South African female empowerment organisation, WomHub, has signed a partnership deal with Visa Foundation to launch the ‘STEM is Everywhere” programme which is designed to empower and support early-stage female founders in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mining and Manufacturing) businesses.

CEO of WomHub, Anjani Harjeven, who announced the deal, said the ‘STEM is Everywhere” programme will provide female entrepreneurs with business resources, coaching, and access to WomHub’s innovation and tech hubs and networks.

“WomHub is a leading organisation dedicated to empowering women and girls in STEM, which through education, mentorship, and support strives to create a diverse and inclusive engineering and tech industry,” she said.

“Through this partnership, WomHub and Visa Foundation are committed to closing the gender gap and unlocking the full potential of female entrepreneurs in South Africa. The ‘STEM is Everywhere” programme will support approximately 100 entrepreneurs in South Africa.

“This initiative aligns with our mission to empower women and girls in STEM, breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for the next generation of female leaders,” said Harjeven.

Africa’s decentralised finance (DeFi) platform specialising in cross-border payments and trade financing, MANSA has sealed a partnership deal with blockchain payment platform, Bitmama, aimed at improving cross-border payment accessibility across Africa.

Mouloukou Sanoh, CEO and Co-Founder of MANSA who announced the partnership at a press conference, noted that payment companies across Africa are faced with significant challenges in establishing cross-border payment services, where maintaining pre-funded accounts in multiple countries often poses an obstacle due to limited capital, stifling innovation and creating a liquidity gap, hence the need for such collaboration.

“Our collaboration with Bitmama marks a key milestone for MANSA,” said Sanoh.

“By providing the liquidity needed to pre-fund accounts, we’re enabling individuals and businesses to benefit from enhanced cross-border payment services. This partnership aligns with MANSA’s mission to close the liquidity gap that hampers entrepreneurs and businesses across Africa and other emerging markets.

“Bitmama, which enables individuals and businesses in over 18 countries to send and receive payments in various currencies, has built a platform to facilitate cross-border settlements but requires liquidity in each serviced country.”

He added that through the partnership, MANSA will provide Bitmama with the necessary liquidity to pre-fund accounts across these 18 countries, thereby expanding payment capabilities for consumers and supporting business trade across borders in Africa.

MANSA which was launched in 2023, was created to address the significant funding gap in emerging markets, offering innovative liquidity solutions that support growth and foster financial inclusion in these regions, and has expanded rapidly, serving key markets across Africa and working closely with some of the biggest liquidity providers in the DeFi ecosystem.

Bitmama, on the other had, was founded in 2017 as a P2P digital currency exchange and has since grown into one of Africa’s leading and most secure payment platforms, enabling individuals to transact with virtual cards as well as trade and manage cryptocurrencies and digital assets safely and conveniently.