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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 27337, member: 2262"] Standard Chartered joined hands with Village Capital on March 6, 2025, expanding its program for women entrepreneurs across many countries. They plan to help businesswomen in Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan through the Futuremakers Women in Tech Accelerator. This program gives special training and money and connects women with important business people around the world. The Standard Chartered Foundation funds this effort as part of its bigger push to help young people succeed. The program wants to reach 400 women business owners over three years. These women will build strong, small companies that create jobs and make positive changes happen. The plan includes almost 1.9 million dollars in grants for at least 32 women. They expect these businesses will create over 1,200 new jobs for people who need them. Village Capital brings local experts to run the program in each country. Women entrepreneurs can find this help in twelve different countries where Standard Chartered works. The program already runs in Bahrain, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, and Zambia. They just added Uganda and Egypt as new places where women can join. Tanuj Kapilashrami from Standard Chartered believes giving women equal access to money and resources makes communities better. Sanjay Rughani leads Standard Chartered Bank Uganda and feels excited about bringing this program to Ugandan women. He says this fits with Uganda's big growth plans, especially the part about developing people's skills. The announcement came right around International Women's Day. Rachel Crawford from Village Capital calls their partnership a big deal for women starting businesses across these regions. The program gives critical resources and market support. A business owner named Priscilla shared how much the program helped her company in Kenya. She runs Rhea and says the program changed everything by giving her money plus support made just for women business leaders. Women can apply for the 2025 program starting in late April. Those picked will learn how to attract investors, get personal growth plans, and work with expert mentors. The program gives out more than $600,000 every year across all countries. Women in Tech has already helped more than 4,000 women across 17 countries during its ten-plus years running. The program continues in the United States with applications happening right away. This program belongs to a bigger effort called Futuremakers, which fights inequality and supports young people who face disadvantages. Since Futuremakers started in 2019, it has helped create and support almost 89,000 jobs for people. [/QUOTE]

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