Women entrepreneurs from diverse sectors have been equipped with practical artificial intelligence (AI) and digital business skills to enhance innovation, improve productivity and accelerate the growth of their enterprises.
The capacity-building workshop, tagged ‘Women Entrepreneurs Accelerate Africa (WEAA)’, was held in Port Harcourt recently by the Leadership Challenge Foundation in collaboration Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, and Boss Babes Nigeria, as part of efforts to strengthen women-led businesses and bridge the digital skills gap across Africa.
Speaking at. the event, the Founder and Executive Director of the Leadership Challenge Foundation, Joy Success Ikpe, said the initiative was designed to empower women entrepreneurs with practical knowledge and emerging technologies that would enable them to build resilient, competitive and sustainable businesses.
According to her, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence presents enormous opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those owned by women, to improve efficiency, increase productivity, enhance customer engagement and make informed business decisions.
She stressed that women remain critical drivers of economic growth and national development, urging participants to embrace innovation, build strategic partnerships and collaborate with other women-focused organisations to expand business opportunities and create sustainable wealth.
“Our goal is to ensure that women entrepreneurs are not left behind in the digital revolution. By equipping them with AI tools and practical business skills, we are positioning them to compete effectively in today’s global economy and contribute more significantly to Nigeria’s economic development,” she said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Boss Babes Nigeria, Chioma Onoshakpor, who joined the programme virtually, said the Women Entrepreneurs Accelerate Africa project was established to reduce gender disparities by providing women with practical entrepreneurial skills that promote self-reliance, innovation and business success.
She explained that the programme translates years of research into practical business solutions through a specially developed entrepreneurship tool kit designed to help women establish, manage and scale successful enterprises.
Participants described the training as timely, practical and transformational, noting that the knowledge acquired would enable them to adopt digital technologies that improve business operations, expand market reach and increase profitability.
Facilitators introduced participants to a range of AI-powered and cloud-based digital platforms, including Canva AI, Perplexity AI, Lovable AI and Gemini AI, demonstrating how the technologies can be deployed for content creation, marketing, customer engagement, financial management, business planning and strategic decision-making.
They also challenged participants to maximise the potential of their smart phones by using them as tools for learning, innovation, entrepreneurship and wealth creation, rather than limiting their use to social interaction and entertainment.
The workshop further highlighted some of the major challenges confronting women-owned businesses, including poor financial management, inadequate record-keeping, weak pricing strategies, poor business planning and limited access to alternative financing.
Panel discussions focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, digital transformation and sustainable business growth, providing participants with practical strategies to strengthen and scale their enterprises.
The organisers said the initiative forms part of a broader commitment to equipping African women entrepreneurs with the digital competencies, financial knowledge and innovative mindset required to build thriving businesses, create jobs and contribute meaningfully to inclusive economic growth across the continent.
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