQIC and the Mastercard Foundation do not charge any fees for the application to the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship." Queen's says the fraud reached young people "via email and WhatsApp", "requesting personal information and fraudulent application fees". So a message from any other address that asks you for a fee, your personal details or your bank details is not one to answer. From January your coach may book time with you on WhatsApp ("via email or through WhatsApp"); that is about your work, and nobody in the programme asks you to pay.

What the form looks like. Its first page gives the dates, the no-cost line, the email address and the five lines below, with one button, "Next". What it asks after the first page: we cannot tell yet. That is why Stage 1 has you copy its questions into your notes before you write a word.

The partners. Queen's runs the programme itself and with partner organisations across Africa; one of them, Future Perspectives, has an office in Lagos. Their pages are fine to read, but the only form is the one above, and nobody can sell you a place.

Who it's for

The form asks you to make sure of five things before you start. In its own words:

1. "You are a citizen of an African country." If you are Nigerian, this line is you.
2. "You are a student currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution or a recent graduate." A post-secondary institution is a school you enter after secondary school, so a polytechnic, a college of education or a monotechnic as well as a university. Queen's programme page says "any post-secondary institution in Africa", and this guide goes by that, the stricter of the two. How long after graduation still counts as recent: we cannot tell yet.
3. "You have a desire to solve pressing problems and bring an entrepreneurial idea to life." An idea is enough. You do not need a registered business.
4. "You can commit to completing all three phases of the online program if selected." January to August 2027.
5. "You have reliable access to the internet and a device to participate in virtual sessions and complete online assignments." A phone with data can do it; a laptop makes the assignments easier.

Also on Queen's pages:

• Any course. "We welcome students and recent graduates from all academic disciplines and any post-secondary institution in Africa." Your course does not have to be business.
• No business needed yet. "Whether you're already building a business or just exploring a new idea, this program will help you take the next step." Queen's Gazette, its university newspaper, in November 2025: "Participants do not need to have an existing business before they apply."
• Any school. You do not need to be at a school linked to the Mastercard Foundation. The FAQ: "the program welcomes applicants from any university across Africa", and "being an MCF student or not being an MCF student will not affect your participation in this program" (MCF is the Mastercard Foundation).
• No age line. Some listings say you must be between 25 and 35. No Queen's page prints an age limit, and the form's five lines carry none.
• Time. "at least 10 hours per week". You go at your own pace, but "participants must meet assignment deadlines to advance through the program phases."
• English. "Program content is delivered in English" and "Assignments and pitches must be completed in English." If English is hard for you, Queen's says you can "Form a team with someone who can meet the English-language requirements".
• A team is welcome. "you are welcome to work with co-founders who are not part of the program."
• Data is yours to find. The FAQ: "As far as internet is concerned, we cannot do anything about it, unfortunately." It suggests a school library, or asking your family "for more internet allowance for a period of two months." Queen's offers "downloadable content" and "lower-resolution pre-recorded lessons", so plan to download on Wi-Fi or a night bundle and watch offline.

If you graduated some years ago, and you are not sure you still count as recent, send this to jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca before you apply, and apply anyway before the close if no answer has come:

> Good day. I am a citizen of Nigeria and I want to apply for the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship 2027. I graduated from [your school] in [month and year] with [your qualification, for example HND or BSc]. [I am doing / I finished] my national youth service (NYSC) in [month and year]. Do I count as a recent graduate for this round? Thank you. [Your full name]

The steps to start

1. This evening: open the real form and read its five lines. Press "Apply By December 1, 2026" on the programme's page, or open the form's address above. Five minutes, no cost. If all five lines are you, go on. Once your problem and customer are written (step 2), press "Next" and copy its questions into your notes.
2. Write down the one problem your idea solves, and who has that problem. The first phase opens on two questions, "Who is my customer?" and "What can I do for them?", and its first tasks are talking to the people who have the problem. Write two or three plain sentences in your notes app: the problem, the people who have it, and what you would do for them.
3. Free up the hours and plan your data. Look at your timetable or your work week and mark at least ten hours a week from January to August 2027. Plan your data for those months now.
4. Decide whether you build alone or with someone. A co-founder can be outside the programme. If English is hard for you, a teammate who writes it well helps.
5. Fill the form and send it by Monday 30 November 2026. The form closes at 6:59 pm Nigerian time on Tuesday 1 December 2026. Write your answers in your notes first, then paste them in, so a network that cuts out does not eat your work.
6. Watch your email, and your spam folder, for jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca. The form: "Successful candidates will be notified of our decision by the end of December 2026."

