Recently, the rising number of new businesses launched by women has significantly outnumbered the rate of that of men in the developing world.
From the 2019/2020 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, millions of women across the globe have started businesses over the last five years alone with Africa in the leading position. Rightly so, women entrepreneurs have been said to constitute one of the key drivers of Africa’s sustainable growth.
In light of these facts, Bayer Foundation has launched a maiden edition of its Women Empowerment Award which is designed to empower women, solidify their role as key change makers and help them generate social impact in Sub-Saharan Africa.
About the Women Empowerment Award
Recently launched by Bayer Foundation, the Women Empowerment Award seeks to help female entrepreneurs and their social enterprises make social impacts across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through this award, the foundation celebrates innovative women entrepreneurs with cutting-edge ideas that can be used to drive sustainability and social impact.
Why now?
Explaining the importance of Bayer Foundation’s Women Empowerment Award, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Monika Lessl has this to say:
“Studies have shown that women play a central role in bringing change and working towards a more equal society. We also see this in our daily work. In the many years of Bayer Foundation’s activities, the positive impact of strong women has been a central theme.
“They are the change-makers we need. As a basic principle for our activities, we, therefore, have chosen to strengthen and highlight the role of women as leaders in science and as entrepreneurs.”
With a track record of supporting female-owned/led enterprises- one of which is the Kenyan insurtech startup Pula- Bayer Foundation is focused on enabling communities to thrive through Social Innovation, empowering women to create sustainable impact for improving lives.
Benefits of participation
Five outstanding entrepreneurs will receive the following benefits:
- A cash prize of up to 25,000 EUR and 25,000 EUR in-kind;
- Participation in a tailored 24-week growth accelerator program;
- Access to an extensive network of Bayer experts, who will offer coaching both in health and nutrition as well as sustainable agriculture-related areas;
- Membership of Bayer Foundation’s global alumni and partner network.
Eligibility requirements
Interested applicants must meet the below-mentioned criteria:
- You must be a female entrepreneur with an innovative social enterprise with solutions to sustainable agriculture, health, and nutrition-related challenges
- Your enterprise must focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
- You must already have your first customer and be able to generate less than 1 million EUR annually;
- You must be willing to generate large scale social impact.
How do I apply?
To apply for Women Empowerment Award 2021, you need to have the following:
- A CV
- A document including your organization chart and your governance structure
- A pitch deck that includes an executive summary of your vision, business model, and potential for scaling
- An explanation of the main challenges you are trying to solve in the next 12 months
- An overview of your organization’s finances in 2020
When is the deadline?
Applications close on Sunday, February 28, 2021. If you’re interested in applying for Bayer Foundation’s Women Empowerment Award 2021, click here.
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