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Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit – MARS 2022

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit – MARS 2022

Application for the Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit – MARS 2022 is now open with the aim to build research capacity in Africa.

About the Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit

The research summit for 2022 aims to contribute to building research capacity in the African research community, with a special focus on

“The Role of Scientific Research in responding to Cancer and Vaccines Development – Two emerging challenges in Africa”.

In addition, the organizing committee will be presenting the “Best Young, African Researcher Award” and the “Best African Woman Researcher Award”

This is to recognize the outstanding contribution of African Female Scientists with the aim to promote women in research and advance their contribution to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit – MARS will open a discussion with Ministries of Health, Information, Education, Science and Technology, and Gender across Africa.

They will be defining policies with the aim to empower youth and women in STEM and to address the vital role of research in the improvement and sustainable development of population’s health with specific emphasis on translating knowledge to action – the ‘know-do gap’ – to improve.

Details of the Summit

Deadline for Submission: July 31, 2022

Location: Dubai

This summit will be a unique opportunity for winners of MARS Research Awards to share their research output and findings. Similarly, it is an opportunity for networking and career development.

The Summit will provide a platform for awardees to discuss and enable a conducive environment for better research during the ministerial panel that will be conducted on the 15th of November, 2022.

Abstract Submission Details

  • Abstracts are welcome from final year African Ph.D students and young investigators involved in research related to either of the listed topics like:
    • Cancer (especially in women)
    • Vaccines Development
  • All abstracts should be primarily African Research Institutes and Universities based, although collaboration within Africa as well as outside is encouraged.

For more information, check Here

Techstars Startup Weekend Aba

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Techstars Startup Weekend Aba

Techstars Startup Weekend is an in-person event for 54 hours designed to give top experiential knowledge to technical and non-technical entrepreneurs.

About the Techstars Startup

The program consists of Friday night pitches and the event continues through brainstorming, business development plans, and basic prototype creation.

The event is concluded on Sunday night with demos and presentations.

Participants will be creating working startups during the event and will be able to conspire with like-minded individuals aside from their daily networks.

All participating teams listen and learn from industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurs. The weekend is all about all-around action, innovation, and Learning.

Details of the Event

Date and time: Fri, Jan 28, 3:00 PM – Sat, Jan 29, 2022, 8:00 PM WAT

Location: Innovation Growth Hub 10 Calabar Street, Aba

Ticket fee: Free

Terms of Participation

It is the job of Techstars Startup to provide you with an incredible networking and learning experience. The intention is for you to meet amazing people you might start a company with, learn from mentors and peers.

The event is to be a joint forum for sharing, building, learning, and having fun. As such, when you register, you acknowledge that any ideas shared by you or anyone else over the course of the event are contributions to the overall experience and community.

However, If you’re very concerned, you can limit your pitch to a rough outline of the idea without stating key information.

As a member of your startup community, you will agree to be inclusive of all the people and their ideas. Participants will agree to act professionally, treat everyone with respect and take proper care of the event facilities.

You will agree that you are responsible for any accidents or damages you might cause. You will also agree not to hold Techstars Startup Weekend, your local volunteer team, or any of the event supporters liable for any loss, damage, injury, or any other unforeseeable incident.

By participating in the event, you grant Techstars Startup Weekend permission to capture your photos/videos at the event. You can find the full legal terms on the Community Page.

Whether you are looking for feedback on an idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Techstars Startup Weekends are the perfect platform to put your ideas to test and take the first steps towards launching your own startup.

Click Here to register.

Planet42 South African Company Raised $30M for Its Car Subscription Service

Hassan Barakat
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Planet42 South African Company Raised $30M for Its Car Subscription Service

Planet42, a South Africa-based car subscription company, which buys used automobiles from dealerships and rents them to clients on a subscription basis, has secured $30 million in debt and stock.

The investment, dubbed a bridge round by co-founder and CEO Eerik Oja, is a precursor to a larger Series A deal later this year. It has a $6 million equity component and a $24 million debt component.

