ECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa), in partnership with Betacube, has announced the launch of its first Tech African Women program, inviting female-led idea stage startups from Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania and Tunisia to submit their applications.
TAW (Tech African Women) is a program that is launched with the objective of empowering female founders to leverage their skills in order to build strong tech startups from scratch, accelerate the transformation of project ideas into validated business models and to develop alliances between different African ecosystems.
The program will run from August to December 2022 and is composed of 3 main phases:
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Intensive 3-day training bootcamps & pitching competitions to be held in Tunisia, Senegal, Ethiopia & Tanzania in partnership with local ecosystem players. The winning team of each bootcamp will win a cash prize of 2000$.
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A 2-months online incubation program for the best 2 startups from each country that will allow them to reach market & investment readiness 3. A final Ceremony in Ethiopia in Addis Ababa at ECA Conference Center where 8 startups will be invited to pitch to win the final prize of the program (cash grant of 7000$ for the best startup) TAW targets female-led & idea-stage tech startups and offers teams an exclusive opportunity to acquire new entrepreneurial skills, establish partnership with their African peers, increase regional business visibility and access funds.It supports ideas addressing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by developing the capacity of female entrepreneurs who desire to understand how to play a role in the continent's development and want to deep dive into building impact-driven startups.
Throughout the duration of the incubation program, teams will have access to a pool of tech developers and designers who will develop their MVPs free of charge and work closely with top experts in Marketing and Finance in addition to the participation in tailored webinars provided by international trainers.
How to apply?
Participants entering the program have to be nationals of Tunisia or Tanzania or Senegal or Ethiopia, have an idea of a tech startup that is addressing at least one of the SDGs, must be female aged between 18 and 35 years old and be able to communicate fluently in French or English.
Applications are now open for candidates from the four countries on the official website of the program (www.techafricanwomen.com) until the 10th of August 2022 for Tunisia, and until the 17th of August 2022 in Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania.
About UNECA
Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN's five regional commissions, ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development.
Made up of 54 member States, and playing a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape, ECA is well positioned to make unique contributions to address the Continent’s development challenges.
About Betacube
Betacube is a venture builder created in 2019, co-creating tech Startups with exceptional founders. Betacube focused so far on fintech and mobility and collaborates closely with corporations as development partners for its startups as well as for corporate innovation programs. Betacube’s core business is the creation of quality startups, securing their growth and funding path.