African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative Program 2020-2021Applications are now open for 3rd Cohort of African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative Program. The African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC) is a 12-month, high-touch leadership and management capacity building program. AWEC empowers women from across Africa and the diaspora with the knowledge and network needed to build resilient and scalable businesses. We use applied and collaborative learning models, enabling immediate business impact and cultivating a pan-African cooperative of entrepreneurs, experts, and allies. Our mission and impact are aligned with the UN’s SDGs focused on gender equality, economic empowerment, and high-quality learning opportunities. AWEC is a program created through the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), a nonprofit and nonpartisan research institute focused on developing insights that help current and future business leaders build resilient enterprises.

Eligibility criteria

Women who meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply:

  • Current or aspiring entrepreneurs working in any industry and in any country
  • Citizens of any African country, currently living on the continent or in the diaspora
  • Founders of for-profit or non-profit/NGO ventures
  • Comfortable with remote teamwork and collaboration, especially using digital tools
  • Proficient in verbal and written English
  • Regular (at least weekly) access to the Internet through a computer or tablet

Benefits

Upon successful completion of the 12-month program, participants will:

  • Form connections with a diverse network of African women entrepreneurs
  • Establish relationship with at least one senior business mentor
  • Strengthen strategy, leadership and business management skills
  • Apply their AWEC learning to their business with an eye toward sustainable growth
  • Gain skills needed to grow and scale their enterprise
  • Develop a toolkit of soft skills, including self-confidence, resilience, collaboration, and cross-cultural communications

Cost

While there is no program fee to participate in AWEC, cohort members are required to commit their time (4 to 6 hours per week for one year), hard work and energy to being an active learner and participant in the AWEC community. Cohort members may incur costs related to attending an optional in-person event.

The application for the 2020-2021 year of AWEC is available  HERE . The application will close at 11:59pm UTC on Tuesday 17 December

For more information,please visit https://www.thecge.net/awec/faq/

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