WEAC I Zambia

28/04/2026

From the 13th to the 15th April 2026, WEAC along with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in partnership with the United Nations University – Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU‑ViE), and implemented via a pan‑African consortium including, the Nigeria Climate Innovation Center (NCIC), African Institute for Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIIKS), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Fundación Avina, hosted the Greenovations Africa 2 Midterm Workshop in Lusaka, Zambia 🌱

The workshop officially opened with a powerful launch and panel discussion that set the tone for collaboration and impact 🌍 We were honoured to welcome distinguished guest of honour Mr. Gambwe Kaneneka Sikatongwe, Principal Green Economy officer - Green Business Development, as well as the distinguished panel board.

The opening highlighted a shared commitment to advancing women-led green entrepreneurship and strengthening inclusive climate finance systems 🌿

Day 1 and 2 then moved into deep technical engagement, including:
• Exploring unpaid care work and its impact on businesses 👩🏽‍🌾
• Advancing the Green Entrepreneurs Climate Impact Model (GECIM) 📈
• Mapping climate finance barriers and solutions

The final day of the Greenovations Africa 2 Midterm Workshop took participants beyond the meeting room and into communities across Lusaka and Kafue to understand women-led green businesses and their cross-relation with unpaid care work. Among these activities, we had the privilege of visiting Greenfire Innovations LTD, and speaking with the co-founder, Hildah Nakatunga, on the foundation of her enterprise as well as the intersection that this work has with care duties💚

This workshop is a powerful reminder that real climate and care solutions must start with listening, learning, and co-creating with communities across the continent!

🌍

16/04/2026

CALL FOR MENTORS: Inspiring a Female, Future STEM-Ready Workforce!

Are you a woman in STEM looking to give back? 🏗️🔬✨
Mopani Copper Mines PLC, in partnership with WEAC Zambia, is looking for Dynamic Female Mentors to lead our STEMBody360 Catalyzer project in Kitwe and Mufulira. We are on a mission to empower 10,000 girls, and we need your expertise to make it happen.

We are seeking professionals in:
• ⚒️ Mining & Engineering
• 💻 Technology
• 🩸 Menstrual Health
• 🧪 Science & Maths
•
Your Role & Impact: As a mentor, you will commit to a 12-month project cycle where you will:
• Facilitate "GirlsUP Circles".
• Provide invaluable industry mentorship to the next generation.
Why Join the Movement?
• Certified Training: Gain skills in STEM facilitation and adolescent mentorship.
• Networking: Connect with fellow female leaders across the Copperbelt’s mining and tech sectors.
• Direct Impact: Shape the talent pipeline of Zambia’s future economy.

Ready to lead? 📍 Location: Kitwe and Mufulira
Nambula Kachumi

🔗 Apply Now: https://forms.gle/dVdUov3vBwSNf9UG8

Contact us for more info:
📧 [email protected]
📞 +260 96 856 4831 - Copper Mines PLC

10/04/2026

02/04/2026

It was an honor for WEAC to recently host the visiting team from Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) right here in Lusaka!

The ABH team conducted an exclusive information session for our selected entrepreneurs, delivering a powerful message:

Zambian founders belong on Africa's biggest stage. This flagship philanthropic initiative by the Jack Ma Foundation isn't just a competition—it is a catalyst for the next generation of African changemakers.

Based on the insights shared by the ABH team, here is why you cannot afford to miss this opportunity:

Why You Should Apply:

💰 Equity-Free Funding: Compete for a share of $1.5 million USD in funding.

🌍 Global Spotlight: Your story will be amplified across the globe through media partners putting your business in front of international investors.

🧠 World-Class Mentorship: Get direct feedback from business legends

🤝 The "ABH Effect": Join a pan-African network that has already helped heroes raise millions in funding

The ABH team emphasized that they want to see more representation from Zambia, particularly from women and youth innovators who are solving local problems with scalable solutions.

Don’t Wait—The Clock is Ticking!

The deadline to submit your application is April 28th.

Take the leap. Whether you are in agribusiness, tech, healthcare, or retail—if your business is driving impact, the stage is yours. Africa's Business Heroes

🔗 Apply now at: www.africabusinessheroes.org

02/04/2026

Access is often the difference between an idea and a livelihood. 💭

For Nambula Kachumi, entrepreneurship is a pathway to resilience, independence, and long-term change.

And best of all, it can drive both economic growth and social transformation, especially when women and young people are given the tools to participate fully.

As founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Access Center (WEAC I Zambia), Nambula has spent the past fifteen years building pathways for women and youth entrepreneurs to access skills, capital, and markets.

Through WEAC, more than 6,700 entrepreneurs have been supported, with satellite centers established in remote and underserved areas, helping to expand opportunity and drive enterprise growth across both urban and rural communities.

And that’s not all. Nambula’s commitment to opportunity begins even earlier. She is also the founder of an early learning center that provides scholarships to underprivileged children, reflecting her deep belief in investing in potential from the earliest stages of life.

That’s why we are excited to welcome her as a 2026 African Visionary Fellow 💚 If her work inspires you, follow and let her know in the comment section. ✨

02/04/2026

Applications for Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) 2026 are now open.

Why does Africa’s Business Heroes exist?
ABH exists to identify and support founders solving Africa’s biggest problems.

