In 2022, Eramet and Women In Africa have partnered to set up a Hub in Gabon open to Gabonese women entrepreneurs selected each year to be supported in the development of their innovative projects.

In partnership with:

Programme

The Hub Femmes d’Avenir (Women for Future)  aims to enable a selection of Gabonese women entrepreneurs to benefit from dedicated support including training, mentoring and access to financing.

This hub is the realisation of WIA and Eramet’s commitment to create dynamic and innovative ecosystems in Africa through female entrepreneurship.

The Hub Femmes d’Avenir (Women for Future), the first of its kind in Libreville, is also a place that hosts events to highlight and promote Gabonese women entrepreneurship throughout the year.

Through this program, we want to contribute to the development of a community of local female innovators who bring solutions to the many challenges Africa is facing, especially in terms of innovation and new technologies, fintech, agricultural transformation. Our goal is to build viable and sustainable the business models that emerge from these solutions.


Implementation of the program – class of 2023

The program will run in several phases:

First, a call for applications is launched in May 2023 to all Gabonese women entrepreneurs.

After the selection phase of the program’s beneficiaries, the program begins with training sessions on technical subjects and “soft skills” such as writing a business plan or speaking in public. Women entrepreneurs are also trained in entrepreneurial pitching and will receive all the necessary keys to accessing financing.

Then, the beneficiaries are put in touch with a dedicated mentor and are coached on a specific issue to support them in the development of their businesses, with consistency and kindness.

Finally, some of our beneficiaries are selected for roadshows to raise funds.

Throughout the program, women entrepreneurs benefit from visibility on WIA’s social networks.


Call for applications

The call for applications will run from May 5, 2023 to May 31, 2023 at midnight Libreville time.

Candidates will have to fill out the application form which includes 2 types of sections:

– personal information;

– information about the company.

The Women In Africa team will proceed to a rigorous selection according to criteria such as motivation, progress and potential of the project presented.

  • Eligibility criteria:

    • Company created or led by a Gabonese woman
    • First traction on the market (turnover, number of users and/or customers, funds raised, etc.).

    Project selection criteria:

    • Scalability of the proven business model
    • Growth potential
    • Ambitious team with strong execution capability
    • Innovative product, service or technology is a plus
    • Potential impact in Africa

The call for applications is now closed.


Call for mentors

Confronted by a high number of mentor applications, we have decided to close the application process earlier than originally planned. We are currently carefully reviewing each application to select the most suitable participants for this year’s mentoring program. We are grateful to the candidates for expressing their interest in the program.

A look back at the highlights of the 2022 class

Launch Ceremony of the Hub

The launch ceremony of the « Femmes d’Avenir » program and its first cohort, supported by Eramet and Women In Africa, took place on Friday, June 10, 2022 in Libreville (Gabon), in the presence of Her Excellency the Prime Minister of Gabon Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda and Christel Bories, CEO of the Eramet Group.

Training sessions at the hub

The entrepreneurs of the « Femmes d’Avenir » program started training sessions on September 21, 2022.

They benefited from 30 adapted training sessions focused on the main entrepreneurial themes such as finance, management, human resources, management, marketing and communication.

Christmas market

On December 10, 2022, the women entrepreneurs exhibited and sold their products and services at the Christmas market of the Femmes d’Avenir hub.

Sessions with experts

Throughout the year, the women entrepreneurs of the hub received visits from members of the Eramet network as well as experts and key players in the development of the African continent.

Interviews with top executives of the program

Christel Bories, CEO of Eramet group

Loise Tamalgo, General Delegate of Eramet in Africa and Marie-Axelle Gautier, Director of Social Impact and Human Rights of the Eramet Group

Dora Mbeng, Hub director and WIA Gabon project manager

Testimonies of Femmes d’Avenir (Women for Future) beneficiaries

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