In June 2020, the firm raised $2.4 million in a seed round, followed by $10 million in debt from Lendable, an emerging markets-focused venture debt fund, in December.

The fund increased its stake in the recently raised debt round to $20 million, with other investors filling in the gaps.

Naspers Foundry, the company’s early-stage investment entity, led the equity round with $3.4 million. Change Ventures, the main investor in Planet42’s seed round, as well as Startup Wise Guys, Martin and Markus Villig of Bolt, and Ragnar Sass of Pipedrive, are among the existing investors.

Despite its South African location, Planet42 has Estonian roots according to the founders’ heritage, Oja and CFO Marten Orgna started the company in 2017. In an interview, Oja stated that the automotive subscription model was intended to cater to private persons who are overlooked by South African banks when seeking vehicle financing.

“Our car subscription [model] is inclusive of all social groups.

“The interesting component for us is that if it weren’t for us, our customers wouldn’t have a car,” Oja said, adding that because the company buys old cars, the unit cost is lower than if it were a subscription model that bought new cars.

In most emerging markets, getting a personal car might be difficult, especially if one’s income isn’t steady. Lenders tend to disregard persons with bad credit or charge them unfavorable interest rates for vehicle financing if they don’t have a solid credit history.

Planet42 is one of the only start-ups focusing on the African market that uses a car subscription model to address this disparity. In measuring risk in underbanked consumer sectors, the company claims to apply proprietary scoring algorithms that are superior to traditional credit scores.

There are over 700 dealerships in the company. Customers can also use its algorithms to figure out what budget works best for them and then choose between new and pre-owned items.

Planet42 then purchases the vehicle and rents it to the customer on a subscription basis. Planet42 estimates that 89 percent of the customers it has served so far would not have had access to a personal vehicle otherwise.

“We’ve gotten so proficient at scoring that we can now get brand new cars for customers who couldn’t get bank financing.” We’ve found out a method to do it in such a way that we can put brand new entry-level cars in the hands of the same target market and customers who are unfairly rejected by banks,” stated the CEO.

Planet42 has offered over 7,000 cars to clients in South Africa four years later, after raising $50 million in equity and debt.

When Oja spoke with TechCrunch in March, the number was 3,000, and he said the company has grown by 25% month over month.

Autochek and Moove are other companies offering similar services in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

While Moove focuses on ride-hailing automobile financing, Planet42 and Autochek cater to private consumers. On its platform, Planet42 has a cohesive network of automobile industry players.

After debuting in Nigeria, both Moove and Autochek have expanded into other African countries.

However, Planet42’s next lucrative market is located off the coast of Africa.

When asked if Planet42 might expand into other parts of Africa, Oja replied, “We’re just not doing it right now, but we’re not ruling it out for the future.” “However, market size is the primary cause.

South Africa accounts for around a quarter of all passenger cars on the African continent; this means that whichever market we visit next in Africa will inevitably be smaller. Every year, 1.1 million used cars are sold and bought in South Africa.

Mexico has a population of 7 million people. As a result, the Mexican market is six times larger than the South African market. So we want to go for the really big markets.”

The company said that it has purchased its first vehicles for clients in Mexico. Similar issues arising from transportation inequity abound in the country, where 63% of the population relies only on cash.

However, Mexico is one of the few nations where Planet42 aims to expand in the near future, according to Oja, who also stated that the firm has opened an office and hired two people.

By 2025, he said, the company wants to have purchased over 1 million cars for its clients in both current and prospective markets. Planet42 has also made progress toward becoming a carbon-neutral corporation, thanks to a wind farm project in South Africa’s Northern Cape. The farm was financed for months by the automobile subscription firm using money from carbon offset credits.

Secretum Sets to Become The Go-to Messaging and Crypto App for Asia and Africa

Hassan Barakat
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Secretum Sets to Become The Go-to Messaging and Crypto App for Asia and Africa

Secretum is a fully decentralized, encrypted, and secure messaging DApp (Decentralised App), built on the Solana Blockchain.

