FIT4Mentorship Mentor Programme

This program is implemented by SPARK, BongoHive, and Zanga Metrics. SPARK is a project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The African tech industry has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, with the continent’s startup ecosystem attracting over $5 billion in investments in 2022 alone. However, despite this growth, women’s participation in the African tech industry remains disproportionately low as only 20% of tech startups funded in Africa in 2022 had a female founder, highlighting the persistent gender imbalance in the sector. To address this disparity, the FIT4Mentorship Program is started.

Programme Objectives

• Targeting 30 female tech role models across Africa and 10 African Innovation Support Organisations (ISOs), the program offers comprehensive training and practical mentorship experiences.
• Through systematic selection processes and tailored training, FIT4Mentorship aims to cultivate a more inclusive tech ecosystem. By equipping female role models with mentorship skills and facilitating meaningful connections between mentors and startups, the program seeks to promote gender equity and entrepreneurship in the African tech industry.

For Mentors

• Women in tech across Africa will be trained to build capacity as tech role models and mentors for fellow women across Africa. This entails receiving training to support startups led by female entrepreneurs.
• Female mentors will undergo comprehensive training in mentorship skills, covering areas such as the mentoring process, communication and relationship building, learning and personal development, and applying a gender lens in entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Following the training, mentors will be paired with female-led startups to provide guidance and assistance tailored to the startups’ needs. Mentors will apply their skills in practice, supporting the startups through peer exchange sessions and one-to-one coaching. Evaluation of mentor performance will be conducted to ensure effective support for startups, with successful mentors recognized upon program completion.

Targets  

• Botswana, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Criteria

• Most ventures on the platform are early stage and require investments between USD $10K and USD $5 million.
• For business ventures only: Ventures must be beyond the concept phase and have a working prototype, product or service. They look for ventures that are disruptive in their business model, are scalable and offer innovative solutions.
• Ventures must fit VC4A’s sectors: They currently support ventures that focus on the sectors of Agriculture, Banking, Technology, Software, Consumer Goods, Energy, Financial Services, Food & Beverages, Health Services, Manufacturing, Mobile, Media, Retail, Telecommunications, Transportation, Utilities and Waste & Recycling. Thirty percent (30%) of the ventures on VC4A have some form of social mission and could be qualified as a social enterprise. All of them are for-profit companies.

For more information, visit VC4A.