Part 1. Before you start

What this is

The programme in Queen's words: "The Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship gives African students and recent graduates the opportunity to access training, resources, financial support and a network of mentors to develop their entrepreneurial skills and start building their own venture." It runs for eight months, in three online courses, and you move from one to the next by doing the work: the form says "the program is split into three online courses where you will learn the foundations of entrepreneurship, receive virtual coaching, develop your own business idea, and demonstrate your commitment in order to advance to the next course."

What you get, from the programme page:

• Classes and a workbook. A business course "delivered by Queen's University faculty and industry leaders", and a step-by-step workbook for building a business (the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework).
• Your own coach. "Every participant is paired with a program coach for one-on-one guidance and gains access to a community of more than 15 mentors to support their entrepreneurial journey." The mentors include "Oluwasegun Oluwaleti, founder of Water Boy".
• Certificates. "All Queen's University digital badges and certificates are provided free of charge and can be accessed online anytime, from anywhere." You earn them as you finish each part.
• Money, for the last phase only. "Up to 60 Fellows will be selected in the final phase to receive a stipend of $500 CAD" (about ₦475,000), and "Opportunities to pitch for prizes of up to $15,000 CAD in the pitch competition at the end of the program" (about ₦14.2 million at the top). Queen's often calls the people picked for the last phase Fellows; its FAQ also uses the word for everybody who has taken part.

It is built for people with weak network: Queen's says the programme "has been adapted to support participants with limited internet access, offering downloadable content", with "lower-resolution pre-recorded lessons, mobile-friendly coursework".

The bodies you will deal with

• Queen's University: a university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, "established 1841". It runs the programme.
• The Dunin-Deshpande Innovation Centre at Queen's University (DDQIC): the university's centre for people starting businesses. It delivers the programme "both directly and in collaboration with delivery partner organizations across Africa", and its team writes to you from jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca.
• The Mastercard Foundation: the foundation that set up these fellowships with a gift to Queen's. Queen's Gazette: "The Mastercard Foundation created these fellowships through an endowed donation to Queen's University in honour of Jim Leech, former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Mastercard Foundation". Jim Leech is the man the programme is named after.
• Future Perspectives: an organisation with an office in Lagos that helps Queen's deliver the programme in Nigeria. Its page: "Future Perspectives, a delivery partner of DDQIC, equips participants with mentorship, training, and funding support to ensure their successful completion of the program." It has no form of its own. You apply on Queen's form only.
• Queen's course website (OnQ): where the classes and the assignments live once you are in.

Nobody gets you in but your own form. A page, a group or a person that offers to get you in, sells you a form or asks you to pay is not the programme.

The money, in plain words

What you pay: nothing. "Please note that this application and program is offered at no cost." What you spend yourself is your data, your device and your time.

The stipend: for the up to sixty picked for the last phase. Queen's prints it in two currencies on the same page. The list of benefits says "a stipend of $500 CAD" (about ₦475,000); the timeline for the last phase says "Fellows will receive a USD 350 stipend" (about ₦467,000). The FAQ speaks of "the $500 CAD awarded to all Fellows in the Launch Phase". Whichever it is, it is close to half a million naira, once, not a monthly pay. Which of the two Queen's will pay in 2027: we cannot tell yet. The FAQ adds: "No, you don't need to justify your spending for the $500 CAD". Queen's 2025 report says how it was paid in the 2025 round: "A form was sent to them with instructions on how to access the stipend through wire transfer."

