Visa, She Leads Africa Partner to Deepen Support for African Female Entrepreneurs

Visa Inc and She Leads Africa, an organisation that empowers female entrepreneurs in Africa, have joined forces to deepen support for over 700,000 African female entrepreneurs.

According to a statement put out by Visa, the partnership is part of Visa’s ‘Where you Shop Matters’ initiatives launched earlier in June to champion and enable entrepreneurs across Africa.

The global payment company said women are the backbone of African economies. The company backed this up with the 2018/2019 report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women’s Entrepreneurship that estimated that 21.8 percent of women from sub-Saharan Africa are entrepreneurs, the highest in the world.

Corine Mbiaketcha, Visa General Manager for East Africa, said “our partnership with She Leads Africa, will enable us to engage over 700,000 female entrepreneurs across Africa through digital channels and direct engagements with female-owned businesses.”

Afua Osei, Co-Founder of She Leads Africa, said “we are so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Visa to support the incredible women in our community with learning and growth opportunities. Our community is passionate and committed to making an impact with their businesses and partnering with Visa enables us to share resources that will help them take it to the next level.”

African women entrepreneurs continue to face a myriad of challenges ranging from cultural barriers that require overcoming the narrow classification of child-bearer and or home manager, to a shortage of role models, inadequate access to financial assistance and limited educational opportunities.

Mbiaketcha concludes, “There are too many reasons why female-led organisations fail to flourish and we as Visa are committed to addressing these challenges by partnering with organisations such as She Leads Africa so that we can empower the next generation of female African businesses owners with the tools to not only survive but to thrive.”