Applications are now open for the first cohort of She Wins Africa. She Wins Africa is a program designed to assist women entrepreneurs across sub–Saharan Africa by offering training, mentorship and networking opportunities that will help their startups succeed.
She Wins Africa aims to address these challenges and improve opportunities for women-led startups to access financing.
She Wins Africa follows IFC’s successful She Wins Arabia program, which has provided training to women entrepreneurs and support to funds and accelerators in the Middle East and North Africa to help them better engage with women-run businesses.
Championing women in the private sector is central to IFC’s strategy in Africa, where IFC promotes gender equality and equal access to jobs, assets, and opportunities. IFC provides finance and advisory services to build the ecosystem for dynamic and inclusive entrepreneurship in Africa.
The program will:
- Provide investment readiness training and business skills capacity building, which will help women-led startups improve their chances of accessing finance.
- Provide capacity building for funds and Venture Capital on gender-lens investing to help accelerate investments in women-led startups and enterprises including ten startup support organizations.
- Capacity building for accelerators and ESOs to support the incubation of early-stage startups and support the development of a strong pipeline of investible startups.
- Facilitate matchmaking and pitching events between female founders and investors to facilitate the flow of funds to women-owned businesses.
Requirements
Prospective participants must meet the following criteria:
- Age: 21+
- Gender: Female
- Years in business: 1+
- Headquarters: sub-Saharan African country.
- Industry: Agnostic with technology as a central component.
- Previous participants of similar IFC programs are ineligible to apply.
- Language: Fluent in English.
- She Wins Africa participants must be available to attend online training sessions and travel to networking events during the next 12 months. Please note that IFC will only cover flight and hotel expenses for the duration of the program.
Benefits
- By participating in the She Wins Africa program, you will benefit from capacity building, networking, and match-making opportunities with venture capital (VC) firms and private equity (PE) funds that have a gender-lens investment approach. Additionally, you will participate in pitch competitions to showcase your skills, gain valuable feedback from potential investors, and gain exposure for your startup.
Women interested in applying to the program should visit the She Wins Africa program page or contact shewinsafrica@ifc.org for more information.
For More Information,
Visit the Official Webpage
Application Deadline: September 15, 2023.