The prizes: for the few who win the final pitch. "Opportunities to pitch for prizes of up to $15,000 CAD in the pitch competition at the end of the program" (about ₦14.2 million at the top). That is the ceiling, not what each person gets. For the 2025 final, Queen's report printed "a prize pool of $20,000 CAD" (about ₦19 million), and the final took 15 people. The awards Queen's lists for 2026 were 7,000, 6,000, three of 4,500, and 3,500; for 2025, 6,500, two of 3,250, four of 1,750 and two of 1,000. Queen's prints those with a dollar sign and does not say which dollar.

Nobody takes a share of your business. The FAQ: "The awards are non-equity, meaning we do not seek ownership or a share of your business."

Naira figures are at the rates of record of 20 October 2026, ₦949 to the Canadian dollar and ₦1,333 to the US dollar, and are rounded.

Check that you can start

Answer these four questions in order. A "no" tells you where you stand.

1. Are you a citizen of an African country? If you are Nigerian, yes. If not, this programme is not yours.
2. Are you a student now, at a university, polytechnic, college of education or any school after secondary school in Africa, or a recent graduate? If you are a student, yes. If you have graduated, read the line on recent graduates in "Who it's for", above; if you graduated some years ago, send the message there before you apply.
3. Can you give at least ten hours a week from January to August 2027, with data and a device? If your exams, your service year or your work leave you less than that in some weeks, you can go at your own pace, but every assignment has its deadline. If you cannot give the hours at all this year, go to Part 8 and get ready for the next round.
4. Can you say in two sentences what problem your idea solves and who has it? If yes, you are ready for Stage 1. If not, Stage 2 is where you start.

The two things people get wrong

Either can cost you the programme. First, they press "Sign up to be notified", read "Sorry, this survey is not currently active", and walk away thinking the programme has closed. It has not: the form behind "Apply By December 1, 2026" is open until 6:59 pm Nigerian time on 1 December 2026. Second, they read a headline that says "fully funded" or "$15,000 opportunity" and think every person picked gets fifteen thousand dollars. Up to sixty get a stipend of close to half a million naira. CAD 15,000 is the top prize at the final pitch, for the few who win it. Go in knowing what you are working for: training with your own coach from January, a Queen's badge for each part you finish, a business you have tested with real customers, and the chance to move up to the stipend and the final pitch.

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

1. Read the form's five lines and check you fit (Stage 1). This evening. Free.
2. Write down your problem and your customer (Stage 2). This week. Free.
3. Plan your hours, your data and your team (Stage 3). This week. Free.
4. Fill the form and send it (Stage 4). By Monday 30 November 2026; the form closes Tuesday 1 December at 6:59 pm. Free.
5. The wait and the email (Stage 5). "by the end of December 2026".
6. Your Queen's login and the course website (Stage 6). After a yes, before January.
7. Explore, your first day in the programme (Stage 7). January to February 2027. More than a thousand start.
8. Ignite (Stage 8). March to April 2027. "180+" move up, build a simple version and pitch.
9. Launch, and the stipend (Stage 9). May to August 2027. Up to sixty, close to half a million naira each.
10. The final pitch (Stage 10). August 2027. Prizes of up to CAD 15,000 (about ₦14.2 million), the ceiling, for the few who win.

What runs at the same time: while you write your problem and your customer (Stage 2), plan your hours and your data (Stage 3). While you wait for the email (Stage 5), keep talking to customers, because Explore starts there.

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Read the form's five lines and check you fit

Back to the short stages

Why. The form's first page says in five lines who it is for, and many reposts of this programme carry old dates, an age limit Queen's does not print, or a headline like "$15K funding" that reads as if everybody picked gets fifteen thousand dollars. Reading the real form first settles all of it.

What you do.

1. Open the programme's page, Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship, opens in a new tab, and press "Apply By December 1, 2026". Not "Sign up to be notified".
2. Read the form's first page from top to bottom: the dates, the no-cost line, the email address and the five lines.
3. When you have written your problem and your customer (Stage 2), open the form again, press "Next" and copy each question into your notes, or screenshot each page, before you answer anything. If a page will not let you go on until you answer, answer from your notes and go on. If a question asks for something you do not have to hand, you now have weeks to get it.
4. Answer the four questions of Check that you can start.

What you need. Your phone and data.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. Five minutes for the form's first page; an evening for the programme's page and the FAQ (African Entrepreneurship FAQ Page, opens in a new tab).

