Association Burkinabè de Fundraising

"Future is Female mentoring programme for African women. If you are an African start-up founded by a woman with a fantastic service or product and want to learn how to leverage PR and communications to elevate your growing business, the Future is Female mentoring programme is for you!

This programme is a public relations and communications mentoring programme from C.Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM) designed exclusively to meet the business development needs of the female founders of African Tech.

The third edition of the Future is Female mentoring programme offers early-stage African female technology founders an insight into the fundamentals of public relations and communications, including creating a communications plan, business storytelling, media relations and more.

The ultimate goal is for public relations and communications to help these women increase the visibility of their start-ups among multiple stakeholders, leading to more customers, audiences, media coverage, partners and, of course, direct investment.

The programme is delivered virtually and mentees are invited to participate in masterclasses and sessions tailored to the specific needs of their sector and company. During the mentoring programme, founders will learn to understand the fundamentals of PR and communications for tech startups, including creating a communications plan, integrating storytelling into your corporate communications with multiple stakeholders, and more.

During the selection process, CMM will pay particular attention to startups that focus on

• Health
• education
• finance
• agriculture
• sustainability

They will also pay particular attention to companies that meet the needs/services of African women and girls on African markets or in the diaspora.

Details of the mentoring programme: Future is Female

• Personalised online masterclasses with Claudine Moore, MD/Founder, CMM and Adjunct Professor, New York University and TechCabal Editor, with contributions from the founders of AfricaCommsWeek.
• Customised virtual sessions with members of the CMM team and leading experts in the technology ecosystem specific to your business and sector
• Overview of PR and communications fundamentals for Africa-focused startups
• Practical examples of integrating storytelling into your communications
• A high-level review of the Three Ts: theme, tone and timing of communications and content creation
• Information on creating a usable communication campaign
• An overview of media relations, with a look at the differences between the hyper-local, regional and global press
• Advice on developing business relationships with a cross-section of stakeholders

Eligibility criteria Mentoring programme: Future is Female

• The company is less than two years old.
• You are a woman founder or have at least one woman on the co-founding team.
• Your company is focused on Africa, serving African markets or Africans in the diaspora.
• The company is an early-stage start-up (pre-series A investment).
• You have a business plan in place.
• You have a minimum viable product (MVP)
• You should have a functional website
• You have launched your startup and have initial traction (i.e. money, users, etc.).

Please note: If you've raised wonderful money (pre-series A), however, that's not a requirement. Their aim is to work with founders and businesses that provide an excellent service or have an innovative product that will serve Africa and Africans.

For more information, visit The Future is a Woman mentoring programme website.