Intel, She Leads Africa introduce workshops to empower female entrepreneurs

In collaboration with the computing giant, Intel, women empowerment initiative She Leads Africa is starting the year off with the introduction of workshops on technology and entrepreneurship in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg.

This initiative follows a busy 2014, which saw the organisation take eight women-led startups to pitch at Diaspora Demo Day in the US last year, among other things.

Read more: She Leads Africa announces top 10 young women entrepreneurs

The first workshop session will be led by Intel, which will focus on building one’s minimal viable product. The second session will be led by She Leads Africa and will teach entrepreneurs about how to get their products into the hands of real customers.

Co-founder of She Leads Africa Afua says that while there are great ideas out there, a lot of people today don’t know how to turn them into tangible businesses. “We’re trying to solve that problem by providing practical training and connecting entrepreneurs to the mentors and advisors that can help them get to the next level,” she explains.

The workshops aim to teach applicants about the business part of technology, making it sustainable. Osei elaborates:

Across the continent young people are excited about technology and it’s potential to change the world. Unfortunately, not as many young people are focused on the business elements of their technology ideas and actually turning it into sustainable businesses that can generate revenue.

“We are continuing to build relationships with companies who are looking to reach young female entrepreneurs and providing a full suite of entrepreneur development training,” Osei tells us. “We also have a cohort of 20 startups that we continue to startup through mentorship, training and connecting to funding sources.”

The Kenyan workshop will be taking place on 24 January while the Johannesburg and Lagos ones are yet to be announced. To get in on the action you can apply here.