Growth4Her Accelerator Is Building Sustainable Growth To Empower African Women SMEs

Sept. 20, 2022, 2:18 p.m.

Growth4Her is a 6-month Investor Readiness Accelerator Program open to women in West and Central Africa. The accelerator program is currently running cohorts in Cameroon and Nigeria. While its application portal is always open, selected candidates will only be contacted when they have been selected for a new cohort. Each Cohort is open to at least 15 and at most 25 women. To know if you qualify for the program, read the Eligibility Criteria Below.

Bridging the Gender Financing Gap in Africa

Evidence from an IMF study, with data collected from 47 African countries, indicated that women are more likely to self-select out of the credit market due to low perceived creditworthiness.

Bridging the gender financing gap, especially for WSMEs’ is not solely about availability or affordability but more so about WSMEs’ willingness and capabilities to access financing opportunities.

Understanding these challenges, the Growth4Her Accelerator provides women entrepreneurs with the capacity and tools which enables them to transition from small to high potential fundable growth stage businesses.

Innovative in its approach, it unites communities, using behavior-based models and transformational leadership approaches combined with practical business skills and tools to support women for market traction and growth, financial management, and technological transformation. These will enable them to overcome legislative, psychosocial, and economic barriers while helping them unlock and access financing opportunities.

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Why join the Growth4Her program?

Access to Market

We provide market linkages for our beneficiaries

Access to Funding

G4Her prepares you for investors and offers linkages to Financial Institutions.

Psychosocial and Policy Support

We advocate for policy reforms and work with communities to enable a culture of support for WSMEs

Media Exposure

Adequate media representation

Mentorship

Access to skilled and experienced mentors

Eligibility criteria

≥ 51% owned by a woman or,
≥ 20% owned by a woman and have ≥ one woman as CEO/COO (President/Vice President); and
have ≥ 30% of the board of directors comprised of women, where a board exists.
Loan size between US$5,000 and US$1 million (Loans must not be from traditional financial institutions, loans from other sources such as associations, cooperatives, e.g., “tontine/njangi” “esusu,” family loans may be considered)
Between 5 and 300 employees
Sales between US$35,000 and US$15 million
Assets between US$100,000 and US$15 million
Can dedicate 1 week to an intense virtual/ physical Bootcamp
Can dedicate 3 hours for mentorship engagement for a period of 8 weeks
Must be a C-Level executive in the organization

Application

The application is available in English and French; you can follow the following links to apply in your preferred language.

Apply in English

Apply in French