Women-to-women mentorships are raising Africa’s next leaders

Experienced women leaders are rising up to mentor a new generation of entrepreneurs, innovators, and change-makers across Africa—in a quest to close long-standing gender gaps on the continent.

SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | A new wave of sector-aligned mentorship programmes is emerging across Africa, targeting women and girls with ambitions in entrepreneurship, technology, energy, health, and leadership.

Unlike past interventions that treated mentorship as a generic support tool, current programmes are increasingly being tailored, embedding technical skills, market-facing soft skills, and peer-to-peer learning into formats that prepare young African women to lead and expand market reach beyond their borders.

AfriLabs, the largest pan-African network of innovation hubs which is spearheading such initiatives said these programmes are mostly driven by older and more experienced women from diverse areas of expertise to prepare younger women for opportunities by helping them jump over systemic hurdles.

AfriLabs Senior Programmes Officer, Funmilayo Caulcrick told bird in an interview, mentorship by women mentors brings an added layer of value in form of relatability that fosters deeper trust and practical advice that is sensitive to the multi-dimensional roles women often occupy.

“These mentors often have lived experiences that reflect the realities of their mentees, such as navigating childbirth, managing chronic health conditions like PCOS, and balancing caregiving responsibilities with career and business ambitions,” said Funmilayo.

Ignite Her 4 Africa , a sisterhood of rising African women leaders on the continent, also shares similar sentiments on the rise of veteran women mentoring young women and girls.

“ The driving force is rooted on a blend of driving economic empowerment, gender equity and social misrepresentation. Africa has unique cultural norms that impact women and girls,”said Ignite Her 4 Africa founder, Esther Wambugu Obado.

According to Obado, women mentorship initiatives are a powerful force in dismantling the long-held belief that business acumen and leadership are male domains.

She said the initiatives goes beyond normalizing female authority in boardrooms and enterprise to inspire the next generation, equipping young women with the tools to overcome cultural bias and fostering broader societal acceptance of women in leadership roles.

One such example unfolded in Togo in June this year.

Some 100 women entrepreneurs from across the country converged in Lomé to take a course blending technical instruction with interactive tools like mock negotiations, buyer simulations and communication workshops.

The training programme under the International Trade Centre’s initiative backed by the German development agency GIZ, and delivered through the AMI COMMERCE Togo project was geared at making women entrepreneurs ready for cross-border and international markets.

“The goal? To equip women entrepreneurs with the tools, confidence, and networks needed to enter and compete in international markets,” said ITU in a statement.

In April, AfriLabs with an extensive network of 450 innovation hubs across 53 African countries, through its RevUp Women initiative funded by the Visa Foundation, opened a call for application for mentors and mentees, seeking to expand its network of seasoned women entrepreneurs and younger counterparts in Africa’s burgeoning tech and innovation scene.

The call for application was for mentors with atleast 7 years of experience in technology and entrepreneurship, while mentees should be women with existing early stage business in Africa.

The framework also places a strong emphasis on diversity in pairings, deliberately considering factors such as age, background, industry, country location and language.

“This promotes a rich, intergenerational exchange of knowledge and experience, and provides mentees with a well-rounded, comprehensive support system that reflects the diverse realities of women-led businesses across Africa” explained Funmilayo.

The initiative designed by women for women across Africa has over 70 active mentors and over 150 mentees, through a mentorship network that spans five countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Egypt, and DR Congo.

AfriLab’s data lists upto 45,944 mentees in its pilot cohort with many participants having reportedly created 2,426 direct and indirect jobs, some secured partnerships with major retailers like Shoprite while others expanded into male-dominated or emerging sectors, such as waste management, agri-tech, and e-commerce.

The trend reflects a shift from top-down development projects to practical, tailored and skills-based interventions designed to shift women positioning from just being beneficiaries to key economic actors.

Across the continent, similar initiatives are gaining traction.

Ignite her 4 Africa that launched in Kenya, two years ago said it is redefining mentorship by connecting senior women leaders across borders and industries.

“We focus on structured, strategic mentor-mentee matching and offer a pan-African platform that empowers women to lead, grow, and inspire across the continent,” said Obado.

In July, UN Women is partnering with Siemens AG, the African Union Commission, and the International Telecommunication Union to run the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) camps in Kenya this August and September.

Targeting girls aged 17 to 25 years from underserved communities, the camps will provide immersive training in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital entrepreneurship and civic tech.

“It aims to equip 100 girls and young women across Kenya with world-class digital skills, mentorship, and leadership training to become active shapers of Africa’s digital future,” said the UN Women in a call for application.

A Vienna-based Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) is increasingly getting influential in Africa’s women mentorship.

In December 2024, the network launched a four-year programme in partnership with the Austrian Development Agency to promote female leadership in Southern Africa’s energy transition. The initiative running until 2028, combines mentorship, communications training and skills development.

In the same year, it partnered with the International Hydropower Association to launch the Women in Sustainable Hydropower (WISH) network to close the gender gap in the hydropower industry, which, like much of the energy sector, remains male-dominated.

“Women have historically been underrepresented in the energy sector, but this is beginning to change,” said GWNET Executive Director, Christine Lins in 2024 annual report.

This year, GWNET in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All and the Clean Cooking Alliance, have listed 57 women from Africa out of 63 for Women in Clean Cooking Mentorship Programme.

WomenLift Health, with Hubs in North America, South Asia, East Africa, Southern Africa is piloting a more individualised model of leadership training.

Its Signature Leadership Journey, which began in March 2025, is a year-long, fully funded mentorship programme for mid- and senior-level women in East Africa’s health sector.

Unlike technical trainings, it says on its website that it focuses on adaptive leadership and systems thinking—areas often neglected in traditional health leadership models.

LEAP Africa, a youth-focused leadership development organization in Lekki, Nigeria is running it’s 2025 Leadership Accelerator Programme targeting high-potential young women in corporate settings, preparing them to enter executive ranks.

“This program aims to equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to ascend to leadership positions,” according to the organisation.

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SOURCE: Conrad Onyango, bird story agency