She Leads Africa Initiative Announces Pitch Competition
Staff Writer
She Leads Africa announces its pitch competition for women. Its primary aim is to connect the continent’s most promising female entrepreneurs to investors, accelerators and mentors looking to invest in the next generation of African talent.
It can be said that female African entrepreneurs have been marginalized for a while. There is unequal access to education from primary to tertiary levels, especially in low-income families and northern Nigeria. This has resulted in a lack of formal qualifications, which are necessary for putting women in equal standing with men as well as equipping them with the knowledge needed to establish and run a successful business.
There is also an existing cultural barrier which frowns upon women having career aspirations as women are often seen as home makers and child bearers. Relative to their male counterparts, female entrepreneurs have fewer women in society to look up to which can cause an identity struggle.
The same can be said in politics where a lesser number of political office holders are women. It is sad to acknowledge that with a population of more women in the most populous black nation Nigeria, we have no female governors and those who have been accorded that title have been there by sheer luck and in an interim capacity.
In addition to this, there is limited access to finance as most financial institutions are less trusting of their loans to women. Additionally, studies show that when investors are given identical pitches, one delivered by a man and the other by a woman, they are much more likely to invest in the business with a male founder.
She Leads Africa is a social enterprise on a mission to get women to be part of Africa’s growth story by helping female entrepreneurs gain access to knowledge, business networks and financing in order to build strong businesses.
The Pitch Competition will take place in September and will screen applications from women across West Africa to identify the top 10 who have founded or co-founded young startups.
The finalists will be selected by professionals from different sectors of the economy and will be judged based on the strength of idea, scalability, market understanding and management team, with special consideration for the tech sector.
Finalists will be paired with mentors to advance their businesses and the entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses in Lagos, Nigeria to a panel of notable business personalities which include Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria; Ngozi Edozien, CEO InVivo Partners; and Bola Adesola, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank.
To be eligible, the team/business must:
Have a woman on the founding team who will present at the pitch
Have a female founder between 18-35 years old
Be based in an ECOWAS country and focused on the African market
The company must have:
Received less than $50K USD in funding
Been in operation for less than 3 years
Have a live product in the market
The winners will get financial and non- financial support in their quest to build a thriving business.
Winners will receive;
A cash prize of 10,000 USD for first place and 5,000 USD for second place
Access to prominent venture capitalists
Angel investors and other leading professionals to act as mentors and sponsors
Consultation on brand development with Etisalat in-house marketing team
Free business line for one year (including voice and data)
SME accounting software from SmartStart Ghana
2 meetings with a legal advisor from a top law firm to discuss incorporation, corporate structures and copyrights
Meeting with 2 executive directors of a leading merchant bank to discuss business plans and fund raising
Interviews with major media outlets
Applications close on the 30th of July. Visit www.SheLeadsAfrica.org for more information