How you know it is done. You have the form open, and you can say yes to each of its five lines.

What opens next. Stage 2, the same week.

What goes wrong, and what you do. You pressed "Sign up to be notified" and saw "Sorry, this survey is not currently active." Go back and press "Apply By December 1, 2026". A listing told you the deadline is 15 December: that was the last round's close (15 December 2025). This year's is 1 December 2026.

Stage 2. Write down your problem and your customer

Back to the short stages

Why. The programme starts with the customer. The first phase's two questions are "Who is my customer?" and "What can I do for them?", and its first tasks are "Make observations through interviews or some other means" and "Clearly define and validate the problem you are solving by speaking to end users". A form written from that, in your own words, shows the work Queen's is looking for: people who are "Committed to developing their entrepreneurial mindset".

What you do.

1. Write the problem in one sentence: what goes wrong, for whom, and how often.
2. Write who has it: the people, where they are, how many you know of.
3. Talk to five people who have the problem: ask them how they deal with it now and what it costs them. Write down what they say, in their words.
4. Write what you would do for them, in two sentences.

What you need. Your notes app, and five people who have the problem: classmates, traders near your school, people in your area.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. A week of evenings, if you have the time; one long evening if you do not.

How you know it is done. You have the problem, the customer and your idea in plain sentences, and what five people said.

What runs at the same time. Stage 3.

What opens next. Stage 1, step 3, then Stage 4.

What goes wrong, and what you do. You wrote a list of products: rewrite it as the problem people have and how you solve it. You have an idea but have talked to nobody: talk to three people this week, even if the close is near.

Stage 3. Plan your hours, your data and your team

Back to the short stages

Why. Queen's asks for "at least 10 hours per week", and you move up only by meeting each assignment's deadline. Data is the cost people meet: the FAQ says "As far as internet is concerned, we cannot do anything about it, unfortunately."

What you do.

1. Mark ten hours a week in your timetable from January to August 2027: two evenings and a weekend morning, or whatever fits your exams and your work.
2. Plan your data for those months: a monthly bundle, your school library's internet, or, as Queen's FAQ suggests, asking your family for a data allowance once you are in.
3. Decide whether you build alone or with a co-founder. Queen's FAQ: "We highly encourage team formation". Your co-founder can be outside the programme.

What you need. Your timetable, and a phone or laptop you can use every week.

What it costs. Nothing now. Your data from January.

How long. An evening.

How you know it is done. You can name your ten hours and how you will pay for your data.

What opens next. Stage 4.

Stage 4. Fill the form and send it

Back to the short stages

Why. The form is the only entry. Nobody nominates you: you fill it and send it yourself.

What you do.

1. Open the form, opens in a new tab on the phone or laptop you used in Stage 1.
2. Write each answer in your notes first, to the questions you copied in Stage 1. Draw on what you wrote in Stage 2: your problem, your customer, what you would do for them, what you have done so far, and who is on your team.
3. Paste each answer into the form. Use your name exactly as it is on your national ID or your school records, the same each time, and an email address you read every day: every message from Queen's goes there.
4. Read the whole form once more and send it. Screenshot whatever the form shows after you send it, and keep any email that follows.

What you need. Your answers, your email address, and the time to fill the form in one sitting.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. An evening or two.

When. By Monday 30 November 2026. The form closes on Tuesday 1 December 2026 at 6:59 pm Nigerian time.

How you know it is done. You have sent the form and kept the screenshot.

What opens next. Stage 5, the wait.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• The network cuts out while you type: that is why your answers live in your notes first.
• You wrote what you hope to do: add what you have already done, even small (the five people you talked to, a first sale, a sample).
• You left it for the evening of 1 December: the form closes at 6:59 pm, not midnight.

Stage 5. The wait and the email

Back to the short stages

Why. Queen's reads the forms and picks who starts in January. In the 2025 round more than 5,500 applied and 1,000 took part in the first phase (Queen's 2025 report).

What you do. Watch the inbox of the email you gave, and its spam folder, for jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca. The form: "Successful candidates will be notified of our decision by the end of December 2026." The FAQ: "The results of successful applicants are announced in late December for the next-cohort of Fellows starting January." Any message that asks you to pay, including a "processing" fee, is not from Queen's: "The DDQIC and the Mastercard Foundation do not charge any fees". Answer only jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca.

