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5 Grants & Funding Opportunities for African Women Entrepreneurs in 2026

Admin 2 min read

For many RelauncherMoms, access to capital can be one of the biggest challenges when starting, restarting or growing a business. The good news is that grants, accelerators, competitions and entrepreneurship programmes are creating opportunities for women and founders across Africa.

Whether you’re building a small business, a technology startup or an innovative solution to an African problem, here are 5 (five) funding opportunities worth knowing about in 2026.

1. YandyTech Innovation Fund: This is particularly relevant for RelauncherMoms in Northern Nigeria who meet the age criteria. It supports women-led MSMEs across the 19 northern states and combines funding with business acceleration rather than simply awarding cash. Win up to N500,000 funding pool + acceleration support.

Apply here: https://yandytech.org/yif/

    2. GET Compass SME Business Grant: This program supports small and medium-scale businesses. Grantees can get up to 2 million Naira in Grant which enables them to scale up and also facilitate programs that would provide the expertise to carry out business processes better.

    Apply here before August 20th, 2026: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevfhRYthH2risCqoQt6vEmOTWGbDnbsgvS9tRFSw58VWidrQ/viewform

    3. Flourish Africa Grant for Female Entrepreneurs: Flourish Africa provides Nigerian women entrepreneurs with business training, mentoring, coaching and access to grant funding. Selected entrepreneurs can receive up to ₦3 million to grow their businesses. The 2026 Cohort 5 application window has now closed, but this is an important programme for female entrepreneurs to watch for the next application cycle.

    Apply here: https://www.flourishafrica.com/programmes/flourish-africa-grant/

    4. Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme: The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Programme is open to ambitious young founders from all 54 African countries to apply. Successful applicants receive US$5,000 in non-refundable seed capital, intensive business training, mentorship, and direct access to Africa’s largest entrepreneurship network. Women are also strongly represented in this program. According to TEF, 51% of the 3,200 entrepreneurs selected for its 2026 cohort were women.

    Apply here: https://tefconnect.com/home

    5. Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation: Run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize supports entrepreneurs who are developing engineering innovations that address challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Applicants can work across areas such as agriculture, healthcare, energy, climate, manufacturing, software/computer science and biotechnology. Prize money of up to £50,000.

    Apply here: https://africaprize.raeng.org.uk/about-the-prize/how-to-apply/