See how we are supporting female-led businesses driven by technology and innovation.

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC launched the Standard Chartered Women in Tech programme in 2020. This incubator programme was set up to support female-led entrepreneurial teams with business management training, mentoring and seed funding.

This incubator programme, through Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) is aimed at supporting female-led businesses driven by technology and innovation in response to growing demand to increase diversity in tech. The bank’s aim is to create more opportunities for women to develop entrepreneurial and leadership expertise.

The WiT Incubators were first launched in October 2014 by Standard Chartered Americas as a local community project. In 2020, the programme was active in eight countries. The
start dates are shown in brackets for each country: Bahrain (2020), Ghana (2020), Kenya (2017), Nigeria (2019), Pakistan (2019), UAE (2019), United States (2014) and Zambia
(2020).

In 2020, we provided training to 1,311 young people and provided USD220,000 of funding to selected start-ups to grow their businesses ideas. Between 2019 and 2020, the programme reached a total of 1,398 young people.

How it Works

To qualify, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Founded or co-founded by a Ghanaian woman above
• 18 years, with an equal or majority stake
• Be a tech start-up or applying technology in your operation
• At least 12 months in operation
• Ghana-based business aligned to the needs of Ghanaians or those operating in Ghana
• Key persons of the business must be available to undertake the incubation programme

Business Guidance

Access to business guidance and resources for business development

Skills Development

Skills development opportunities like world-class entrepreneurship classes, workshops, and other business training opportunities

Business Network

Opportunity to tap into a strong network of business partners and peers with whom you can consult, collaborate, learn, and grow

Mentorship Support

Specialised mentoring support from seasoned entrepreneurs and experienced professionals

Funding Opportunities

Access to funding opportunities such as grants for the top five finalists, greater access to investors, and financial guidance.

Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) is a pioneering business incubator with a unique focus of developing sustainable enterprises and climate-responsive SME ventures and entrepreneurs in Ghana. Our mission is to develop and support an exceptional set of transformational ventures and entrepreneurs who are pioneering innovation and adaptive or mitigating solutions for economic resilience and climate change issues in Ghana. We do this with a focus on key economic sectors, the provision of premium business advisory and business mentoring services, technical support in the development, prototyping and testing of their innovation, as well as financial grants to qualifying SMEs within our incubator. Interact with us: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.