The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) today announced that three organizations in Africa have been selected to receive funds under the Accelerating Women Climate Entrepreneurs (AWCE) Fund.

The AWCE Fund, an activity under the Accelerating Women Climate Entrepreneurs project, aims to contribute to poverty reduction and respond to climate change by identifying and promoting good practices to support women entrepreneurs in climate-related value chains. The AWCE project also places an emphasis on developing a road map for international development stakeholders to provide further gender-responsive support to women climate entrepreneurs and intermediaries.

The fund will allow three organizations to test models to increase investment into women-led small and growing businesses in western, southern, and eastern Africa.

ANDE recently launched the entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshots of Ibadan and Port Harcourt, Nigeria. These reports expand on the study of the entrepreneurial landscape of Nigeria, of which Abuja and Lagos snapshots have been previously launched.

The ANDE West Africa Chapter held a meeting on incubation and acceleration in Lagos, Nigeria in December 2017. This article provides a summary of the insights and happenings at the event.

In developed and developing economies, the role of Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) cannot be overemphasized. The Nigerian Tribune covered the ANDE West Africa Chapter's Lagos entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshot launch, identifying trends, challenges, and opportunities.

The ANDE West Africa Chapter was featured in The Nation, a Nigerian newspaper, for releasing the Lagos Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Snapshot. This article discusses what is required for a start-up community to thrive.

ANDE's Executive Director, Randall Kempner, participated in an agribusiness-focused event and pitch competition Ghana, where he identified access to talent or human resources as a major challenge facing small businesses. The Mobile Business Clinic, which is part of the Lundin Foudation in Accra, hosted the event, selected three winners at the end of the competition.