The EWEA program is a collaboration between the AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) Initiative, Seedstars, and GrowthAfrica.
The objective of the Project is to address gender inequality and inclusive economic empowerment for African women. Specifically, the Project aims at increasing the capacity and sustainability of enablers supporting Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs), as well as increase access to mentorship, funding and visibility for WSMEs.
Call for Applications
Seedstars’s Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in Africa (EWEA) program is calling for women-led small to medium enterprises (WSMEs) as well as community enablers and entrepreneurship support programs in Africa to apply for its mentorship, skills capacity-building workshop series.
Eligible Countries
Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Angola, Mali, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia, Namibia, Cape Verde, Mauritius and Nigeria.
Applicants’ Criteria
> Based in one of the above countries
> Enhancing the viability and sustainability of WSMEs,
> Providing innovative approaches to ecosystem support designed to close the financing gap for WSMEs.
> Introducing innovative ways to provide capacity building for WSMEs.
> Providing digital presence and visibility to WSMEs,
> and Enhancing access to mentorship for WSMEs.
Community enablers
Enabler beneficiaries are understood to be entrepreneur support organizations that are any of the following:
> Groups that exclusively support WSMEs,
> Organizations that have a mix of women-dedicated and gender-agnostic activities,
> Gender-agnostic ESOs that want to expand their capacity to support WSMEs.
WSME’s
WSME’s should apply if they are:
> Between Seed and Growth Stage
> Based in one of the above countries
> Have at least one woman on the founding team
> Have a digital element in their product (example: Mobile application, Online Shop, SAAS product, etc.)
Benefits
Participating organizations will be given access to mentorship, workshops, and a capacity-building program through the Seedstars Online Academy.
Application Deadline – December 31, 2022
