Published: 23 Mar 2023 671 views
ShEquity Partners (“ShEquity”), an investment firm providing smart investments for impactful, innovative, and scalable female-led and owned businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa, today announced the launch of the fourth edition of its accelerator program, ShEquity Business Accelerator (SHEBA). The 17-week SHEBA program provides venture-building and technical support to African female entrepreneurs across the ECOWAS region who are looking to successfully grow their businesses and become investment ready.
Today’s call for applications is only for Anglophone applicants with businesses duly registered in West Africa. A separate call for Francophone applicants with businesses registered in West Africa will be issued separately.
Established in March 2021 by ShEquity in collaboration with its implementation partner, MBC Africa, SHEBA addresses the existing gender funding gap by de-risking African female-led businesses, getting them to become investment ready, and equipping the founders with the skill set needed to grow and scale their businesses. The SHEBA program has executed three (3) cohorts of 30 participants each, with participants from the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Speaking about SHEBA’s unique value creation, Karima Grant, SHEBA Alumni (Cohort 2), co-founder and CEO of Ker Imagination Education Services, says, “Successful accelerators focus on entrepreneur needs and not a one-size-fits-all approach. SHEBA focuses on the women behind the businesses as much as the businesses. From very early on in the program, SHEBA provided as close to a tailor-made approach as possible.”
ShEquity’s purpose is to provide smart and sustainable investments for African female entrepreneurs and innovators, the key driver of inclusive socio-economic growth. We facilitate access to a pool of de-risked deals to investors and empower female entrepreneurs with financial resources and operational support needed to unlock their full potential
| Application Deadline | 21 Apr 2023 |
| Country to study | Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo |
| Type | Entrepreneurs |
| Sponsor | ShEquity |
| Gender | Women |
In addition to the robust program development focus, SHEBA offers the opportunity to receive funding from ShEquity and other investors within the ShEquity network. After the acceleration program, qualifying businesses are recommended to the ShEquity team for investment consideration. The typical ShEquity seed investment ranges between US$50K and $250K, with an additional opportunity for post-investment support.
Applications is only for Anglophone applicants with businesses duly registered in West Africa.
For more details, visit ShEquity website.
