Standard Chartered Bank Zambia has launched the SC Women in Tech (WiT) incubator program in partnership with BongoHive.
The Women in Tech entrepreneurship program will support Zambian female-led tech enterprises and female business owners who would like to leverage technology to grow their businesses.
The WiT program is part of the bank’s new ‘Futuremakers’ program, which aims to help communities to learn, earn and grow – under the ‘Entrepreneurship’ pillar. It is also aligned with BongoHive’s commitment to building a sustainable startup ecosystem through it’s entrepreneurship programs.
Successful applicants will undergo an incubation program where they will receive guidance on how to transition from being an early-stage startup to a scalable startup.
The candidates will also receive specialised support which will help them leverage technology and improve significant aspects of their businesses.
Standard Chartered Bank has committed $50,000 of seed funding for the first year of the programme, of which the top 5 finalists will each receive $10,000 equity grant seed funding to assist with implementation of tech in their businesses and support towards the development, launch and promotion of their businesses.
Eligibility for SC Women in Tech
In order to be eligible for the program, businesses must be owned by a female founder or co-founder over 18 years of age, with equal or majority stake.
The business must have been operating for at least 1 to 3 years, and have a tech-based or enabled platform, or a clear need to leverage technology to enable the business to grow. Applicants must be based and operating in Lusaka and must be of Zambian nationality to participate.
The participants will attend a 3-month incubation program from March to May 2021 and the 5 winners of the incubation programme attend a 6-month acceleration program from July to December 2021.
Applications will run for 8 weeks from December 7 to January 31, 2020. Conditions for applications and the application submission link can be found on the SC Women In Technology Incubator Program website – scwomenintech.co.zm
For further information, contact: Ms. Maumo Mubila, Projects Lead – info@scwomenintech.co.zm.
About SC Women in Tech
The Standard Chartered Women in Tech incubator is specifically designed to provide business incubation support for women-led or women -owned businesses that leverage technology.
The project, currently running in Kenya, Nigeria, UAE, and Pakistan, aims to promote more diversity of thought and innovation in the technology sector and provide more opportunities for women applying technology in their operations to develop entrepreneurial excellence.
Lack of representation
There is no question women are in the minority in the tech industry, from the general workforce up through management and leadership roles. A 2020 study by the AnitaB.org Institute found that women make up 28.8% of the tech workforce, a steady increase from the past few years — 25.9% in 2018 and 26.2% in 2019. The latest study analyzed data on more than half a million U.S. technologists at 51 participating companies. However, at this pace it could take more than 10 more years for women to gain equal representation in tech.
A McKinsey study, “Women in the Workplace 2019,” noted that gender disparity can emerge as early as the first promotion opportunity. Women account for 48% of entry-level hires but only 38% of first-level managers.
Another McKinsey report found women of color only make up 4% of the computing workforce and almost no senior leadership roles despite making up 16% of the general population.
The program seeks to address this issue and comprises business advisory and financial interventions, including: GCIC’s highly acclaimed
(i) High-Value Mini MBA program,
(ii) Women Entrepreneurs’ Transformation Programme,
(iii) opportunities to pitch for and secure financial grants for scaling up their business, and (iv) access to portfolio managers.
In Kenya, the program has completed four cohorts. The program is an initiative of Standard Chartered in partnership with Strathmore University‘s @iBizAfrica incubator.
It combines world-class startup support with local and international experience to provide Africa’s most competitive and attractive startup incubation program focusing on immersive learning, mentorship, building and growing Africa’s next iconic startups taking on the continent’s most relevant challenges and opportunities with the support of seed capital.
Some of the women-led businesses beneficiaries of the programme include Bena Care, Lugha Ishara, Nature Bowl, Atabantu Tech, Dermijoy, and Bumpy Maternity.