It lets users send and receive messages as well as trade crypto assets with the ease of sending an SMS.

Unlike cloud-based messaging services like WhatsApp, all communications are fully encrypted and stored on verified nodes in the Secretum network, so hackers cannot access them.

Secretum is the most secure and anonymous sign-up process available, requiring only the user’s crypto wallet address — no more worries about private data leaks or government meddling, which is a particular threat in many African and Asian nations.

It’s a simple, intuitive, and completely peer-to-peer trading platform for sending and receiving cryptocurrencies and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

 

It has also set records for minimum expenses and practically instantaneous exchanges thanks to Solana’s expertise.

Secretum can process 50,000 transactions per second at an average cost of $0.00025 per transaction.

Secretum’s strategic aim is to become the go-to messaging and crypto app for Asia and Africa by combining a superior messaging app in terms of security with highly versatile crypto trading features.

Secretum’s Blockchain-messaging capabilities are revolutionizing communications, while its over-the-counter (OTC) P2P trading capabilities offer unique benefits to crypto-asset owners in Africa and Asia, including:

 

  • High Liquidity — Traders can communicate directly with one another and discover hidden liquidity in crypto markets, minimizing slippage and improving execution times.
  • NFT Trading – Secretum allows NFT owners and traders to communicate with one another using only their wallet address — securely, directly, and at the lowest possible fees. This would create a brand-new asset class for African and Asian crypto investors to diversify and protect their holdings.
  • High Usability – Asians and Africans are the world’s most ardent mobile money consumers. In Asia, there are an estimated 243 million mobile money accounts, while African mobile money providers traded an estimated $490 billion in 2020. Furthermore, peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading is already the most popular. As a result, the market has become accustomed to exchanging money, trading, and communicating via P2P mobile solutions. Secretum enters this well-known market, but with a technologically superior answer.
  • Secretum will deliver a never-before-seen crypto trading and messaging solution as mobile and crypto adoption continues to rise across Africa and Asia, serving two markets that are rapidly merging into one. Secretum is establishing itself as the app of choice for 3 billion people in the world’s youngest and most dynamic markets by using this solution.

Bullish Launches Crypto Exchange Services

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Bullish Launches Crypto Exchange Services
Bullish, a Block.one’s cryptocurrency exchange platform has launched its service on Tuesday to legitimate users and institutions in some regions in Africa, Asia-pacific, Latin America, and Europe.
 
The launch is coming less than a few months after Bullish got a distributed ledger technology license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
 
Bullish is leveraging DeFi (decentralized finance) and it’s built on a private EOSIO based blockchain. The exchange asserts to removing lots of security vulnerabilities and also using a password-free authentication platform. 
 
Besides, Bullish promises deep liquidity and low-cost transactions to both retail and institutional investors.
 

Increase in the Demand for the Bullish service

The exchange is experiencing an increase in demand since the launch in late November to some selected institutions has a limit.
 
From reports, the exchange is including a $2 billion fund and digital assets to its liquidity pools and is already achieving a daily trade volume of over $150 million.
 
Meanwhile, the Bullish exchange is adjusting to its merger with an American blank check firm that will make it a public company. This merger already has a $9 billion deal connection with a Far Peak Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC), which is a SPAC.
 
The exchange looks to bring value back to underlying asset providers and enhance the market structure of DeFi with the high performance of a CLOB.
 
This is the best of both worlds which will open up new opportunities for a new era of finance. Thomas Farley, the Chairman, and CEO at FPAC said;
 
“Within traditional finance, innovation has unfortunately become synonymous with complexity, creating a vacuum for closed-door decisions to thrive”

[Press Release] Paylend, a Kenyan FinTech Company Raises $2M Seed Investment from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited

Mena Adediran
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[Press Release] Paylend, a Kenyan FinTech Company Raises $2M Seed Investment from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited

Paylend, a Kenyan FinTech startup focused on providing access to finance and digitizing MSMEs in Kenya have today announced that it has raised $2 million dollars seed investment from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited, an Asian based company that provides blockchain applications, consultancy services and training to global entities.

