We are always excited when new opportunities spring up for Africans most especially African women who are constantly moving from the old saying that women depend on their working men to bring food to the table. Now more women are standing up to their feet, coming up with refreshing businesses and changing not only their lives but also that of their community.
Now brands like She Leads Africa recognizes that, which is why they announced the launch of a business pitch competition
exclusively for female entrepreneurs, which will give the most promising female
entrepreneurs in Africa a platform to connect to prominent mentors, business
funding and new market opportunities.
She Leads Africa is a social enterprise ensuring that women
are part of Africa’s growth story by helping female entrepreneurs gain access
to the knowledge, networks, and financing to build and scale strong businesses.
The first initiative to increase access to finance is a
Pitch Competition in September which will screen applications to identify the
top 10 talented female entrepreneurs who have founded or co-founded early stage
start-ups. Finalists will be selected by professionals in the consulting,
venture capital, and finance industry based on the strength of the idea,
ability to scale, understanding of the market, and quality of the management
team. Special consideration will be given to entrepreneurs in the technology
sector.
Finalists will be paired with mentors to help advance their
businesses and the entrepreneurs will be brought to Lagos to pitch their
businesses to a panel of notable business personalities including Hakeem
Belo-Osagie (Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria); Ngozi Edozien (CEO, InVivo Partners);
and Bola Adesola (CEO, Standard Chartered Bank). Finalists will compete for a
$10,000 cash first place prize, one-on-one meetings with venture capitalists,
legal advice from a premier law firm, free business lines and internet packages
for a year, tablets, SME accounting software and more.
The Pitch Competition is supported by lead sponsor GT Bank,
supporters Etisalat, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, FSDH Capital, Capital Square,
Lagos Angel Network and media partners Bella Naija, Venture Burn, Genevieve
Magazine, Ayiba Magazine, and Tech 360.
More information about the organisation and the application
can be found on the website
www.SheLeadsAfrica.org or email: info@sheleadsafrica.org.
Application deadline is Wednesday 30th July 2014.
