StanChart ‘banks’ on 15 Zambian female entrepreneurs

 

As 15 candidates make the short-list for the US$10,000 prize                                                                             

 

Standard Chartered Bank CEO, Sonny Zulu, has said that the Bank leads the way in supporting female entrepreneurship in Zambia. He was speaking at an event to celebrate 15 Zambian female entrepreneurs who have been short-listed for the Standard Chartered Bank Women in Tech programme in Lusaka last night.

Launched in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Standard Chartered Women in Tech provides grants of US$10,000 each to those Zambian women who demonstrate how they will use technology to scale up their businesses. In 2024, 15 women have made it to the short list. They will battle it out for the much-coveted top prize of a US$10,000 grant to scale up their businesses. This year, the Bank has increased the number of winners from 5 to 6.

The 15 short-listed businesses are from a diverse range of sectors – from education and childcare service Apps to maid service Apps and creative arts, amongst others.

Mr. Zulu emphasised that beyond the internet, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to be way bigger and will form an integral part of how we do business. He challenged the female entrepreneurs to take advantage of AI and make ways to start adopting it as soon as possible.

The 15 short-listed candidates will now go on to pitch their ideas to an independent panel of judges – six will emerge as winners and receive US$10,000 each.

The Standard Chartered Women in Tech aligns with the Bank’s key priorities of lifting the participation of women in Zambia’s economy, as well as supporting small business enterprises (SMEs). Since it was launched, the Bank has invested over half a million US Dollars into the programme.