The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Africa – The Journey So Far

We live in a world where women are sidelined many times and discriminated against just because they are women, and when it comes to entrepreneurship, they’re expected to take the back seat. However, to curb this discrimination, the Access Bank W Initiative got to work and  The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Africa was born.

The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa was first launched in 2019. It is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind offered by the Access Bank W Initiative. The program in its maiden edition provided financial grants worth N9 million to the top five (5) applicants with a free mini MBA certification for 50 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria. This was done in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

In 2020, the program was extended to 6 other African countries where Access Bank’s W initiative has its presence. These countries were Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Congo, which brought about the tag name – “Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Africa”.

Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa 2020 Campaign was designed to provide female-owned businesses across Africa an opportunity to access finance and world-class business training as well as mentoring opportunities. This program has so far created an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. 

A Peak Into The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2020.

• The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa 2020 provided up to ₦5 million financial grant and a unique capacity-building program aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs.
• The program was designed as a 3-month period incorporating pitching sessions and 8 weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the IFC.
• As part of the graduation requirements, the fifty finalists pitched their businesses, infusing learnings from the mini-MBA, and stood a chance to win financial grants of up to ₦5 million.

In fulfilling its promise to continuously provide financial and business skills to female entrepreneurs, a leading Nigerian retail bank, Access Bank Plc has so far unveiled two editions of its Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton program and the third edition is just around the corner. Indeed, we have entered into an era where the voices of African women will be heard.