5 Funding Opportunities Available to African Women

The disparity between men and women in Africa fails to reflect the relevance of female participation in economic activities. With the growth of female representation in different sectors, it has become apparent that women have a lot to offer in the struggle to grow and sustain the African economy.

Unfortunately, said representation is still at a level that is relatively unremarkable. More than ever, women’s empowerment is critical. Women of all ages need to be encouraged as much as their male counterparts. One way to do this would be through funding and business grants.

A business grant is a debt-free capital option available to entrepreneurs and startups. These grants can be used to fund and scale business ventures, and are typically granted to an individual or group of individuals by some form of participation.

Africa boasts numerous funding opportunities, both from foreign and local organizations. Some of these fundings are exclusively available to women to grow female-owned businesses in Africa. Below are some business grants available to African women;

She Leads Africa Accelerator Grant: One of the most prolific funding programs for young women in Africa, She Leads Africa is an organization committed to aiding ambitious young women to reach their goals. Founded in Nigeria SLA, has over 700,000 women across Africa on its platform. Its Accelerator Grant is offered annually to female entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-35. It offers N2 million in investment capital to young enterprising ladies. The program lasts for 6 months, It promises to raise your profile and give you access to great business minds in Africa.

Access Bank’s Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa: This initiative is available to women entrepreneurs across the nine African countries where Access Bank operates. These include Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Congo, practically every African country where Access bank can be found. It has a 3 months duration where there would be pitching and a mini MBA training program that is put together in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation. Successful applicants stand the chance of winning a grant anywhere from N5 million to N500,000.

Miss Africa Seed Grants for African Women in Tech Business: This grant is courtesy of the Del York Creative Academy and promises to award $5000 to its winner, while $1000 is granted to the finalists. This grant was created to support African women in computer science or STEM fields. The NGO projects eligible for grant funding also include; hackathons and coding boot camps for girls, early incubation of female tech entrepreneurs, and programming and app development programs. 3 winners are selected. The first prize goes home with $5000, while the second and third prizes go home with $1000 each. The program takes place for 6 weeks.

African Women Development Fund: This funding program is a pan-African program geared toward female-led NGOs which are taking charge of social justice movements, female right, and security. To qualify for a grant, certain criteria have to meet, including a minimum of 3 years of running the organization, must be a female-led NGO, and must have a structured organizational hierarchy. Since its inception in the year 2000, AWDF has awarded grants of US$59 million to over 1,300 women’s organizations in 47 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

US African Development Foundation (USADF) Accelerate Africa Entrepreneurship Challenge 2022: The aim of this challenge is to bolster job creation in Africa, particularly for the youth and women.

The US African Development Foundation has been set up to invest in Micro, Small, and Mid-sized enterprises (MSMEs). To be eligible to receive a grant, candidates’ businesses must procure a concise solution to a problem plaguing the African economy and have a sustainability metric. Successful applicants will receive anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 from USADF Access to support technical assistance and governance. The intent of this initiative is to empower youths and women to teach them how to apply business solutions to social problems and create sustainable employment across Africa. Addressing the needs of underserved and at-risk communities and/or market demand. Define market opportunities and supply chain linkages for youth and women-owned MSMEs.