The First Pan-African Cohort of the BMGA Fellows Program

Lagos, Nigeria – BMGA Foundation launched the 2021 BMGA Fellows Program on Monday, 07 June 2021.

The BMGA Fellows Program addresses the gender skills gap among university students and recent graduates in Africa. It is a six-month experiential program that approaches the issue of unemployability of female university graduates by equipping them with the knowledge and resources required to gain fundamental employability skills that strengthen their marketability for a successful career in the 21st Century.

After a rigorous selection process, fifty-one dynamic young women were selected to be part of the 2021 cohort of the BMGA Fellows Program. They possess outstanding academic accomplishments, impressive community impact records, and a strong desire to be active contributors to the social, economic, and political development of Africa. The cohort consists of young women from Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

The 2021 cohort is largely made up of young women with keen interests in Business, Finance, Law, and STEM. 26% own or run their business, 37% of participants are involved in a STEM-related career, 33% of the participants’ current career is related to the gender equity field, and 69% of the participants have either less than two years work experience or no work experience. Furthermore, 19% of the participants are first-generation university graduates with 14% coming from a marginalized ethnic group in Africa.

The components of the program are designed to ensure that participants learn the rules of engagement for the business environment and develop essential skills such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving, and emotional intelligence, among others through professional development courses led by renowned professors and industry experts.

The program ensures that young women are enabled to thrive in the work environment of the future through modules that utilize the science of learning and behaviour. The approach utilized in the program provides the participants with the confidence required to become exceptional professionals. Through the program, participants are granted access to global leaders, internship opportunities, coaching, mentorship, and a network of like-minded African women. This year, the anchor partners are Giants of Africa (GOA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

As an organization, BMGA is dedicated to the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the BMGA Fellows Program, we address SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender Equality, and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. The program is one of BMGA’s sustainable vehicles to contribute to inclusivity and gender balance in the business environment so as to transform the economic landscape of Africa.