What you need. Your email, read every day.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. To the end of December 2026.

How you know it is done. An email from jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca. If nothing has come by the first week of January 2027, check your spam folder again, then write to jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca with your full name and the email you used on the form.

What runs at the same time. Keep talking to customers and keep your notes. The first phase starts there.

What opens next. Stage 6, your Queen's login.

If you are not picked. Go to If you are not picked in Part 4.

Stage 6. Your Queen's login and the course website

Back to the short stages

Why. Everything in the programme happens on Queen's course website (OnQ) and through a Queen's email address that comes with your Queen's login (NetID). The FAQ: "We will communicate with you through this email throughout this program."

What you do. Follow the steps in Queen's email, in order:

1. Activate your Queen's login (NetID) by the steps in Queen's email. Queen's gives you a date of birth to type: "We provided you with a birthdate that is not your actual birthdate, it is only used for NetID activation." Type the one Queen's gave you, not your own.
2. Sign in to Queen's course website, opens in a new tab with your Queen's email, which is your login followed by @queensu.ca ("YourQueensNetID@queensu.ca"). The course is under "My Courses > All > Explore Entrepreneurship Training Program".
3. Open your Queen's email with the same login, and check it every day from now.

What you need. The acceptance email, and a phone or laptop.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. An hour.

How you know it is done. You can sign in to the course website and you can read your Queen's email.

What goes wrong, and what you do. You are locked out: use Queen's account recovery page, opens in a new tab. You cannot log in after the steps: write to jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca; if that does not fix it, Queen's IT Support Centre is on +1 613 533 6666 (a Canadian number, so an international call). You can see only Module 1: that is how the course works; the FAQ says "you must complete all the content in Module 1 before accessing Module 2".

What opens next. Stage 7, your first day.

Stage 7. Explore: your first day in the programme

Back to the short stages

This is the arrival. January 2027: you sign in to Queen's course website and start, one of more than a thousand young Africans building a business with a university in Canada, from your own room. "1000+ exceptional candidates receive access to a curated list of online entrepreneurship courses and work through the first 11 steps of the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework workbook."

What you do. For January and February 2027, take the classes, work through the first eleven steps of the workbook on your own idea, and talk to the people who have your problem. Queen's milestones for this phase: "Make observations through interviews or some other means", "Clearly define and validate the problem you are solving by speaking to end users", "Validate or invalidate key assumptions", "Ideate", and "Create a journey map of your end users' experience using your solution". In the 2025 round there were weekly online sessions with the coaches and mentors (office hours); the FAQ calls them "not a required component" but "highly encouraged".

What you hand in. The FAQ lists five: "The mandatory DE Worksheets" (the workbook's worksheets), "The Modules Quizzes", two workshops, one on design thinking and one on working as a team ("The Design Thinking Workshop", "The High Performance Teams Workshop"), and "The Business Model Canvas" (a one-page plan of how your business makes money).

Your coach. You have one coach of your own. The mentors are a wider group anyone in the programme can write to; nobody is given one (the FAQ: "participants are not assigned a mentor. You are welcome to reach out to all mentors"; their contacts are on the course website). Book time with your coach "via email or through WhatsApp", and send your questions ahead.

What it costs. Nothing. Your data.

How long. Two months, at least ten hours a week.

How you know it is done. You have handed in all five items by their deadlines and Queen's tells you who moves up. A badge comes by email: "Once you have met the submission and grade requirements to receive a badge, you will receive an email".

One person who did it, a 2026 participant from Kenya, wrote on Queen's page: "Each phase naturally led into the next, taking us from an idea to actually building, testing, and thinking seriously about our ventures."

What goes wrong, and what you do. You fall behind on an assignment: you move up only by meeting each deadline, so plan each week's work on Monday. Your data runs out: download the lessons when you have network, since Queen's offers "downloadable content". Your idea changes after talking to customers: the FAQ calls that "usually a good sign"; keep testing the new idea.

