BIC Africa Acceleration Programme 2025

BIC Africa in partnership with the European Union has announced applications for the 2025 BIC Africa Acceleration Programme.

The BIC Africa Acceleration Programme for Women Entrepreneurs will support women entrepreneurs willing to scale their businesses, while contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Eligibility Criteria:

• Be a woman (minimum age of 18-years-old) founder/owner of already established business with an operational team and a strong development potential.  
• Be available between April and July 2025 to participate in the Programme with maximum 2 hours per week for online sessions + time to work individually and reflect upon the learnings. 
• Already running a start-up or company (it must be registered since at least 1 year) and seeking to scale up.  
• Demonstrate commitment to actively participate in all the activities of the Acceleration Programme and assisting future developments of the programme. 
• Have access to reliable internet connection. 
• Have a good working knowledge of English language.

Benefits:

• Explore growth and scaling trajectories for their businesses and solutions. 
• Assess the team competencies and consider how their business model will adapt to the growth phase. 
• Articulate the social value proposition, identifying why and how the proposed solution contributes to SDGs. 
• Gain access to appropriate sectorial, local, and international experts. 
• Join a vibrant community of women entrepreneurs, to learn, exchange, and connect. 
• Connect with BIC Africa and the European Business Innovation Centre Network (EBN) to unleash the impact of women entrepreneurs (see: https://ebn.eu/).

The programme will also open the door for further opportunities and awards: 

• A Certificate of recognition will be sent in an electronic format by EBN – BIC Africa project for those who successfully completed the 12-week course acceleration programme (attending at least 9 out of the 12 sessions). 
• Remote one-to-one Mentoring sessions will be offered to high performing participants selected by the BIC Africa expert committee, who as such will get the chance to be matched with one or two European incubation experts, who will accompany their growth trajectory. Further details will be shared at the start of the programme. 
• Other Business Awards (e.g. additional support, highlighted visibility on BIC Africa website, invitation to participate in a BIC Africa event etc.) will be available to high performing participants selected by the BIC Africa expert committee. 

Programme Schedule

• 6 online interactive training modules (each lasting 1.5 hours), on topics such as Mission; Unique Value Proposition and Product Development; Business Model; Team & Partnerships; Finance; Marketing. 
• 4 online group coaching sessions (each lasting 1.5 hours), on topics such as Leadership and influencing skills; Mastering personal and business finances; Storytelling and pitch training; Time management and prioritisation. 
• 2 Networking sessions (at the beginning and at the end of the programme) 
• Access to support documents and recordings of the sessions 
• Integration in the BIC Africa Community of women entrepreneurs, with visibility on the BIC Africa website, integration into the LinkedIn group for this Community, as well as access to other networking and market linkage opportunities and events. 

How to Apply?

• Click the button below to visit the program.
• Complete the following Google application form.
• Fill in the questions in the form on general information on the applicant and the business.
  Prepare and Upload a Pitch Deck.
• Important: For this, please download the PowerPoint Presentation template that we provide here: https://shorturl.at/CEHEK, use it for the creation of your pitch deck and please follow the instructions indicated in the template.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Deadline: March 20, 2025