Women in entrepreneurship are set to receive financial support from an international competition, the Awa Prize, as a way of boosting their contribution to economic growth.

The awards, launched by Enabel, a Belgian development agency, are aimed for women entrepreneurs in over 16 countries, most of them in Africa.

The prize will be awarded to the best women entrepreneurs in different countries of Enabel interventions.

The best winners of the prize could get support valued up to $50,000.

Women in agribusiness will be the primary beneficiaries. However, entrepreneurs in other areas will also contest.

The Awa Prize was launched in Kigali, on Friday, October 14 as part of a workshop organised by Enabel, the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) and the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA).

The workshop was organised to discuss the socio-economic impact of women entrepreneurship in Rwanda.

The Awa Prize is expected to boost the contribution of women-owned businesses to economic growth.

According to Enabel management, women entrepreneurship has the potential to become the pivot for Sustainable Development Goals, such as poverty eradication, gender equality and access to decent jobs.

"The goal of this prize is to highlight the role models of women entrepreneurship. We have a big focus on the social entrepreneurs, women who are helping their communities,” said Lamisse Kandil, Enabel’s intervention manager for the Awa Prize.

Kandil said the prize was launched in Rwanda because the country has one of the biggest number of women entrepreneurs in Africa.

"Our country has been exemplary in terms of gender equality globally and particularly in Africa. The fact that this prize has been launched in Rwanda not only recognises all the efforts but also challenges us to further improve gender equality and support women entrepreneurship,” Florien Rulihose, the deputy chief gender monitor at GMO, said.

Why only women-owned businesses?

Though both men and women entrepreneurs contribute to the development of communities, women face particular challenges linked with social norms, difficulty in accessing credits and psychological and gender-based violence.

Who can win the Awa Prize?

Women entrepreneurs of legal age from the countries of Enabel intervention can compete for the Awa Prize. These countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, DR Congo, Guinea, Jordan, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda

Companies will be selected in four categories: start-up (for companies existing less than three years); scale-up (for companies exceeding three years of existence); innovation (for those that innovate through products, services or approaches); and people’s choice (where individuals will choose the winner).

What are the categories?

The Awa Prize comes in three categories and there are no cash prizes.

The first prize is $50,000, which will be spent on support and coaching, based on each company’s needs, and one week in Belgium where the entrepreneur will get to meet and network with their peers.

The second and third prizes are $10,000 and $5,000, which will be spent on support and coaching based on what a company needs.

Three women will be awarded in each category every year, starting this year.