What opens next. Stage 8, for the people Queen's moves up. If you are not moved up, you keep the badges you have earned (Queen's badges "can be accessed online anytime, from anywhere"), your workbook and your tested idea, and you can apply again in the next round (Part 8).

Stage 8. Ignite

Back to the short stages

Why. It is where you build the simplest version of your idea and pitch for the last phase. "180+ finalists with an outstanding commitment to the entrepreneurship process, who will have excelled at the milestones set out in phase one will be selected to join this phase." "At the end of this phase, the participants will pitch their ideas, competing for the fellowship" (here, the fellowship is a place among the up to sixty in the last phase).

What you do. For March and April 2027, more classes and the rest of the workbook, with these milestones: "Develop channels to market and reach out to any necessary partners", "Create a business model or a plan for funding your solution", build the simplest version of your idea that still lets you get real feedback from the people who will use it (a prototype), and test your ideas with it. In the 2025 round, at the end of April, "participants are required to upload a pre-recorded pitch to OnQ": a short recorded talk where you present your business. Record yours early, on a quiet day with good light and network.

What it costs. Nothing. Your data.

How long. Two months.

How you know it is done. Your pitch is uploaded, and Queen's names up to sixty for the last phase.

What opens next. Stage 9, for up to sixty. If you are not moved up, you keep the badges you have earned (Queen's badges "can be accessed online anytime, from anywhere"), your workbook and your tested idea, and you can apply again in the next round (Part 8).

Stage 9. Launch, and the stipend

Back to the short stages

Why. It is where your business meets real customers with Queen's coaches beside you: four months of close support while you build your business (incubation). "Up to 60 Fellows will be selected to join DDQIC's summer incubation program. During this phase, Fellows will get the opportunity to work on their ideas, access seed funding, and participate in weekly 3-2-1 pitch presentations" (seed funding is money to start the business).

What you do. For May to August 2027, run your business in the real world: "Pilot your solution in a more real life scenario", "Generate expressions of interest, end users, or customers" and "Create a plan to scale". Give regular short pitches, three slides, two minutes and one minute of questions (Queen's calls it a 3-2-1). Queen's FAQ suggests opening with one line that gives your product's name, what it is, what it does, and how it differs from what people use now. In the 2025 round there were "1-3 weekly seminars".

The stipend. Close to half a million naira, once: "a stipend of $500 CAD" (about ₦475,000) in the benefits list, "a USD 350 stipend" (about ₦467,000) in the timeline. Which of the two Queen's will pay in 2027: we cannot tell yet. In the 2025 round "A form was sent to them with instructions on how to access the stipend through wire transfer." Check that it comes from jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca, the address all official messages come from, then fill it with the bank details of an account in your own name, exactly as the bank prints them. Nothing is paid to receive it. If you have never received money from abroad, ask your bank before May what it needs from you to receive a wire transfer from abroad. You do not have to report how you spend it.

One 2025 participant told Queen's for its 2025 report: "Coaches were very approachable and ready to help whenever I reached out", and the report says her stipend let her venture "stock new materials and expand production."

What it costs. Nothing. Your data.

How long. Four months.

How you know it is done. You have run your pilot, given your pitches, and Queen's tells you whether you are in the final pitch.

What opens next. Stage 10.

Stage 10. The final pitch

Back to the short stages

Why. It is where the prizes are won. "Fellows will have the opportunity to compete in a pitch competition for more seed funding at the end of the program." In the 2025 round the final took 15 people, chosen in a qualifying pitch, and each gave a three-minute pitch to the judges, watched at gatherings in 11 countries, Lagos among them.

What you could win. "prizes of up to $15,000 CAD" (about ₦14.2 million at the top). The 2025 awards, as Queen's report prints them (with a dollar sign, no currency named), ran from 6,500 down to 1,000, and Nigerian ventures were among the winners: a home care service for elderly people in Nigeria took 3,250, and a food business fighting child malnutrition in Nigeria took 1,750. The prizes are "non-equity": Queen's takes no share of your business.

What it costs. Nothing.

How you know it is done. The judges name the winners. "Startup entrepreneurs (Fellows) will complete their incubation program at the end of August."

