“BIC AFRICA ONLINE ACCELERATION PROGRAM FOR AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS 2024”

This fourth edition of the BIC Africa Acceleration Programme 2024 will support 20 women entrepreneurs in total, including 15 from the country projects Angola, Comoros, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Somalia, and 5 others from other Sub-Saharan African countries willing to scale their businesses while contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The programme will run from April to July 2024 for 4 months, focusing on established post-revenue women entrepreneurs with a registered startup or business across all sectors and business types. It incorporates online training modules, coaching sessions, individual exercises, and networking sessions with women experts from Africa and Europe experienced in supporting innovative entrepreneurs and startups.

The core programme includes:

• 6 online interactive training modules (each lasting 1.5 hours) on topics such as Mission and Unique Value Proposition; Product Development; Business Model; Team & Partnerships; Finance; Marketing.
• 4 online group coaching sessions (each lasting 1.5 hours) on topics such as Leadership and influencing skills; Mastering personal and business finances; Storytelling and pitch training; Time management and prioritization.
• 2 Networking sessions (at the beginning and at the end of the programme)
• Access to support documents and recordings of the sessions
• Integration in the BIC Africa Community of women entrepreneurs, with visibility on the BIC Africa website, integration into the LinkedIn group for this Community, as well as access to other networking and market linkage opportunities and events.

Benefits of BIC Africa Online Acceleration Program: The programme will also open the door for further opportunities and awards:

• A Certificate of recognition for those who successfully complete the 12-week course acceleration programme.
• Remote one-to-one Mentoring sessions for high-performing participants selected by the BIC Africa expert committee.
• Other Business Awards for high-performing participants selected by the BIC Africa expert committee.

The BIC Africa Acceleration Programme aims to help the 20 participants:

• Explore growth and scaling trajectories for their businesses and solutions.
• Assess the team competencies and consider how their business model will adapt to the growth phase.
• Articulate the social value proposition, identifying why and how the proposed solution contributes to SDGs.
• Access appropriate sector, local, international experts.
• Join a vibrant community of women entrepreneurs, where they can learn, exchange, and connect.
• Connect with BIC Africa and the European Business Innovation Centre Network (EBN) to unleash the impact of women entrepreneurs.

Requirements for BIC Africa Online Acceleration Program: The preferred candidate should:

• Be a woman (minimum age of 18-years-old) founder/owner of an already established business with an operational team and strong development potential.
• Be available between April and July 2024 to participate in the Programme with a maximum of 2 hours per week for online sessions + time to work individually and reflect upon the learnings.
• Already be running a start-up or company (registered for at least 1 year) and seeking to scale up.
• Demonstrate commitment to actively participate in all the activities of the Acceleration Programme and assist future developments of the programme.
• Have access to a reliable internet connection.
• Have a good working knowledge of the English language.

Selection Process: Assessment Criteria Once the eligibility check is performed, BIC Africa will review and evaluate the nominations using the following criteria and scoring:

• Business description and business model (10 points)
• Innovation dimension (10 points)
• Scalability (10 points)
• Impact (10 points)
• Motivation (10 points)

50/50 is the max scoring. The minimum threshold for accessing the programme is 30/50.

Application Documents: Upload your CV in the Google application form in pdf/word format, with a max size of 10MB.