Launch of the SIBC 2023
An exceptional edition dedicated to the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
For its 7th edition, the SIBC is reinventing itself. The programme will be welcoming a cohort of 25 African women entrepreneurs in 2023, selected amongst 250 recommendations provided by 100+ partners across the continent. These social and inclusive entrepreneurs will take part in a 4-months programme dedicated to preparing the scale-up of their business. The aim of this pilot edition is to experiment with an acceleration programme tailored to an all-female African cohort, with a strong gender perspective on its educational components.
Supporting the acceleration of social and inclusive innovation on the African continent: this is the goal Agence Française de Développement set in 2017, launching the Social & Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC) programme, led by the AFD Campus, and implemented by a consortium of partners – Investisseurs & Partenaires, African Management Institute (AMI), ScaleChanger and StartupBRICS.
Every year since then, SIBC has offered a cohort of English- and French-speaking African entrepreneurs support on 5 key themes for scaling up. Growing its leadership, formalising a scale-up strategy, structuring a team, measuring impact and preparing to raise funds are studied during 3 months of online training and 6 days of face-to-face bootcamp. The cohort is then invited to attend the Emerging Valley Summit on November 28th, to meet key players of the entrepreneurial ecosystems.
As well as providing training and creating funding opportunities, SIBC places at the heart of its programme a vibrant community of nearly 280 social and inclusive entrepreneurs, committed to the development of more sustainable and responsible businesses. Each cohort benefits from access to this vast network, as well as mentoring from our programme alumni.
This year, SIBC has chosen to dedicate a special edition to African women entrepreneurs, to help boost their entrepreneurial paths and address the structural barriers they face, in terms of leadership, investment readiness, team building and impact.
SIBC 2023 will also feature women entrepreneurs from the diaspora in its cohort, thanks to the support of the Meet Africa 2 programme.
ACCOMPAGNER 25 FEMMES ENTREPRENEURES AFRICAINES ET ENGAGÉES
This year, 25 structures run by committed women in 15 countries across the continent make up the SIBC cohort. More than half of these women are active in the agribusiness sector, with inspiring backgrounds and strong commitments to tackling specific social and/or environmental issues. The businesses run by these women combine economic viability, a mission to make an impact and strong growth potential.
Finally, they all meet some of the 2X Challenge criteria, such as an impact on women in their value chain or the minimum percentage of women in the structure’s management bodies.
As a pilot version of a historic acceleration programme, the 2023 women-only edition intends to innovate in both, its content and methods. It will also provide a wealth of experience and valuable learning for the future of the SIBC, as well as for acceleration programmes for women entrepreneurs.