Founded in September 2019, Paylend has digitized over 10,000 SMEs and growing with its users enjoying an array of services including access to credit for products and services and crowdfunding tools.

Paylend’s mission is to support MSMEs across Africa solve the problem of access to continuous capital while bridging the consumer data gap by connecting consumers to products and services. Paylend’s model enables last mile consumer data collection that allows for a thorough understanding of consumer needs as it creates value for the SMEs ecosystem.

“I believe in impact driven solutions. For a very long time, MSMEs have experienced stunted growth due to lack of efficient business tools or lack of funds. With Paylend, we are able to turn this around by helping these businesses access affordable credit quicker thus allowing them to have liquidity thus ensuring business continuity. Additionally, we form alliances with strategic partners with similar goals to present business tools that ease operations of these MSMEs,” said Eliutherius Juma, CEO, Paylend.

29% of formal SMEs in Africa have access to loans, line of credit or overdraft. The numbers are significantly lower in the informal MSME sector that accounts to over 60% of businesses in the region.

“The value of the credit gap alone in sub-saharan Africa is at $90 billion that requires an increase of over 350% service to close the gap. To tackle these challenges, Africa needs transformational interventions. The formal banking landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa supports around 20% of Africa’s bankable population with the majority of people excluded from access to finance and wealth creation, this is a massive opportunity for FinTechs like Paylend.” Further stated Juma.

This investment will help Paylend grow its operation in the Kenyan market and open new markets in Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria as part of its next 3 years growth plan.

Paylend is an Adanian Labs startup, a Pan African smart technologies venture studio with a mission to build, nurture and scale 300 impact driven tech startups across Africa.

“We are elated to see the progress that Paylend is making and how it is impacting MSMEs, which is one of the most off grid sectors when it comes to digital transformation and financial inclusion.  At Adanian Labs our mission is to nurture innovative solutions and support innovators like Juma with the necessary resources including tech development, technical capacity, go to market strategies, team mentorship and training as well as access to partnerships and resources. We are confident that this investment will see Paylend transform MSMEs in Kenya and beyond. Adanian Labs will continue to work with Paylend and support its roll out across Africa.” said Bendon Murgor, CTO, Adanian Labs.

Kenji Sasaki, the CEO of Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited said of the partnership “We are absolutely delighted to partner and support Paylend. Our vision is to ensure that no one is left behind in Africa when it comes to access to technology that can potentially facilitate wealth creation. We believe in the power of technology in transforming communities, and Paylend’s model is doing that at a micro level, which is where a lot of work is needed if we are to drive digitization. We have seen first-hand the potential that the informal sector in Africa has in solving key society issues and we are excited to be able to support and create impact.”

Paylend app, can be accessed on android playstore, for both consumers and MSME’s, with innovative features on access to credit for businesses, crowdfunding tools, and prepayment of goods and services for consumers. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Paylend.

About Paylend:

Paylend is a Fintech company that empowers MSMEs in Africa with digital record keeping and business management tools, solving growth challenges faced by small businesses in Africa.

Paylend’s innovation is helping small businesses digitize the “black book” used to lend to customers that has been managed offline with limited value to MSME’s, bringing visibility of end consumer data and access to credit for the entire ecosystem.

The company is operational in Kenya, with plans to scale into 3 new markets including Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria.

This press release was first published on African.business: https://african.business/2021/12/apo-newsfeed/paylend-a-kenyan-fintech-company-raises-2-million-seed-investment-from-next-chymia-consulting-hk-limited/

Africa Blockchain Incubation Program 2022

Hassan Barakat
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Africa Blockchain Incubation Program 2022

Application Deadline

January 31, 2022

About The Incubator Program

This is a structured Incubator Program aimed at fostering African Blockchain Startups in order to ignite creativity and ideas implementation around Distributed Ledger Technologies, which are underrepresented in Egypt’s and Zimbabwe’s local innovation and entrepreneurship landscapes.

