In 2022, the Women In Africa initiative announced the launch of “JAMII Femmes”, a program to strengthen the impact of 20,000 women entrepreneurs in ten African countries in partnership with The Coca-Cola Foundation. In its first year, 7,000 high-impact women entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria had the opportunity to benefit from the program through online training, networking opportunities, mentoring, and local boot camps. This year, the program will be scaled up to also include South Africa.
For more than a decade, The Coca-Cola Foundation has supported programs around the world that enable women to thrive. Saadia Madsbjerg, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, said: “We remain committed to preparing women for job opportunities to start and grow their businesses, as we have seen in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Nigeria. “The JAMII Femmes initiative aims to have a transformational impact across the African continent by supporting women through education, financial literacy, business training and mentorship. In addition, it addresses the barriers that prevent women entrepreneurs from succeeding in the marketplace.”
The call for applications is open for 4 months in Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa on Women In Africa’s website.
To build a strong community and bring together women from different backgrounds and sectors, 7,000 women entrepreneurs will be selected in South Africa to participate in an online training program from September to December 2023. These sessions, led by Honoris United Universities, WIA’s partner and Africa’s first and most extensive network of private higher education institutions, will equip the women with a principled approach to developing creative ideas, leadership, and management skills.
From this pool of women, more than 500 entrepreneurs will be recipients of grants to support their business development and increase their impact on communities. In 2024,60 selected recipients will benefit from a physical acceleration bootcamp. In addition, they will have access to a full range of support services and expert mentoring sessions. At the end of the program, one recipient from each country will receive a grant of $10,000 to support their project. By addressing the key challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing in Africa on such a large scale, this program will empower them to be Africa’s change-makers.
“In 2022, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Women In Africa made a commitment to establish JAMII Femmes program to support 20,000 African women entrepreneurs over the next three years. The response from women entrepreneurs far exceeded our expectations with more than 20,000 women applying in the first year. So far, 7,000 beneficiaries have developed a strong culture of learning; they are adapting to change and responding to opportunities for growth”said Hafsat Abiola, President of Women in Africa.
Babongile Mandela, South Africa Director of Public Affairs, Communication and Sustainability at Coca-Cola Africa concludes: “This is a perfect example of The Coca-Cola Foundation’s commitment to supporting communities in South Africa. JAMII Femmes will leverage the Coca-Cola System’s expertise and insight, enabling these entrepreneurs to be better equipped to establish innovative projects and become part of a robust network hat improves their livelihoods and that of their communities.”
The Africa-focused sustainability platform, JAMII, which was launched in 2022, houses new and existing programs by building on Coca-Cola’s 90-year legacy in the space of sustainability on the continent in the following three key areas: packaging waste management, water security, and economic empowerment of women and youth.
Launched in 2016 under the chairmanship of Hafsat Abiola, the Women In Africa (WIA) Initiative is the first international platform dedicated to the economic development and support of African women entrepreneurs. At WIA, we believe that the contributions of pan-African women will be critical in determining the positive change and impact they will have on the continent’s progress. To support them, the main programmes offered by WIA are:
- WIA 54, an annual pan-African competition for women-led entrepreneurship projects.
- WIA HUBS, which aims to provide local support to African women entrepreneurs.
- WIA MENTORING, a programme aimed at mentoring the many African talents.
- WIA YOUNG LEADERS, a programme to identify and support young leaders across the continent.
- WIA CODE, a programme focused on teaching computer skills to the next generation.
For more information on the program, please visit https://wia-initiative.com/jamii-femmes-eng/