Strategic Partnerships: The Key to Accelerating Women-Led Business Growth Across Africa
L to R; Chris Caine, AWEC Fellow, Dr Sherif Kamel
In March 2019, Dr Sherif Kamel and the team at The American University in Cairo (AUC) opened their doors to extend a warm Egyptian welcome to more than 150 African women entrepreneurs. For 3 days, the 100-year old institution was the celebration hub for AWEC’s very first cohort of Fellows, graduating from a rigorous and intense 12-month program. This is just one of the many elements of the multifaceted partnership AWEC and AUC have developed, one which has been integral to AWEC’s success.
AWEC Fellows in Breakout Sessions
This year, The African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative turns five, and as the 5th cohort dives into their first month of programming, we look back on a vital component of the organization’s long-term sustainability: partnerships!
Partnerships have always been at the heart of AWEC’s work and core to our success in reaching more than 1,000 women across 53 African countries over the last five years. We are fortunate to have received time, knowledge, talent, and financial contributions from multinational corporations - including (but not limited to) Google, EY, Facebook, and Pfizer - and passionate individuals who share our commitment to changing lives through equalizing access to knowledge and networks.
Their support is critical to enabling us to deliver on our mission to empower African women entrepreneurs to build resilient and scalable businesses. As an industry-agnostic global program that operates across 53 countries and the diaspora, local partners provide on-the-ground support and contextual understanding of how businesses operate in the many different markets we serve.
As a friend and business advisor to the senior leadership team at both The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) and AWEC, Dr Kamel has played an important role in supporting AWEC’s mission to empower African Women entrepreneurs to build resilient and scalable businesses since its inception.
“The relationship between us and Dr Kamel began, close to 10 years ago, when we convened a group of CEO’s from around the globe for a conference at INSEAD in France,” said Chris Caine, President of CGE. “He and I stayed in close contact and would often discuss how the Middle East and Africa were an emerging region of the world and what it all meant to business. So when we were conceptualizing a continent-wide program for women entrepreneurs, he very generously gave us some strong insights and advised that if we wanted success, we should endeavor to build an educational bridge between North and sub-Saharan Africa.”
Not too long after that conversation, AWEC was born…and the rest, as they say, is history.
“AWEC's journey from conceptualization to implementation is truly inspiring because of its unique value proposition to help transform the future of Africa by investing in its talented, innovative, and ambitious entrepreneurs determined to make a difference in their society,” Dr Kamel reflects.
But his part in the story did not end there. For nearly four years, Dr Kamel served as co-chair of AWEC’s Board of Stewards and played a critical role in designing one of the foundational modules in the Business Academy Course: ‘Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset’. He has also introduced AWEC to speakers, vendors, board members, and fellows. By sharing his own knowledge and opening up his personal network, AWEC has been able to facilitate connections between entrepreneurs in North African and sub-Saharan Africa, unlike many programs that focus entirely on one or the other.
Early in January 2022, to support AWEC’s application recruitment campaign, Dr Kamel facilitated a collaborative info-session to introduce the AWEC program to women entrepreneurs at AUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI). Close to 80 women joined the session to hear more about the AWEC program and went on to apply to join, with two attendees gaining admission into Cohort 5.
“Africa, with its 54 countries and a growing population, has ample potential given its youth, diverse cultures, and abundant resources. I firmly believe that scaling up the reach of AWEC could impact lives and livelihoods across the large continent. It is a privilege to be part of the team working to realize such an endeavor.”
Dr Kamel in Conversation with AWEC Fellows
Why Partnerships are Important for Women Entrepreneurs
Because “collaboration is the new competition…” A stately quote by AWEC’s newly appointed Board Chair and Founding Partner at Empower Ltd, Miranda Naimain when asked for advice on how African women entrepreneurs can tap into new economies. In fact, partnerships are so important that Goal 17 of the United Nations SDGs; ‘partnerships for the goals’, is arguably the most important of all because achieving the other goals depends on it.
A Harvard Business Review article says that collaboration is such an effective strategy because business women typically possess personal qualities that make it work. These include open mindedness, the desire to make things work and try new things, business development and management skills.
Business collaboration speeds up and multiplies your ability to expand and reach new markets. Whether you are looking for a partner to distribute or promote your product or service, manufacture your product or technology, or finance your research and development, working together is the most effective way to find customers and increase your revenues.
According to a report by Forrester consulting (one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world), 76% of business executives say that partnerships are critical business priorities including revenue growth and acquiring new customers in new segments or markets. With the majority of companies reporting that partnerships now drive more than a fifth of their sales, it’s clear that this highly efficient business channel is now a critical part of many company strategy plans.
It is a known fact that women entrepreneurs start out at a clear disadvantage and are faced with many challenges to grow their businesses, including limited resources and access to markets and finance.
But partnerships are an excellent solution and, when implemented correctly, offer unlimited opportunities including:
Access to new clients and markets
Increased sales, promotion and distribution of products, technology or services
Financing an enterprise or innovation efforts
Teaming up with other experts/suppliers to undertake a project
Collaborating with external organizations, particularly for women business owners, is incredibly important to get reach, attention and access to various opportunities that they need to grow, and so developing these kinds of relationships can really propel their businesses to the next level.
Best Practices for Establishing Business Collaborations
Post-COVID, it has never been more important for women entrepreneurs to ally with other businesses to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic and position themselves for growth after the pandemic.
Before embarking on any partnership endeavors, it’s important to ascertain what gaps you have in your business and which are the right organizations that you can partner with efficiently and effectively so that there is a win-win on both sides. Here’s five fundamental practices to keep in mind:
Find partners who have good synergy and complement your business.
Establish a list of criteria to select the right partners.
Establish roles and responsibilities for each partner and develop an operational plan together.
Use a lawyer and business professionals to get advice for the legal agreements and protect your intellectual property.
Monitor and measure activities against goals and objectives.
Where to Find Strategic Partnerships
Leverage women-owned and women-led organizations.
Attend industry fair shows and conferences.
Attend large companies’ partner/supplier events.
Join professional associations where other business owners or business representatives are members.
Leverage the membership of industry and professional associations.
Africa’s women entrepreneurs can make a huge contribution to the continent’s growth and prosperity but it’s not feasible to make a lofty impact in isolation. In order to change lives and livelihoods at scale, governments, the private sector, academics, and citizens will need to work together.
AWEC is always open to new partnership opportunities and we would love to discuss how you or your company can directly impact the lives and businesses of hundreds of women entrepreneurs across Africa. Please send us a message describing your interest and a member of our team will be in touch.