Qualified candidates will be nurtured over the course of a structured four-month program that includes workshops, training, development, mentor sessions, and community events, as well as interactions with investors and prominent Blockchain experts.

Admission Criteria

We’re searching for forward-thinking, imaginative people that are eager to take on new challenges in order to create the next Big Thing. These people must be dedicated to the project, hardworking, and have strong backgrounds in computer science (knowledge of languages like C++, Javascript, Python, and Solidity is a plus), mathematics, statistics, business/entrepreneurship, economics, cryptography, blockchain, and other related fields.

Specifically:

  •  Must be citizen of Egypt or Zimbabwe.
  •  Female Applications are given priority.
  •  Between 20 – 35 years of age.
  •  Have strong business case and market potential.
  •  Idea stage and early-stage (1 year) companies are advised to apply.

The Incubator Stream Features

The Blockchain Incubator Stream provides new founders with a comprehensive range of services to help them begin and expand their businesses.

Platform Support; Leading blockchain platform vendors give product development support.

Access to Economists; Advice from world-class economists on marketplace and incentive design.

Business Support; The African Leadership University’s top-ranked experts can help you develop your business.

Business Guidance and Investor Access; Meetings with a group of highly successful entrepreneurs and investors with expertise in scaling high-tech firms.

Demo Day; The program culminates with a Demo Day, which allows startups to propose their ideas to investors, professionals, and the Blockchain community.

The Incubation Program Combines

  • Blockchain Technology

Provides a broad overview of blockchain technology as well as industrial ties.

  • Business Education

Provides business expertise, industry connections, and investor introductions.

Duration & Format

  • March – June 2022
  • Hybrid: Virtual & Physical

Got Questions?

Please send an email to: info@africablockchain.institute.

To read more and apply, visit the official website of Africa Blockchain Incubation Program 2022.

World Mobile Token Set to be Listed on Three Crypto Exchanges

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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World Mobile Token Set to be Listed on Three Crypto Exchanges
World Mobile Token (WMT), a token that enables a global mobile network on a sharing economy is set to be on the list of 3 leading crypto exchanges.

The Crypto Exchange platforms for World Mobile Token

WMT will be on the list of one of the world-leading asset platforms that have the Cardano native support, Bitrue. Also, it will be on the list of the global digital asset trading platform, BitMart which provides real-time trading services.
 
Lastly, WMT will be on MEXC Global, an exchange platform known for high performance, matching technology, and mega transaction with a large customer base in the APAC region.
 
With these listings, holders of WMT have instant liquidity by buying the token during the token generation event. On the other hand, WMT will be trading all over jurisdictions across the globe.

World Mobile Token’s Mission

Like the World Mobile Network’s mission of acquiring sustainable connections to Africa with the World Mobile sharing economy.
 
According to Adam O’Neill, the Chief Marketing Officer of Bitrue, most traditional business models ignores the ability to improve the quality of life.
 
Meanwhile, these abilities of radical life improvement are one of the most interesting parts of Cryptocurrencies. He said;
 
“We see millions of unbanked people who live in developed nations that are now able to control their finances again with the use of cryptocurrency”
“we’re glad to be a part of and support a project like World Mobile Token who is making a verifiable difference to billions of unconnected persons around the world.”
 
The spokesman for WMT, Zachary Vann said it is exciting working with BitMart whose core values align with World Mobile’s vision. Their real-time trading services serve about 180 countries and over 9 million customers.
 
“BitMart is in support for World Mobile from the early stage and has been supportive of its goal and mission of connecting the unconnected”.
 
MEXC Global after being recently awarded at the 2021 Dubai Crypto Expo as the best exchange in Asia. Zachary said;
 
“We look forward to offering WMT to the MEXC global community making the token available to their 6 million users”
 
Working with MEXC Global to support WMT and seeing the passion shown towards the mission of World Mobile has been a pleasure, said Mr. Zachary Vann.

