Standard Chartered has launched its Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator Cohort 3 (SCWIT) Programme after it successfully implemented two Cohorts of the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator.
The Bank in collaboration with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, an Ashesi University business incubator, announced the third cohort of the Women in Tech Incubator (WIT) Programme which will focus on 20 shortlisted female-led businesses.
The female business owners will take part in an incubator, where they will have access to subject-matter experts. These experts will work to help businesses scale up and equip them with the necessary skills to thrive in today’s business environment.
Mansa Nettey, Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC, commenting on the launch, hailed the programme. She iterated the commitment of the bank to boosting women entrepreneurs.
“Standard Chartered is committed to gender equity. The objective of the SC Women in Technology Incubator (SCWIT) programme is to help women-led entrepreneurs use technology to grow their businesses. The programme brings to life the Bank’s sustainability aspirations to help bridge the gender digital divide. We are driven by our ambition to lift participation and unleash the potential of women and small businesses in our communities.”
Mansa Nettey
Women Entrepreneurs In Ghana
Mr Dramani Bukari, the Director, Partnerships, Entrepreneurship and Investments at Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, on his part, expressed pride in the third edition of the programme. He also appreciated Standard Chartered Bank for giving Climate Innovation Centre the opportunity to collaborate with the bank to drive women entrepreneurship.
“Women entrepreneurs in Ghana have the potential to make an enormous impact. Our goal with this programme is to help them realize their vision, aligned with the country’s broader economic goals and Vision 2030. Collaborating with Standard Chartered to build the insights and skills and resilience needed by female entrepreneurs to thrive in the technology sector is a huge privilege and responsibility and ties into the core principles and mandate of the GCIC.
“We are committed to building the tenets upon which women entrepreneurs can enjoy mindset optimization, vision clarity and tried and tested structure that aligns with the operations of their business and their overall personal aspirations.”
Mr Dramani Bukari
Launched in Ghana in 2020, the Women in Tech Incubator programme is specifically designed for women-led or women-owned businesses that are applying technological innovation to their operations, or women-owned tech start-ups.
With the SC Women in Tech Ghana Cohort 3 programme, upon completion of the training and workshops, the 20 shortlisted businesses will pitch their ideas/concepts and business plans to a panel of judges who will select the top five winners. They will each receive seed funding of $10,000 (GHS equivalent) from Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC.
Additionally, these selected businesses will benefit from GCIC’s high-value Mini MBA and the Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Programs, as well as mentoring and access to a wider network of other companies for these entrepreneurs.
The program’s theme for this year is: ‘Advancing global trends in women-owned businesses,’ indicating that a high level of consideration will be given towards women-owned businesses that incorporate global trends including emerging technologies, sustainability and digital economy accelerants.
This is aligned to emerging global trends as well as local post-pandemic recovery efforts that have signaled that businesses will need to adopt these trends for sustainable growth.
READ ALSO: NPP’s Subin MP, Questions Ken Ofori-Atta’s Stay In Office
