Standard Chartered Bank Zambia last week launched the SC Women in Tech (WiT) incubator programme in partnership with BongoHive. The entrepreneurship programme will support Zambian female-led tech enterprises and female business owners who would like to leverage technology to grow their businesses. 

The WiT programme is part of the bank’s new ‘Futuremakers’ programme, which aims to help communities to learn, earn and grow – under the ‘Entrepreneurship’ pillar. It is also aligned with BongoHive’s commitment to building a sustainable startup ecosystem through it’s entrepreneurship programmes.

Successful applicants will undergo an incubation programme where they will receive guidance on how to transition from being an early-stage startup to a scalable startup. The candidates will also receive specialised support which will help them leverage technology and improve significant aspects of their businesses. Standard Chartered Bank has committed $50,000 of seed funding for the first year of the programme, of which the top 5 finalists will each receive $10,000 equity grant seed funding to assist with implementation of tech in their businesses and support towards the development, launch and promotion of their businesses.

In order to be eligible for the programme, businesses must be owned by a female founder or co-founder over 18 years of age, with equal or majority stake. The business must have been operating for at least 1 to 3 years, and have a tech-based or enabled platform, or a clear need to leverage technology to enable the business to grow. Applicants must be based and operating in Lusaka and must be of Zambian nationality to participate.

The participants will attend a 3-month incubation programme from March to May 2021 and the 5 winners of the incubation programme attend a 6-month acceleration programme from July to December 2021.

Applications will run for 8 weeks from December 7 to January 31, 2020. Conditions for applications and the application submission link can be found on the SC Women In Technology Incubator Programme website – scwomenintech.co.zm 

For further information, contact: Ms. Maumo Mubila, Projects Lead – [email protected].