BIC Africa Business Acceleration Program – Women Edition

Are you a woman entrepreneur from Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar, or Somalia? and are you seeking to grow and expand your business to the next level?

BIC Africa, funded by the European Union, launched the second cohort of the Online Acceleration Program for Women Entrepreneurs from Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Somalia. The program will support 15 women business owners across all sectors and business types through a combination of live training modules, coaching sessions, exercises, and a mentoring program with women experts from Africa and Europe with high experience in supporting innovative entrepreneurs and startups.

The program will include: 

• 8 live training modules
• 4 group coaching sessions
• 3 Networking sessions
• Exercises and access to support documents
• Ad-Hoc Helpdesk through international mentoring support
• Certificate of recognition

Who we are looking for:

The preferred candidates should:

• Be a woman (minimum age of 18-years-old) founder/owner of an already created business that in themselves have strong development potential, or an entrepreneur working on a project idea aimed to create a business with high growth potential.
• Be a resident of Angola, Ethiopia, Madagascar, or Somalia.
• Be available between May and September 2022 to participate in the Program with a maximum of 2 hours per week for online sessions + time to work individually and reflect upon the learnings.
• Already running a startup/project and seeking to scale up.
• Demonstrate a commitment to participating in all the activities of the Acceleration Program and assisting future developments of the program.
• Have access to a reliable internet connection.
• Have a good working knowledge of the English language.

Selection Criteria:

The most adequate women with innovative and/or high-growth potential projects or companies will be selected, conforming to the following criteria:

• The pertinence of the project, product, or service 10 Points
• Innovation and impact on the community 10 Points
• Entrepreneurial profile/team 10 Points
• The growth potential of the project or startup 20 Points
• Feasibility of project, product, or service 20 Points
• Investment readiness 10 Points

Timeline

• 22nd April 2022 – Open call for application
• 9th May 2022 – Close call for application
• 13th May 2022 – Selection announcement
• 23rd May 2022 – Launch of the program