AfDB Initiative for Women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in Africa

AfDB Initiative for Women-owned small and medium enterprises, more than 500 growth-oriented WSMEs will be supported for scale, access to markets, and investment readiness across 8 African countries: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe

The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) and the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) have joined forces to drive increased access to finance and markets for women-owned and women-led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) across Southern, East and West Africa.

The programme “Solutions Catalysing Increased Access to Capital for the Success of Women Entrepreneurs” aims to accelerate efforts to address gender inequality and drive inclusive economic transformation.

510 growth-oriented women-owned and women-led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) will be supported for scale, access to markets and investment readiness across 8 African countries: Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia or Zimbabwe.

AfDB Initiative for Women-owned small and medium enterprises Programme Components

• AWIEF Growth Accelerator (in partnership with Nedbank) – to enhance investment readiness and increase access to finance.
• eCommerce Capacity Development (in partnership with UNIDO) – for building knowledge, capacity and skills in digital channels to increase participation and success in online business.
• Digital Skills (in partnership with Amazon Web Services) – to strengthen WSMEs capacity to embrace technology innovation.
• Mentorship and Advisory – enhancing the visibility and access to role models for WSMEs through a mentorship platform.

Applications are invited from WSMEs for participation in any one of these programme components:

• AWIEF Growth Accelerator; eCommerce Capacity Development; Digital Skills.

Selection Criteria

WSMEs are registered and operating in: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Programme Timeline

• Applications Open: 20 June 2022
• Application closes: 18 July 2022
• Recruitment of participants: July – August
• Training: September – December 2022

How To Apply

Click the application link to apply.

The Application Deadline is Monday, 18th July 2022 at 11:59 pm Central Africa Time (CAT).

AfDB Initiative for Women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in Africa

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