NEW YORK, NY: The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute, today announced that its new program, the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC), has selected its inaugural cohort of 200 outstanding women entrepreneurs from 2,300 applications received from 41 African countries and the diaspora.
AWEC is a one-of-a-kind, 12-month training program that builds a pan-African community of women entrepreneurs and business owners and empowers them with the strategy, leadership and business management skills needed for growth and economic advancement.
While the demand for this type of business training, which blends online learning, real time video instruction, mentorship and peer collaboration, is clear, the number of places in the program is limited, resulting in a 9 percent acceptance rate.
AWEC Cohort 1 has the following defining characteristics:
- Representation from 39 African countries
- 86% are current business owners; 14% are aspiring entrepreneurs
- A wide range of experience, from less than 1 year to more than 10 years in business
- Representation from a wide range of industries, with a majority in agriculture, education, healthcare, cosmetics, and fashion
“One of the key missions of the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative is to provide more equal access to business management learning, skill development, and mentorship to those who otherwise might not have this opportunity,” said Karen Sippel, managing director of AWEC. “The women in this cohort range from agricultural innovators to social entrepreneurs to medical doctors, but the common threads are their passion to impact their communities and their need for business and management skills to advance their enterprises.”
Live online lessons are taught by an elite team of academics and business experts from around the world, including leaders from Babson College, Columbia Business School, CRE Venture Capital, Goldman Sachs, Lagos Business School, Ogilvy & Mather, and Rasello.
About the Center for Global Enterprise
The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute devoted to the study of global management best practices, the modern corporation, economic integration, and their impact on society. One focus of the organization is to develop insights that help current and future business leaders build enduring enterprises in our globally integrated economy. CGE designs and manages programs that enable individuals from around the world to have equal access to leading-edge business knowledge.
Back to News and Press