Impact Partnership Launch
On a mission to address the data gap that exists on better understanding high-growth women's entrepreneurship in Africa, particularly on access to funding, Lionesses of Africa BV (a 1.7 million strong network of women entrepreneurs in Africa) and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship BV (ECE) have launched a new long-term strategic partnership. At an official signing ceremony on 28 September 2023 at the Rotterdam headquarters of ECE, the two partners announced the new partnership. It will kick off with a collaborative research project in the form of a quantitative and qualitative dashboard and report, highlighting the characteristics and drivers of Africa's high-growth women entrepreneurs and providing actionable insights to help bridge the gender gap, especially in the financial landscape.
Africa has the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs globally (according to African Development Bank & OECD, 2022 data), yet this still represents only a quarter of entrepreneurs in the continent. On top of that, reliable data about entrepreneurship is scarce in Africa – especially regarding insights about high-growth entrepreneurship for women-led enterprises. A primary goal of the first research project to be undertaken under this new long-term strategic partnership by Lionesses of Africa BV and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship BV is to address two identified data gaps. Firstly, the provision of reliable data about women entrepreneurs on the continent and the ventures they lead, including their impact as critical job creators. Secondly, the opportunities and barriers for women entrepreneurs to access much-needed business growth funding.
The research places Africa's high-growth women entrepreneurs at its core, to arrive at insights to inspire and inform high-potential (aspiring) women entrepreneurs, financial institutions, educators, policymakers and other relevant ecosystem supporters to drive change for a more inclusive and prosperous status quo in the African continent.
Regarding the announcement, Lionesses of Africa founder and CEO Melanie Hawken said: "Getting access to finance remains a dominant concern and a barrier to future growth for Africa's women entrepreneurs. We know from our insights that women entrepreneurs finance their companies' activities largely by tapping internal sources of financing (mostly retained earnings and personal capital). While many of our high-growth potential Lionesses anticipate looking for external financing soon, many don't have confidence in the willingness of financial institutions to provide the loans or credit they will need. To change this situation, we need to address the current data gap. Our new partnership with Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship will play a key role in providing the insights that banks and financial institutions need to do things differently."
Lionesses of Africa and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship representatives at the partnership signing event: Pictured left to right: Victor Hawken, co-founder of Lionesses of Africa; Farshida Zafar, Director of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship; Melanie Hawken, founder & CEO of Lionesses of Africa; Katty Hsu, Senior Researcher & Startup Facilitator and Leonardo Fuligni, Deputy Director, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship.
This first collaborative research project will collect crucial data about the key characteristics and drivers of high-growth women entrepreneurship in Africa; formulate recommendations to leverage the opportunities and overcome barriers such as access to finance in the high-growth women entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa; and celebrate the success stories that will inspire the next generation of high-growth women entrepreneurs.
Farshida Zafar, Director of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, spoke about the new partnership and its goals at the official signing ceremony: "We are proud to join forces with Lionesses of Africa to grow the next generation of women entrepreneurs in Africa. With this partnership, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship is one step closer to our vision of empowering ALL to be impactful change agents in their communities."
Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE), part of Erasmus University Rotterdam, is a leading international centre for entrepreneurship education and research. Located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, ECE empowers aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs through knowledge, networks and access to resources, enabling them to turn their ideas into thriving business ventures. ECE offers a range of programmes, events, and support services that cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and foster entrepreneurial behaviour. Through dynamic collaboration with entrepreneurs, academia, government, and industry partners, ECE actively shapes the future of entrepreneurship and drives positive economic and social change locally and globally.
Lionesses of Africa is a social impact innovation company empowering over 1.7 million women entrepreneurs across 54 African countries and also reaches tens of thousands of users in the Diaspora in Europe & North America. It’s mission is to dramatically change the status quo for Africa’s women entrepreneurs, who for all their potential, remain the most underserved on the planet. As an organization, Lionesses of Africa works to catalyze the collective power, knowledge and resources of the social, private and government sectors to help create impactful and scalable social innovation to advance Africa’s women entrepreneurs. Lionesses of Africa also develops digital solutions and social innovations at scale to deliver: entrepreneur networks, entrepreneur education, entrepreneur business tools & resources, and data and research on Africa’s women entrepreneurs. www.lionessesofafrica.com
Lionesses of Africa and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship are working to identify potential funding partners to support this new research project. Interested companies and organizations should contact Melanie Hawken, founder & CEO of Lionesses of Africa - email: melanie@lionessesofafrica.com