Promoting Entrepreneurship : More Women Gain Skills

The second cycle of the Investing in Young Businesses in Africa: Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (IYBA–WE4A) programme was launched in Douala on November 20, creating renewed opportunities for women-led start-ups to access funding, training, and mentorship. The event gathered women entrepreneurs, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) alumni, development partners, and government stakeholders for an information session ahead of the 2025 intake.
At the ceremony, representatives from the TEF and GIZ Cameroon emphasized that this new cycle aims to deepen support for women leading solutions in Africa’s green and sustainable economy. The programme is jointly supported by the European Union, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Grace Mathew, Digital Coordinator at TEF, highlighted the foundation's impact since the launch of its flagship entrepreneurship programme in 2015. She noted that TEF has trained over 2.5 million Africans and provided $100 million in direct seed capital, benefiting more than 24,000 entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries. Collectively, these entrepreneurs have created over 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and generated more than $400 million in revenue. In Cameroon alone, over 100 women have received funding, averaging CFA 2 million each. 
“Our mission is simple: to democratize access to opportunity for every young African”, Mathew affirmed, underlining the Foundation’s commitment to ensuring that no entrepreneur is left behind, regardless of background or gender. 
The WE4A programme specifically targets women founders in sectors like agribusiness, renewable energy, and eco-tourism, providing comprehensive business training, mentorship...