African entrepreneurs have been invited to apply for the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme Autumn 2018, a year-long programme for entrepreneurs from emerging and developing countries.
The programme – for which applications are open until June 20 – lasts for one year and comprises monthly mentoring calls, invitations and scholarships for entrepreneurship conferences, as well as access to an international network.
In addition, the entrepreneurs travel to Berlin, Germany, to take part in the Young Founders Conference, where they will have the opportunity to meet and interact with successful entrepreneurs, investors, and political decision makers. They will also join a network of like-minded outstanding young founders from around the world.
The most recent Westerwelle Young Founders Conference took place last month, marking the beginning of a Spring programme. Among the 23 participants from 19 countries were eight African entrepreneurs, selected from over 1500 applicants worldwide.
The African participants were Ugandan Brenda Katwesigye from Wazi Vision, South African Emma Dicks from CodeSpace, Ghanaian Kenneth Nelson from QualiTrace, Egyptian Nayrouz Talaat from Direxiona, Nigerian Ogunlana Olumide from Prepclass, Ghanaian Samuel Bediako Waterberg from People’s Pension Trust, Moroccan Samia Haimoura from Securella, and Ghanaian Timothy Kotin from SuperFluid Labs.
Each participant was matched with a mentor who will support the participants throughout the year as sparring partner and base of knowledge.
Visits to startups in Berlin and meetings with other German entrepreneurs provided the chance to get in contact with the German startup scene. Workshops held by local experts on topics such as pitching, growth and sales topped off the conferences’ programme.
