In 2017, UNESCO Institute for Statistics revealed that that literacy rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are increasing year-on-year, but there is still a gender gap. The female literacy rate is 57% compared to 72% of males. Female entrepreneurs in SSA are therefore looking for ways to acquire skill sets without having to overextend themselves financially.
“Training for women entrepreneurs in developing countries goes beyond financial capital and basic business skills, technical life skills have also shown that a small but positive impact on female-owned micro-enterprises,” says Eyerusalem Siba.
The Female Foundry Programme was launched in 2016 by iProspect, after research shed light on the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs, particularly in emerging markets. This exciting programme has identified four categories of fundamental skills that will be used as focus areas. “We plan to close the gender parity gap through the launch of our Female Foundry programme, which aims to empower female entrepreneurs with access to tools, training, connections, and resources to build successful tech-enabled businesses,” says CEO for Dentsu Aegis Network SA, Koo Govender.
The first category will be Mentorship where female entrepreneurs would be given an understanding of the intricacies of business operation and management. The second category will be Personal and Business Skills Development which will assist in packaging and mapping out their business ideas into a presentation format. The third category will be focusing on networking for additional support to address the lack of personal and business growth and lastly, the programme will assist female entrepreneurs with setting short and long-term business goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timeous.
“Fortunately, at DAN, 69% of our employees are female. However, we still have a responsibility to our community to take an active stand in bridging the gap in gender parity” The ultimate goal is to empower, promote and equip women with the necessary tools, learning’s and guidance to improve and sustain them in the entrepreneurial space”says Govender.
Applications for the 2019 programme are still open and the programme is offered for free which makes this initiative a wonderful opportunity for aspiring female entrepreneurs.
