Standard Chartered Bank, in collaboration with Village Capital, has announced the opening of applications for the fifth cohort of its Futuremakers Women in Tech Accelerator (FWIT).
This initiative is designed to support tech-enabled businesses that are either owned or led by women within Ghana’s entrepreneurial landscape. This year’s program will be executed by the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) at Ashesi University, with financial backing from the Standard Chartered Foundation.
It aligns with the bank’s overarching goal of empowering female entrepreneurs by providing them with the necessary skills, resources, and funding to foster sustainable growth and innovation in Ghana’s technology sector.
Although women play a crucial role in Ghana’s economy, owning 34% of formal SMEs (World Bank, 2023) and 44% of micro-enterprises (Ghana Statistical Service, 2021), they continue to encounter obstacles such as restricted access to financing, gaps in digital skills, and regulatory challenges.
The FWIT program aims to tackle these challenges by providing participants with essential skills in business development, leadership, and digital innovation.
This year’s selection of participants will prioritize inclusivity, particularly favoring women with disabilities and individuals from marginalized communities.
Mansa Nettey, Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Ghana Plc, stated, ‘Our Women in Tech incubator nurtures a new generation of innovators, developing leaders who will motivate others to realize their potential for making a difference.’
Participants will engage in a comprehensive incubation process, culminating in a pitch and demonstration day.
The five leading finalists will each be awarded $10,000 (equivalent in Ghana cedis) as equity-free grants to advance their ventures. Since its launch, the program has assisted 74 women-led enterprises across various sectors, including agriculture, fashion, renewable energy, health, education, and sustainability.
Among these, 21 have been granted a total of $210,000, underscoring the program’s contribution to promoting impactful and scalable innovations spearheaded by women. Applications for Cohort 5 are currently open, reinforcing Standard Chartered’s dedication to fostering inclusive economic development and empowering women in Ghana.
Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC, founded in 1896, is the foremost banking institution in Ghana. As a prominent international banking group, we operate in 52 of the most vibrant markets worldwide. Our mission is to foster commerce and prosperity through our distinctive diversity, with our heritage and values encapsulated in our brand promise: here for good.
Connect with Standard Chartered on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook at Facebook.com/StandardCharteredGH, or follow us on Instagram at StanChartGH, and visit our website at www.sc.com/gh.
The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) is a prominent institution affiliated with Ashesi University, serving as a groundbreaking business incubator dedicated to fostering sustainable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs within Ghana’s Green Economy.
The centre aims to cultivate and assist a distinguished group of transformative entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of innovation and developing adaptive or mitigating strategies to address economic resilience and climate change challenges in Ghana.
To achieve this, the GCIC offers high-quality business advisory and mentoring services, technical assistance for the development, prototyping, and testing of innovations, as well as financial grants to eligible SMEs participating in the incubator.
