Apply: DigiFemmes Entrepreneur Program for Ivory Coast Women
The recently formed DigiFemmes Entrepreneurs program aims to equip female company owners in the Ivory Coast with data and digital skills to support the expansion of their enterprises.
The DigiFemmes program, which supports existing women-led small and medium enterprises (W-SMEs) in their growth efforts, builds a strong pipeline of new W-SMEs, and collaborates with ecosystem stakeholders to create an environment that is supportive of digital skills in Ivory Coast, includes a track called DigiFemmes Entrepreneurs.
To make sure it is effective, scalable, and sustainable, the program blends a cutting-edge yet tried-and-true pedagogical approach to skills training with an internal sustainability mechanism. The model employs a systems-thinking methodology and collaborates with current W-SMEs to address the data and digital skills necessary for the expansion of their companies.
The initiative, which aids new W-SMEs in acquiring digital skills to establish and legitimize their enterprises or improve their employability, is also supported by an ecosystem of partners, including governments, investors, and organizations that foster entrepreneurship. The goal of DigiFemmes is to improve the atmosphere in which female founders can develop their skills.
The initiative is run by consortium members SAFEEM, Seedstars Côte d’Ivoire, Empow’Her Côte d’Ivoire, Dalberg, and Edu01, and is supported by Microsoft in conjunction with USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
According to Kat Ntep, MCC’s deputy director for sector operations, “We are happy to join with the SAFEEM consortium to undertake a programme that combines numerous MCC priorities: a focus on supporting digital growth from the ground up, and the economic empowerment and participation of women.”
“We are grateful to our partners, USAID and Microsoft, who are providing significant resources and contributions to the DigiFemmes program. We hope this program will enhance the number of women role models that girls will have to look up to and strive to be.”
