Grace Ashiru
Growth4Her is looking for people to join its first group. The group is open to small and medium-sized businesses in Cameroon and Nigeria owned and run by women.
Women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to turn their businesses into growth-powered businesses can join the Growth4Her program. The program offers investor readiness training, psychosocial support, mentoring, access to financing opportunities, and access to markets.
The application starts on September 1, 2022.
The deadline is October 7, 2022.
Growth4Her
Growth4Her is a project established by Creative Space Startups in collaboration with Sociocapital Impact Group, The Learning Gate, and WETECH. This initiative is being financed by AFAWA and AFDB.
Growth4Her is a women’s support program that gives female company owners the skills and resources they need to move from a small firm to a high-potential, fundable growth-stage enterprise.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) said in 2021 that there is a $42 billion funding gap between men and women in Africa.
Growth4Her is actively eliminating the Gender Financing Gap in Africa by supplying necessary skills and expertise, access to markets, and finance, campaigning for better policies, and providing adequate representation for women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises.
This program intends to develop 1500 women entrepreneurs throughout 10 African cities over the next five (5) years, focusing on Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs).
The program offers beneficiaries investment readiness skills, links them directly to funders, and fosters an ecosystem that supports SMEs.
What will the program offer?
Beneficiaries of the Growth4Her initiative will receive:
- Offer you links to markets in cities across Africa.
- You will be prepared for investors and connected with financial institutions.
- We are advocating for changes in legislation and working with communities to allow a culture of support for women- and minority-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs).
- Provide enough media coverage
- To help people find mentors who are skilled and experienced.
Eligibility
- A woman should own at least 51% of the company, or a woman should own at least 20% of the company, and there should be at least one woman serving in the role of chief executive officer, chief operating officer, president, or vice president. Additionally, there should be at least 30% of the board of directors for the company made up of women, provided that there is a board.
- Loans ranging from $5,000 to $1 million (Loans must not come from typical financial institutions; however, loans from nontraditional sources such as associations and cooperatives (e.g., “tontine/Django,” “Jesus,” and family loans may be considered).
- The firm should have between 5 and 300 people working for it.
- Between $35,000 and $15 million in sales
- Between $100,000 and $15 million in assets per year.
- Can you give one week to a hard-core virtual or onsite Bootcamp
- Can spend 3 hours a week on mentoring for a total of 8 weeks
- Must be a top executive in the company.
TO APPLY, VISIT—https://growth4her.org/apply/.
Please visit https://growth4her.org/ for further details, or contact us at [email protected]
