See what Google gave female entrepreneurs

Google has granted a $3m grant to the Tony Elumelu Foundation for female entrepreneurs on the continent. Google in a sequence of programmes roll-out announced this.

The company announced the start of three new programmes to bolster innovation and female entrepreneurship on the African continent in a statement.

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The programmes include the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa class, Google for Startups Black Founders Fund for Africa, and the Google.org grants $3 million to the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Google.org’s $3m grant support to the Tony Elumelu Foundation will provide funding for entrepreneurship training, mentorship and coaching to at least 5,000 women with low digital skills, who come from rural areas and currently operate in an informal sector across Africa.

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Seed capital in the form of one-time cash grants will also be provided to 500 African women aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and select Francophone countries.

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Managing director of Google Sub-Saharan Africa, Nitin Gajria, said, “We are dedicated to building a world where all women can thrive.

“According to data collected by the World Bank in 10 African countries, male-owned enterprises have six times more capital than female owned enterprises.

“This huge capital gap is not stopping the rise of female entrepreneurs, but it slows them down and makes their journeys that much more challenging.

“We hope that the support to The Tony Elumelu Foundation will help accelerate the growth of women tech makers and entrepreneurs in Africa.”

Chief Executive Officer of Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said, “As Africa’s leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs, this grant support will provide financial and technical support for additional women-owned businesses and marginalised groups in the informal sector through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.

“There is no better time to invest in women’s economic participation on the continent than now. Through this support, women will drive growth for local economies and enable better living conditions for their communities.”

“We are delighted to disburse the Google.org grant to scale our ongoing efforts to empower young African entrepreneurs as we believe this will be instrumental in building much-needed businesses and resilient economies.”

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The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa is a $3m fund that would provide cash awards and hands-on support to 50 Black-led startups in Africa without the founders having to give up any equity in exchange for funding.