Women-led businesses and entrepreneurs grapple with several challenges that constrain their growth and profitability. But a woman-led public relations firm is paying it forward and offering a complimentary mentorship programme to women-led and owned tech startups in Africa.

 

Headquartered in the concrete jungle of New York, C Moore Media is the brains behind the mentorship programme that will see 12 African women-led tech businesses participate in a four-month programme aimed at educating them about the fundamentals of PR and Communications. And how to use it to build, strengthen and propel their businesses to greater heights. 

 

“There’s no [greater] honour to me than sharing knowledge skills and expertise with people you see are dedicated and look like me. That has been honest and very real,” said Claudine Moore, the founder and managing director of C Moore Media. 

 

Moore is a female-entrepreneur herself who has in her sphere of business encountered several drawbacks. Accordingly, she speaks from a sense of genuine experience that is emulsified by her passionate allegiance to advancing African women in her capacity as a seasoned entrepreneur in PR and Communications.

 

“There are so many women who look like me who are not given opportunities and as a woman who too has been afforded so many opportunities and assistance from many people, this programme is significant.”

 

Business markets in Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Angola are leading women business ownership markets in the Middle East Africa region according to the 2019 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs report. 

Of the 58 markets measured, the report also draws into sharp focus the correlation between advanced high-income economies and the success of women-led businesses relative to low-income economies. 

 

“In these open and vibrant markets where the support for SMEs and ease of doing business are high, women tend to make further inroads in the business world and [can] establish a more prominent and empowered standing in society as business leaders and owners and active contributors to the economy (high labour force participation rates),” the report noted. 

 

Markets that are less developed and wealthy, and ranked lower in the index results were highly concentrated in Middle East Africa. 

 

The conditions for women entrepreneurs to advance as business leaders are considerably less enabling in this region because women are confronted with financial barriers, less social acceptance and exposure. 

 

While there is a strong perception that PR and Communications are considered an expensive nice-to-have resource for a business, let alone a startup scraping to enter the market, Moore said it should not be an afterthought considering how it can be used to advance a business, its credibility and financial standing. 

 

“PR and Communications should not be an afterthought for any business, but unfortunately for many tech startups it’s something they cannot afford,” she said. 

 

She elaborated that launching a new product or service is not always news or the big story unless there are indications of the business’s success. And that’s one area where public relations and communications play a role to accurately tell the story of the business’s success. 

 

“Before this program, I had always thought PR was for big companies and meant to maintain one’s brand and image,” said Gloria Kaguo of Kweza Technologies, one of the tech companies that made the cut to be part of the mentorship programme. 

 

Kweza Technologies is a retail-tech solution company dedicated to informal retailers (spaza shops), to help them source their inventory at the best available prices to improve their margins. Through their app, retailers can view the best available prices integrated at the wholesale level, they can then place an order and have their products delivered directly to their stores.

 

“Now I know for sure there is a lot to be done in marketing and creating one’s brand and image. As a young female founder, I have always found myself in a dilemma on how to maintain my social media in relation to my work, while maintaining my character,” Kaguo added. 

 

The mentorship programme kickstarted with a masterclass held in August and delivered by Moore, who is also an adjunct professor at New York University’s school of professional studies. Where she currently teaches Global Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Marketing and Strategic Communications Writing.

 

The masterclass was followed by individual sessions with the startup owners and leaders and ran from September to November. Each session is curated to suit the needs of each mentee and its business goals, Moore said. 

 

Nigerian tech journalist, Kay Ugwuede writes in TechCabal that “accelerator programmes like the Greenhouse Lab and She Leads Africa are also very critical in not only providing business support and investments but also in building community support” which according to the report “can be a vital factor to reduce the sense of risk and increase the ability to persevere in challenging times.” 

 

The report Ugwuede alludes to in this news article is a Briter Bridges published report – from a research firm that collects, curates and visualises data on business in underserved markets with a particular focus on the African continent. 

Affirming the need for extensive support for startup businesses to accelerate their growth. 

 

On the one hand, accelerator programmes serve an additional function that is to set the tone for and set in motion cross border collaborations across the globe and in Africa. 

 

Precious Lema, owner and founder of Easy Matatu, a transport tech company that provides a platform that connects commuters to pre-scheduled rides operated by trained drivers, said more African female-led companies need a programme like this one. 

 

“Mainly because of the empowerment that comes from learning from other people that have a wealth of experience in areas you probably did not even think important. Programmes like this one allow women to network together and create partnerships that last”. 

 

While this programme was the first of its kind for Moore and her company, she is confident it is the beginning of something great for African women-led companies and she anticipates there’ll be more.