2023 Awa Prize for Women Entrepreneurs

Women’s entrepreneurship is now a lever for the achievement of the various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); it significantly stimulates development potential: women’s entrepreneurship has a direct impact on SDG 5 “Gender equality”, and SDG 8 “Decent work”.

At the international level, Belgium is committed to gender equality, the promotion of women’s leadership and the empowerment of women. Thus, under the impulse of the Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy, Meryame Kitir, Enabel is committed to a global approach to support the development and promotion of women’s entrepreneurship, in Belgium and in every country in which Enabel is active.

Over the next four (4) years, Enabel is committed to implementing tools to promote and develop women’s entrepreneurship in Belgium and in the countries in which it works, in order to reduce and fight against socio-economic inequalities. In this context, Enabel is organising a Competition via the Awa Prize, to promote women entrepreneurs in their community and strengthen them in their entrepreneurial success. The second edition of the contest will take place as of 5th September 2023.

Competition Categories

Candidates may choose to apply in one of the following categories:

• Start-up category
  • This award is for companies that have been in existence for at least one year and no more than three years when the Competition is launched.
• Scale-up category
  • This award is for companies that have been in existence for three years or more when the Competition is launched.
• Innovation category
  • This award is intended for any company that develops particularly innovative products, services and/or approaches.
• People’s choice category
  • This award is open to any company in the Start-up, Scale-up or Innovation categories wanting to compete for the People’s Choice via an online vote.

Prize Information

• The first prize: Up to €50,000
  • Spent to support/coaching, based on your company’s needs.
  • One week in Belgium
  • To meet entrepreneurship circles and inspire one another.
• The second prize: Up to €10,000
  • Spent to support/coaching, based on your company’s needs.
• The third prize: Up to €5,000
  • Spent to support/coaching, based on your company’s needs.

Prizes are awarded after an assessment of the needs of the Winners by the Organiser or by an entity designated by the Organiser. The support plan is to be formalised by the Winners or the Candidates receiving a prize and the Organiser.

Why the Awa Prize?

• Entrepreneurship knows no borders and no gender. All over the world, women and men are enlivening their communities through their businesses.
• Nonetheless, a woman entrepreneur’s path is often strewn with obstacles which make her project more difficult to materialise. For example, inequalities linked to social norms, the time given to family care, difficulties in accessing the market and financing, or physical and psychological violence based on gender are obstacles for many women.
• Aware of the economic stakes and committed to acting in favor of a better distribution of opportunities, Enabel has developed at the request of the Minister of Development Cooperation and Major Cities Policy, Meryame Kitir, the Awa Prize, Entrepreneurs with impact.
• The Awa Prize is a contest which sheds the light on businesses and the women who lead them. But beyond this competition, the Awa Prize aims at federating a community of entrepreneurs around shared values, in order to fight against socio-economic inequalities.
• Through the Awa Prize, many events will be organised at the local and international levels in order to raise awareness for men and women about the opportunities that women’s entrepreneurship can create. These events will enable progress on actions which can be developed to remove the persistent obstacles.

Target Countries

Participating countries for the 2023 edition: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, DRC, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda.

Targeted Women Entrepreneurs

• The Competition is open to any woman (co-)founder and majority or equal partner in a company based in one of the selected countries.
• The company turnover for 2023 must be at least €1. Nevertheless, as the objective of the Competition is to highlight high-impact projects, the demonstrated and/or potential socio-economic benefits of the selected companies will be key selection criteria. The second edition of the contest will focus on green and circular economies and will therefore prioritize companies active in a sustainable and resilient economical system.
• As participation in the Competition is entirely digital, candidates must have access to an internet connection. Candidates must also be able to understand and express themselves in French or English.

Who is the Awa Prize for?

To apply to the Awa Prize, you must:

• Be a woman of legal age in her country of residence
• Have the nationality of one participating country
• Be the co-founder and/or non-minority shareholder of a company which has been registered for at least 1 year in a participating country
• Have a company with a positive impact on the community
• Have a green and circular economic approach
• Understand and express yourself in English, French or Arabic.

For more information, visit Enabel.