What can you expect from the application, and how do you get started?
Scroll through 👆🏼to explore the key sections and understand what to prepare.
The process is detailed because the opportunity is significant.
Start your application today. You can save your progress and return at any time as you prepare your materials.
Apply now: https://africabusinessheroes.org/en/register
Africa's Business Heroes

26/03/2026

Last week, WEAC in collaboration with the US Embassy hosted a dynamic roundtable discussion featuring visiting U.S. speaker Cynthia Hellen Aguillar, and the energy in the room did not disappoint!

From scaling up businesses to exploring how AI is reshaping the future of entrepreneurship, participants engaged in rich, forward-thinking conversations on what it takes to build and grow impactful, tech-driven ventures in today’s world.
What stood out most? The exchange of practical insights, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to innovation and growth across sectors.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to such a vibrant and meaningful discussion. This is how ecosystems grow through collaboration, learning, and bold thinking. U.S. Embassy Zambia

25/03/2026

🌍Are you a woman entrepreneur balancing your business while managing unpaid care responsibilities such as childcare, eldercare, household work, or water and fuel collection?

Does this take time away from growing your business?

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Access Centre (WEAC) Zambia, in collaboration with the United Nations University - Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU - ViE) is inviting women entrepreneurs across Africa to apply for an opportunity to ideate, develop and pilot solutions that reduce unpaid care burdens under the Greenovations II Project.
What You’ll Gain:
✅ Seed funding to pilot your solution
✅ Mentorship, coaching & incubation support
✅ Access to networks, partners & visibility opportunities
Eligibility:
• Be a woman entrepreneur based in Africa operating in the green and/or climate-smart sector.
• Actively running a business
• Experiencing unpaid care responsibilities
• Ready to develop and test a solution
• Available to fully participate in the programme
Deadline: 17 April 2026
✨Ready to turn your everyday challenges into impactful solutions? Apply now: https://forms.gle/JGGeN4Kstp1FjP1n9
For more information, see FAQs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ww7kJnTQYuXOpXVASQkiIBQqr6cES0Et/view?usp=drive_link

12/03/2026

We are proud to announce that our Founder and Executive Director, Nambula Kachumi, has been selected as a 2026 African Visionary Fellow by the Segal Family Foundation.

The announcement was made earlier this week during the Segal Family Foundation Fellows Summit currently taking place in Nairobi, bringing together inspiring changemakers from across the continent.

The African Visionary Fellowship recognizes exceptional African leaders who are driving locally rooted, innovative, and sustainable solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges. Through the fellowship, leaders receive capacity support, coaching, peer learning opportunities, and access to a global community of donors and practitioners.

At WEAC, we celebrate this recognition of Nambula’s Pan African leadership and her continued commitment to advancing inclusive entrepreneurship, women’s economic empowerment, and locally led development across Zambia and beyond.
Please join us in congratulating Nambula on this well-deserved recognition! 🌍✨

Segal Family Foundation

12/03/2026

Bold ideas. Local leadership. A new cohort. 🌍 Meet the 2026 African Visionary Fellows. 💚
__________

This week, at the African Visionary Fellowship Summit in Nairobi, we are welcoming the 2026 African Visionary Fellows into a growing community of bold leaders shaping change across the continent.

Let's roll out the red carpet to welcome:
Benjamin 🇰🇪 Khadija 🇹🇿 Patrick 🇰🇪 Ruth 🇹🇿 Al-karim 🇹🇿 Rodney 🇿🇲 David 🇰🇪 Tharcisse 🇧🇮 Grace 🇰🇪 Daniel 🇲🇼 Allen 🇷🇼 Ojok 🇺🇬 Samson 🇺🇬 Lillian 🇹🇿 Tonthoza 🇲🇼 Tadzoka 🇿🇼 Lydie 🇷🇼 Lemani 🇲🇼 Noelle 🇹🇿 Nambula 🇿🇲 Jamila 🇺🇬 Raby 🇸🇳 Brian 🇺🇬

They are joining a powerful community of 130+ other African Visionary Fellows.

The African Visionary Fellowship itself is built around three simple yet powerful elements: coaching, community, and connections. At its core is a belief that feels almost obvious once you say it out loud: the people closest to the challenges are often the ones who understand them most deeply. 💫

And yet, across global philanthropy, only about 1% of funding reaches locally-led organizations. That reality is part of what inspired the creation of the Fellowship.

Since 2017, AVF has supported early-stage African leaders with mentorship, exposure, and a peer network that understands what it truly takes to build change from the ground up.

What began as a Fellowship has grown into something far greater.

A community of visionaries across Africa. 🔥

It's become a network of changemakers who learn from one another, challenge one another, and share the quiet realities of doing difficult but deeply meaningful work in complex environments.

The AVF Summit is just the beginning: a glimpse of the kind of community, reflection, and collaboration that unfolds throughout the two-year Fellowship journey.

Now that the 2026 African Visionary Fellows are here, click through, meet them, follow them, learn from them, and stay tuned for so much more. ✨

12/03/2026

On this National Youth Day, WEAC celebrates the bold, resilient, and visionary young minds driving change across Zambia. We believe that when youth are given the right tools, mentorship, and access to opportunities, they don't just build businesses—they build nations.

To our young entrepreneurs in the WEAC community and beyond: Your creativity is the engine of our economy. Keep dreaming big, breaking barriers, and leading with purpose.
Happy Youth Day! 🇿🇲