Social enterprise for women She Leads Africa, a Huawei sponsored event, has selected five female tech entrepreneurs from Africa for its programme this year. These lucky individuals will head to Shenzhen and Shangai in China to learn more about business and innovation in the far East.
She Leads Africa is said to be the first programme dedicated to providing female tech entrepreneurs the opportunity to visit China and connect with industry leaders.
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Besides visiting the country, the women will meet with other tech entrepreneurs to learn how to expand their businesses into global markets.
Yasmin Belo-Osagie, the co-founder of She Leads Africa, explains the programme:
We were so impressed with the quality and creativity of the applications we received. The startups we selected demonstrated a clear problem they were solving, an innovative solution and how going to China would help them take a critical next step in their businesses.
She Leads Africa hails China as the ideal country to learn about innovation and business. China is the fastest growing market in the world for technology and is said to boast more than 1 600 tech incubators and investment companies with more than US$56-billion in capital.
The five startups are as follows:
- Sterio.me (South Africa) — An application focussed on homework for learners
- Ujirani (Kenya) — a mobile application improving communication between neighbours for faster emery response services
- Sunze Tech (Cote d’Ivoire) — provider of cheap, reliable and sustainable energy solutions with LED panels and modular solar kits
- Shule Direct Tanzania) — online platform for secondary school students and teachers
- Book1Car (Morocco) — car rental programme
Besides the Huawei initiative, She Leads Africa has been involved with several other projects around the continent, such as Entrepreneur Showcase 2014, Intel partnership on entrepreneur development workshops, and startup advisors for those looking for mentoring and support.
