Is your business investment ready?

So here’s the dilemma. So many women entrepreneurs in Africa, in particular SMEs, highlight as a key challenge the lack of access to funding to scale a business. And global reports such as the recent one published by The World Bank seem to back this up. It estimates that women-owned businesses represent over thirty percent of formal, registered businesses worldwide, yet, seventy percent of formal women-owned SMEs in developing countries are either shut out by financial institutions, or are unable to receive financial services on adequate terms to meet their needs. This results in a nearly $300 billion annual credit deficit to formal women-owned SMEs. But that’s not the only challenge. Women entrepreneurs in Africa need to improve their prospects for attracting funding by getting their businesses investor ready. Pitch decks need to be prepared; the business case needs to be convincing and authentic; financials need to be in order; market research done; and facts and figures need to be presented in a world class way. When the opportunity presents itself to pitch, the question is are women entrepreneurs business investment ready and sufficiently prepared to seize that opportunity.