Nabilah Safira
TechInAfrica – Google has new programs at hand for the African entrepreneurs with their $6m funding to support the growth of the African youngsters.
Called Black Founders Fund (BFF) Africa, a $3m will be used to fuel 50 early startups in their business. They will be financed with a $50k to $100k grant, and not required to give their shares to Google following the grant. Additional support includes a $220k ads grant, cloud credits, and mentoring by Google’s expert, as well as a series of training sessions.
Applying startups are either based in Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, or Zimbabwe, with at least one black founding member, and technical skill to utilize Google’s resources.
The application itself was closed by 7 July 2021.
Another program by the giant company is the SME grants to support offline small businesses, in the form of mentorship, coaching, and access to key markets for 5,000 female entrepreneurs operating their business in the informal sector from rural areas with low digital skills.
Selected from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and certain Francophone countries, 500 aspiring entrepreneurs will receive cash grants and Google product support.
Google is working with two African partners, Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) reserved for BFF, and Tony Elumelu Foundation reserved for the SME grants.
Source: Techpoint.africa
