African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC)

by Che Joy

In the past, women were marginalised and made to feel inferior to men so much so that they started believing it. A couple of centuries down the line and the African women still had little to nothing to write home about. Gender inequality is the ghost that has haunted the woman for as long as time. 80% of African women are business inclined by default and as a result are pushed to start up businesses which tend to fail 70% of the time because they lack the skill set and network needed to grow their finances and businesses in a world that has been rigged against them. AWEC is an answered prayer for thousands of African women in the entrepreneurial field.

AWEC is primarily aimed at increasing the management and leadership capacities of African women and enabling them to build resilient businesses. The initiative was founded in 2017 as requested by thousands of women who participated in pilot online courses which had previously been organised. Through their applied learning approach, they provide access to an array of educational programs, webinars and other services while fostering a strong community of engaged members and building lasting relationships. In addition, they utilise a digital first approach to ensure that their content is accessible and interactive across various platforms.

Last year, as AWEC approached it 5 year anniversary it announced #ShePowerAfrica, a matching gift challenge campaign to enable and increase the depth andbreadthoftheirimpactonwomenentrepreneurs throughout Africa in honour of the international women’s day 2022. Their goal for this year was to raise 667000 USD by December to increase their services and impact not just in the continent but globally.

AWEC has tremendously grown from an audacious idea into today’s reality; a high-impact, human centred capacity building program designed to accelerate entrepreneurs across Africa. In a period of just four years, they were able to design an Africa specific, tech-enabled, high-touch business management curriculum to create access and opportunities for women-led businesses across 52 African countries. AWEC equally has an expanded presence on the continent each year, including recently receiving more than 3,500 applications for their next cohort which is a 34% increase in submissions and demonstrating the profound need for capacity building.

They have been able to beat the odds by raising more than 667000 USD in the short span of 4 years courtesy of generous donors and are always open to donations as they look forward to expanding their services and impacts.