Nigerian accelerator opens applications for residencies to female entrepreneurs

Applications are now open for the 2017 She Leads Africa (SLA) accelerator, a three-month programme designed to identify, support and fund the next generation of Nigeria’s brightest female entrepreneurs.

SLA’s 2017 accelerator will take place in four locations across Nigeria – Abuja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Kaduna.

The 2017 accelerator will consist of week-long residencies in the four locations where entrepreneurs will receive training from the SLA team and business leaders and experts.

During the residencies, entrepreneurs will be guided on business strategy, growth, marketing, finance and distribution. They will also receive a host of on and offline training as well as an opportunity to pitch their business to national and international investors.

‘Attending the accelerator was like a condensed Masters programme’

In a press release to Ventureburn, Fresh Direct’s founder and 2016 class winner, Angel Adelaja (pictured above, left) , said attending the accelerator was “like a condensed Masters programme”. “I am so different now and our company is thinking and strategising differently.”

This year’s SLA accelerator is run in partnership with the Work in Progress! Alliance – a consortium of Oxfam, Butterfly Works and VC4A which is focused on driving job creation and youth employment in Nigeria. The Kaduna Agribusiness cohort is sponsored by Moroccan fertilizer company OCP.

Those interested in applying should visit SheLeadsAfrica.org/accelerator for more information and to apply. Submissions close on 25 June at 11:59pm West African Time.