The 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event in The Hague connects high-growth women entrepreneurs to European investment and market opportunities
Melanie Hawken
Founder & CEO of Lionesses of Africa, a 1.8 million+ community growing women entrepreneurs in Africa | Social Entrepreneur
Highlighting the critical role of investment and the power of partnerships to address the gender finance gap for high-growth women entrepreneurs in Africa and the Netherlands, were the key focus of discussion at the 2nd Start-Up Night Africa event on 11 June 2024, in The Hague, The Netherlands. The event was once again hosted by Lionesses of Africa, a fast-growing social impact organization with 1.8 million women entrepreneurs across the African continent, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands, African Guarantee Fund, AFAWA, and Absa. Opening remarks were delivered by Lionesses of Africa founder & ceo, Melanie Hawken; Peter Derrek Hof, Ambassador Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Director Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Nishdeep Sethi, Group Director, Structured Finance, African Guarantee Fund. Also providing a welcome address was Erik Parigger, Programme Coordinator Orange Corners.?
Start-Up Night Africa 2024 provided the opportunity for Lionesses of Africa and its partners to present a shared belief in sustainable, inclusive economic growth through gender empowerment, entrepreneurship, and the power of partnerships. Giving the opening welcome address, Peter Derrek Hof, said: “In my 32 years as a diplomat I have witnessed incredible journeys of many women entrepreneurs. I have seen the endless potential when they are equipped with adequate funding and support.”
Melanie Hawken added, “Our objective is not just to stimulate investment connections, market access, partnership, and collaboration opportunities for these ten exciting high-growth women entrepreneurs we are showcasing from our Lionesses of Africa community. It's also about creating a ripple effect. When they succeed, they provide a line of sight to thousands of others who follow in their footsteps, transforming not just their own lives but also their communities and the African continent as a whole.”
Speaking on behalf of African Guarantee Fund and welcoming guests to the event, Nishdeep Sethi said: The Start-Up Night Africa event exemplifies the power of partnerships in supporting the growth of women entrepreneurs. Through collaboration and a shared commitment, we aim to provide women with access to funding, capacity development, new markets, and invaluable networks to propel their businesses forward. It is through initiatives like this that we truly see the transformative impact we can have when we work together towards a common goal.”
Following on from the successful 2023 event held in The Hague, the Start-Up Night Africa event showcased 5 leading, inspirational women entrepreneurs from the Lionesses of Africa community from across the African continent who are in growth mode, and looking for growth funding, market opportunities, and strategic partnerships. It also showcased 5 women entrepreneurs from The Netherlands who are looking to access high-growth African markets and partnerships. The programme provided a powerful platform for these women entrepreneurs to present their businesses and pitch decks to an audience of around 175 potential investors, buyers, banks, VIP guests, and key government officials in The Netherlands.?
The women entrepreneurs showcased at Start-Up Night Africa included:?
5 Women Entrepreneurs from Africa looking for investment, market opportunities and partnerships in Europe pitched their businesses to the audience
5 Women Entrepreneurs from the Netherlands looking to expand operations into African markets and partnerships pitched their businesses to the audience
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In addition to the 10 women entrepreneur pitches, another highlight of the event was a high-level panel discussion to discuss the progress being made and the initiatives launched to address the significant funding and investment gap for women entrepreneurs. The panel, chaired by Lionesses of Africa founder and ceo, Melanie Hawken, included guest speakers Patrick Lumumba, Group Director of Capacity Development, African Guarantee Fund (AGF); Vignesh Subramani, Head: Sales Planning SME, Absa Group Limited; and Chiinga Musonda, co-founder, Savanna Premium Chocolate. Patrick gave an insightful overview of the game-changing work underway at African Guarantee Fund and AFAWA over the past 12 months to help women entrepreneurs get essential capacity-building support to better equip them to access growth funding for their businesses. Vignesh shared an update on the launch of Absa’s ‘She Thrives’ business proposition, tailor-made for women entrepreneurs, and the subsequent announcement by African Development Bank approving Absa from a funding line perspective with a focus on youth and women SMES. Entrepreneur Chiinga Musonda also provided an update on her business growth journey over the past 12 months, and gave her insights on what women entrepreneurs need in terms of market and funding access.
Lionesses of Africa also officially announced the launch of some exciting new initiatives to contribute to key identified challenges for women entrepreneurs, namely: the Gender Funding Gap; the lack of reliable data on Africa's women entrepreneurs to support decision-making; the lack of investment readiness and the need for capacity building for women entrepreneurs to take advantage of funding opportunities; and the need to tackle key environmental challenges.
Melanie Hawken announced the launch of the new Lionesses of Africa Green Business Strategy and Portal to support women entrepreneurs to build sustainable green businesses; the launch of a new digital Playbook series to aid capacity building; the planned signing in June of a new Capacity Development partnership with African Guarantee Fund to support Absa South Africa build a pipeline of credit ready Women SMEs as part of the AFAWA initiative; and a new research project addressing the women entrepreneur gender data gap, a partnership between Lionesses of Africa, AFAWA and the African Development Bank, and Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship.?
The event was brought to an official close by Peter Derrek Hof who launched the 2024 Pledge to Act, encouraging all attendees to practically support women entrepreneurs on their growth and investment journeys. Closing remarks were provided by Wampie Libon-van der Wal, Director, International Enterprise Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information on Start-Up Night Africa, send an email to: [email protected] ?
Strategist, Board Chair, and Senior Advisor working at the intersection of gender equality, racial and economic justice to help build the future we want ??. PhD in Business Leadership.
5 个月So proud of Joyce Kamande of The Rallying Cry
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5 个月Hi our sister melanie hawken iam football coach sisay ermias ,past 13 years i dedicated by youth development by holistic attitude by using football ,Please i have a vision ,i need your network Please help me ,thamk u so much +251941284797 WhatsApp
Lydia Charles Moyo, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Karim Karaki
Angel Impact Investor, Public Speaker, Serial Entrepreneur, Startup Coach
5 个月What an amazing event you put together Melanie Hawken and James Boorman ! It was such a pleasure to attend and enjoy the pitch of so many brilliant ladies! Thank you for offering Barbara Gwanmesia the chance to pitch Batazia ! I hope Batazia can also help many of the 1.8 million woman-led businesses on your platform to increase marketshare by using the African language API. That way they can reach African markets that do not speak English or French well.
CEO Job Crystal SA & UK | 1 X Successful Exit | EY Winning Women | AI | Technology | Recruitment | Chair Kay Mason Foundation | [email protected]
5 个月Thank you Melanie Hawken for sharing - such a great evening!