What follows. Whether you win or not, you leave with Queen's certificates, a business tested with real customers, your coach and mentors, and a network of founders across Africa. "After graduation, Fellows will continue to receive post-incubation services, support, and pitch competition opportunities as part of DDQIC's network." "High-performing Fellows will be invited to participate as ambassadors and mentors" for later rounds.

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

• Tuesday 1 December 2026, 6:59 pm Nigerian time: the form closes ("12:59 pm ET"). Send it by Monday 30 November.
• End of December 2026: Queen's tells the people it picks.
• Every assignment from January 2027: each has its own deadline on the course website, and you move up only by meeting them.
• End of April 2027: in the 2025 round, the recorded pitch for the last phase was due then.

What stops people, and what you do

• The wrong button. "Sign up to be notified" is a mailing list that says "not currently active". Press "Apply By December 1, 2026".
• The evening of 1 December. The form closes at 6:59 pm Nigerian time, not midnight.
• A form full of hopes and no customers. Talk to the people with the problem before you write, and say what they told you.
• Paying somebody. There is nothing to pay. Anybody who asks for an application fee, money for a form, or money to get you picked or to release the stipend is not from Queen's.
• A listing's own form. Some websites that repost this programme carry an "Apply" form of their own. Queen's form is the only one.
• Falling behind. You go at your own pace, but every assignment has a deadline. Plan ten hours a week before January.
• Data. Plan it before January. Queen's does not pay for it.
• Missing an email. Read your inbox and spam folder for jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca, and from January your Queen's email, every day.

If you are not picked

Keep your notes and keep talking to customers. Queen's FAQ answers "Can previous program participants re-apply to the program?" with "Previous Fellows are able to participate in the program again." Somebody who already reached the last phase (Launch) once does not get the stipend a second time, the FAQ says, and there may be limits on the seed funding too. Apply in the next round (Part 8).

Part 5. If you already did some of this

Start at the first stage you have not finished.

• You have read the form's five lines and you fit. Start at Stage 2 today.
• You have your problem and customer written down. Plan your hours and data (Stage 3), then the form (Stage 4).
• You pressed "Sign up to be notified" and saw "not currently active". The programme is open. Go to Stage 1, step 1, and press the other button.
• You have started the form. Finish it from your notes and send it by 30 November 2026 (Stage 4).
• You have sent the form. Start at Stage 5: watch your email.
• You have Queen's email saying yes. Start at Stage 6.
• You took part in an earlier round. Read Stage 1 again, because dates change between rounds, and apply. A past Launch participant does not get the stipend a second time, and there may be limits on the seed funding too.

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, the five lines: five minutes; an evening for the pages.
• Stage 2, your problem and customer: a week of evenings.
• Stage 3, hours, data and team: an evening.
• Stage 4, the form: an evening or two, by 30 November 2026.
• Stage 5, the wait: to the end of December 2026.
• Stage 6, your Queen's login: an hour.
• Stage 7, Explore: January to February 2027, at least ten hours a week.
• Stage 8, Ignite: March to April 2027.
• Stage 9, Launch: May to August 2027.
• Stage 10, the final pitch: August 2027.

Part 7. The money, all of it

Naira figures are at the rates of record of 20 October 2026, ₦949 to the Canadian dollar and ₦1,333 to the US dollar, and are rounded.

Part 8. If the window has closed

The form for the 2027 programme closes at 6:59 pm Nigerian time on Tuesday 1 December 2026. Queen's has not yet published the dates of the next round. The last round's form closed on 15 December 2025 (Queen's Gazette, 24 November 2025). The page's "Sign up to be notified" list is switched off today, so do not rely on it to tell you.

What you do now, for the next window:

1. Keep building your idea from the customer. Talk to the people with the problem, write down what they say, and test the simplest version you can make. This is what the first phase asks, and it is what your next form will show.
2. Write your answers now, from Stage 2, and keep them in your notes.
3. Plan your hours and your data for the year you apply.
4. Find your team, if you want one. A co-founder can be outside the programme.
5. Open the programme's page, opens in a new tab at the start of every month. When its "Apply" button names a new date, start at Stage 1 of this guide, and use only the form that button opens.