2023-09-08 14:58:44
Lamiae Benmakhlouf, CEO of Technopark, sealing her alliance with Sami Romdhan, CEO of Visa International Morocco.
Visa and Technopark just joined forces on September 6 to boost women’s entrepreneurship. This was an opportunity for those responsible to present the She’s Next 2023 initiative. The details.
She’s Next is the Moroccan version of that initiated throughout the world by the American company Visa to support the development of women’s entrepreneurship. The local approach consists of helping to boost fintech in Morocco by supporting the Technopark ecosystem. This will happen through the Visa Fintech program or any other initiative with the same objective. Overall, this will involve integrating the start-up community of the Technopark sites into Visa’s local and global initiatives aimed at supporting entrepreneurship and the digitalization of the local economic ecosystem. To do this, joint actions and initiatives in favor of young people, women and entrepreneurs will help promote financial education and inclusion.
And it is precisely in this context that Visa signed a partnership with Technopark, the unifier of start-ups and SMEs.
Integrating Moroccan fintechs into Visa’s various programs and accelerators is part of the firm’s overall policy in Africa. The latter has, in fact, invested 1 billion USD in Africa to accelerate digital transformation. Last June, Visa launched its Fintech Accelerator program for Africa in Marrakech. The company’s top management clearly signs its commitment to encouraging women entrepreneurs in Morocco through the global “She’s Next” grant program in the country. And the initiative will be done with the Technopark and Société Générale Maroc. In terms of eligibility, any female entrepreneur in Morocco can apply to She’s Next. As a result, a grant of up to 20,000 USD has been set for the three winners.
A tailor-made training program and access to dedicated Club resources, such as a library of workshops and a community of entrepreneurs are also planned as part of the program.
To assess the readiness of women entrepreneurs, a Women SME Visa Digitalization Index will be launched. The key findings of this index will also assess the challenges and enablers of empowerment in achieving business goals.
Given the complexity of the transition to digitization in the digital age, the challenges are clear. Beyond that, studies have pointed out the fact that “women entrepreneurs are still faced with limited access to capital and peer networks, not to mention the rigidity of societal behaviors that are still refractory to gender equality.” The statistics are unanimous: “Nearly 70% of women-owned SMEs in developing countries are either excluded by financial institutions or unable to receive financial services on adequate terms to meet their needs. Entities owned by women represent, moreover, just over 30% of formal businesses registered worldwide. The dice are rolled. The countdown has begun. Applicants will need to submit a short application form with details regarding their business and digital presence. Legal residence in Morocco also represents an eligibility criterion. Eligible companies must be at least 25% owned or managed by women in Morocco. They will have to operate from Morocco too. Finally, the minimum annual income of businesses must be 5,000 USD (or equivalent) or exceed this value.
Note that since 2020, Visa has invested nearly $3 million in more than 250 grants and support for women SME owners through the She’s Next grant program around the world (mainly in the United States, Canada, in India, Ireland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco).
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