The Goal of WMT 

World Mobile Token is the utility token at the heart of the sharing economy. In other words, it will power the network and drive mass adoption of the sharing economy.
This will create explosive growth of the World Mobile Network.
 
Mr. Vann said;
 
“World Mobile Token is starting its exciting journey of being listed on many CEXs and DEXs, allowing people from across the globe the opportunity to get World Mobile Token via various means and live up to the name of World Mobile Token”
 
In conclusion, the listings will allow people from around the world to buy, sell, and trade WMT. The listings will become effective on Thur December 23 on Bitrue & MEXC and Friday, December 24 on BitMart.

Nigerian Mobility-tech MAX Lands $31m Series B Funding

Mena Adediran
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0
Nigerian Mobility-tech MAX Lands $31m Series B Funding

Nigerian mobility tech startup MAX (Metro Africa Xpress) has plans to break into new markets across Africa after raising $31million in a Series B round. The funding will be used to enter into the Ghana and Egypt markets at the end of the first quarter of 2022. The startup will also enter more markets such as Francophone, East and Southern Africa by the end of 2022.

MAX was founded in 2015 (by Adetayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh) as a delivery startup, completing customer orders using motorcycles; then it started its ride-hailing service and later ventured into automobile subscription with financing services.

MAX took another giant leap forward by introducing vehicle financing services in 2018. The startup’s bank-partners grant vehicle purchase loans to drivers using a credit risk assessment. “It became clear that the fundamental issue that drivers face is consistent access to vehicles. And that is when we realized that if we are to be successful at solving the challenge of mobility across the continent, we have to first address the issue of vehicle access,” said the CFO, Guy-Bertrand Njoya.

MAX plans to build electric automobile infrastructure in the new markets its entering, in a bid to introduce electric vehicles to its growing customer base. As of now, the mobility company designs and assembles its own line of electronic motorcycles; kick-starting this in 2019.

The funding round was led by Lightrock and Global Ventures; and saw other participants including Novastar Ventures and Proparco.

According to Njoya, MAX aims to be the “go-to” platform for vehicle subscription and financial services for millions in Africa. MAX recently partnered with ride-hailing company Bolt to provide lease-to-own options to 10,000 drivers in Nigeria who want to acquire energy-efficient vehicles.

The GWNF Women in Tech Seminar

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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0
The GWNF Women in Tech Seminar

GWNF (Global Women Network Foundation) presents its women in tech seminar 2022 edition. 

The Women in Tech seminar is a designed chart of a future path for women in the ICT sector. The seminar will enlighten participants how to go about unemployment and entrepreneurship taking advantage of free tech skills training available.

About GWNF (Global Women Network Foundation)

The Global Women Network Foundation (GWNF) is a non-governmental organization registered in the UK and Nigeria. Similarly, it is established to mentor and train young women in Africa, especially in Nigeria.

The mission is to create a global network of business women and organizations that will empower women with life-changing information, marketable skills, and the confidence required to succeed in life.

The core objective of the NGO is to create opportunities for African women, helping to realize their full potential of becoming financially independent.

Details of the Seminar

Date: Thu, 24 March 2022

Time: 11:00am – 15:00pm WAT

Location: Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, No. 1 Uke Street, Garki II, Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

Please Note: This event is strictly for women ages 18- 35 years old.

About the GWNF Women in Tech Seminar

 Business and professional women from various sectors who want to give back to their communities were the ones who created the Global Women Network.

The women in tech seminar will consist of mentoring sessions through which members share their knowledge, time,resources & experience. 

Also, the program will be providing training session, business support in terms of funds and advice for participants.

After successfully completing the training, the foundation will help to secure befitting roles successful participants. In terms of business enterprise, there will support (funds and advice) provided through implementation for participants.

As part of the Global Women Network Foundation’s on-going efforts to encourage entrepreneurship and economic growth, the GWNF welcomes you to participate in this seminar.

Kindly click Here to register.

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