Action Burkinabè de Fundraising

Applications are now open for the Women in Africa (WIA) 54 programme to help create 100,000 jobs and contribute to the generation of $10 billion in revenue for the African economy by 2030.

Through its WIA 54 programme, WIA is committed to supporting 10,000 African women entrepreneurs by 2030 through training, mentoring, communication and access to finance.

Zones

Candidates may apply in the following areas:

• Agriculture & Agritech
• Food and food technology
• Education & Edutech
• Fintech
• Environment & Sustainable Development
• Beauty industries
• Creative industries
• Health and health technologies

Benefits

• 540 finalists from 54 African countries will be selected to take part in the bootcamp training and personalised mentoring programme, and become part of the WIA community!
• The best candidates at the end of the mentoring/pitch training phase will take part in the pitching phase, which will give them access to investors and seed capital (June 2023).
• 54 winners will have the opportunity to join an MBA programme run by Honoris partner United Universities;
• 54 winners will also benefit from a communication highlight worth €5,000 on the WIA social networks;
• 8 Revelations will benefit from a communication promotion worth €8,000;
• The Gold Award will also receive a prize of €10,000.

Steps

• The training phase : Once shortlisted and placed on the appropriate training pathway, you'll take part in a virtual orientation programme to learn more about the process and they'll share with you the timescales and resources available to succeed. You'll take part in rigorous business management training and coaching sessions, which consist of a balanced mix of self-paced e-learning and webinar-style training.
• The mentoring phase : The mentoring phase will last six months and will enable the selected entrepreneurs to be accompanied by high-level mentors ready to help them combine all the learning from the training into a single coherent document: the business plan. The entrepreneurs selected will receive a business and financial plan template to help them complete their business plan and then review it with their mentor.
• The pitch phase : This will be a unique opportunity to demonstrate your business knowledge, convince the panel of your company's viability and raise funds!

Eligibility criteria Women in Africa

• Business created or run by an African woman
• Initial market traction (sales, number of users, funds raised)
• Be part of one of the 8 categories (main business category)

Women in Africa selection criteria

• Innovative product, service or technology
• Proven scalability of the business model
• Strong growth potential
• Ambitious team with strong execution capability
• Market traction (revenues, number of users, funds raised)
• Potential impact in Africa

For more information, please visit WIA .