Technology is a great equaliser – as long as an engineering solution is effective and delivered consistently, the product should succeed. Yet as a female CEO and founder of a technology company, I am acutely aware of the unique challenges faced by women in this industry, a significant factor of which is getting off the ground even with a good idea. There are many talented female innovators with the technological capabilities and drive to succeed, but in an industry dominated by men, approaches to facilitating entrepreneurship and industry growth in Africa must adapt to level this playing field.
The prestigious Africa Innovation Fellowship (AIF) was established in 2019 by the Royal Academy of Engineering and WomEng to support women in engineering developing engineering ventures on the African continent, and to encourage more women to consider applying for the Academy’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. The programme looks to break down barriers to woman-led businesses on the continent, namely access to funding, access to networks and business capital, and operating and production costs.
Reports by the World Bank find that while women make up more than half of the total number of entrepreneurs in Africa, on average, women entrepreneurs earn 66 cents for every dollar of profits earned by male entrepreneurs. Moreover, since 2013 only 3% of early-stage funding has gone to all-women founding teams, compared to 76% for all-men teams, and this was less than 1% in 2021. Supporting women founders to grow their businesses represents an opportunity to improve gender equality, as well as generating wider benefits to communities and stimulating economic growth across Africa.
This year’s AIF cohort represent 14 countries across the continent, with innovations including novel techniques to boost agricultural yields, an innovative process to transform pineapple crop waste into eco-friendly fashion products, and a fintech solution to improve community access to loans. The AIF programme includes mentoring and networking sessions, personal and business diagnostics, coaching and one-to-one clinics on business operations, governance, investment and leadership.
In just a few short years, the AIF has supported 58 of the brightest women entrepreneurs to grow their ventures and their skills, and even secure new business opportunities and investment. So far six fellows from the AIF initiative have been shortlisted for the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation – of which I am a judge – including Charlette N’Guessan, who went on to become the first female winner of the Prize in 2020.
Opportunities such as AIF and the Africa Prize are key examples of how we can support early-stage innovations from talented women – as well as men – to become successful African companies, extending their influence and impact to the local community and beyond. Applications for the Africa Prize 2023 open at the end of March, and I would encourage anyone with an exciting engineering solution to apply, including this year’s impressive AIF participants.
Next week on Tuesday 1 February, one innovator from this year’s AIF cohort will be selected as the winner of a competitive pitch process and awarded $5,000 USD in an exciting event to mark the mid-way point of the initiative. All 25 of these entrepreneurs represent the future of innovation on the continent for 2022 and I can’t wait to watch them on their journeys as they work to change people’s lives for the better.
Rebecca Enonchong is a Cameroonian tech entrepreneur and founder and CEO of AppsTech and and iospaces. She is recognised worldwide for her work championing and promoting technology entrepreneurship in Africa, including being named a Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum and one of the 50 Most Powerful African Women by Forbes. She is also a judge of the Africa Prize for Engineering.