Grants and Awards for Entrepreneurs in 2015

I joined  Weconnectinternational last year and apart from the support network I have access to, I also get useful updates on seminars, grants and anything else that can help a woman survive in the Nigerian entrepreneurial space.

That's the badge I wear with pride

 +Comfort Sakoma, our Nigerian country director and her team have summarized the available grant opportunities for Nigerians at the moment, complete with deadlines and all. I think it's worth sharing. 

YouWin
Deadline: 30 January 2015 (Round 1)
Apply here: https://www.youwin.org.ng/

 YouWiN! stands for Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria. It is an innovative business plan competition aimed at job creation by encouraging and supporting aspiring entrepreneurial youth in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas. The accomplishments of the 1,200 YouWiN! awardees were celebrated at the Presidential Villa on April 12, 2012. YouWiN! Women was the second edition of the entrepreneurial scheme, which was designed for only female entrepreneurs aged 45 years or less. The third edition, YouWiN! 3, which support both male and female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, recently announced the 1500 awardees. With the upcoming launch of YouWiN! 4, the President of Nigeria will have fulfilled his promise to financially support over 3,600 Nigerian youths to develop their entrepreneurial ideals and plans through the YouWiN! program. YouWiN! 4 is open to both male and female entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 - 45 years.

Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards
Deadline: 27 February 2015
Apply here: http://cartierwomensinitiative.com/

The +Cartier Women's Initiative Awards are an international business plan competition created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women's Forum, +McKinsey & Company  and INSEAD business school to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs. A WEConnection won last year and she will be sharing her application experience at upcoming Weconnection events!

The mission of the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards is threefold:

• To identify and support initial-phase women entrepreneurs through funding and coaching
• To foster the spirit of enterprise by celebrating role models in entrepreneurship
• To create an international network of women entrepreneurs and encourage peer networking

The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards aim to encourage the most vulnerable category of entrepreneurs in their most vulnerable phase: women entrepreneurs starting up. Since their inception in 2006, they have accompanied over 140 promising female business-owners and recognized 44 Laureates.

It is interesting to note that in the 8 year CWIA history, the Laureates for Sub-Saharan Africa came from Nigeria in 2009, 2013 and 2014! Please find below a flyer for the Awards / Application.

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme
Deadline: 28 February 2015
Apply here: http://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/teep/

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is the flagship entrepreneurship programme of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, founded by visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony O. Elumelu, CON. Our goal is to create 10,000 businesses that can generate 1,000,000 new jobs and contribute at least $10 billion in annual revenues to the Africa economy. The programme is open to all citizens and legal residents of any one of the 54 African countries. The proposed business must operate in Africa.

The 7 Pillars of TEEP are:

- Mentoring
- Start-up Enterprise Toolkit
- Online Resources
- Boot-Camp
- Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum
- Seed Capital Funding
- TEEP Alumni Network

The pillars have been designed to address the essential needs to ensure success for an African entrepreneur.

Wish you the best as you apply for these programs. 

Keep us updated on your successes!

Cheers everyone!