The United States Embassy in South Africa launched the South African edition of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a White House initiative to support women entrepreneurs globally. Through the academy, 110 females from Pretoria, Soweto, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Durban aged between 21-35 will receive personalized business mentorship, tools and networks in order to turn their ideas into successful business enterprises. Funding will be made available from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria.
The Department of State announced an open competition for organizations to submit concept notes to carry out a training program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State and Arizona State University. Each concept note will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the evaluation of the program criteria. Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations; Public and private non-profit educational institutions are welcome to apply.
Participants will gather in-person to view each DreamBuilder session and to discuss the topic after each participant views the session online. Facilitators selected in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy will lead the in-person discussions and serve as mentors for the participants. The 12-18-months programme will conclude with a competition where participants will compete for seed money to start or grow their businesses. The awards may range from a minimum of $24,000 to a maximum of $37,000.
