Flourish Africa has announced the launch of a N1bn facility to fund and promote female-owned businesses in Africa.
The female empowerment platform, founded by a Nigerian businesswoman and philanthropist, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, was designed to help women achieve their full potential, according to a statement on Thursday.
The statement said the initiative would focus on supporting the entrepreneurial activities of at least 2,500 female-owned businesses through funding and structured training over a period of five years.
“I am happy to launch the Flourish Africa N1bn fund on my 70th birthday as a gift to hardworking and enterprising women. This initiative will empower women economically and socially for the benefit of their immediate families and the society,” Alakija said.
She said a minimum of 500 female entrepreneurs would be trained annually, after which 100 best performers from the pool would be able to access grants of up to N2m each from an annual fund of N200m.
Expressing her enthusiasm about the initiative, she said she looked forward to empowering one woman at a time as she strongly believes that women are a crucial part of African development.
She reiterated her commitment to empowering as many women as possible in Africa.
According to Alakija, the main objective of Flourish Africa is to create an enabling platform that provides skill development, mentoring and access to marketplace for female entrepreneurs.
“Women have the potential to flourish, if a community of like-minded individuals who share a common goal and purpose pool together and make impact,” she said.