Impact Investing & Entrepreneurship in Africa & the Middle East
Backing women-led innovation that matters
Across Africa and the Middle East, women are expanding health access and strengthening climate-resilient food systems. This regional gathering is a space to learn, connect, and collaborate with founders building practical solutions for underserved communities.
Co-hosted by Impact Hub, Bayer Foundation, and The Bloom, Impact Investing & Entrepreneurship is a global spotlight series spanning three regions — Asia, Latin America, and Africa & the Middle East — featuring awardees from the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award 2026.
Rather than a traditional pitch session, each event is designed as a generous, learning- and insights-focused conversation where founders, investors, ecosystem actors, and the wider community come together to explore what entrepreneurship and impact investing look like on the ground: the opportunities emerging, the barriers founders are navigating, and the capital, partnerships and connections that could help promising ventures grow.
The Africa & Middle East Edition features five awardees from the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award 2026, each driving impactful ventures across the region:
Alice Muhuhu – Aurora Health Systems. Improving access to life-saving cardiac diagnostics through affordable, AI-powered ECG devices designed for low-resource healthcare settings.
Beamlak Alemayehu – Medanit Digital Health. Building an inclusive digital health ecosystem that connects people to doctors, medication, mental health support, and healthcare information.
Funmilayo Ishola – Dehydrator Hub. Building climate-smart food processing infrastructure that helps farmers and women-led Agri-SMEs turn perishable produce into lasting value.
Omowunmi Christine Emmanuel-Ogah – ExCare Health. Transforming community pharmacies into integrated primary healthcare hubs that bring essential services closer to the people who need them most.
Sokayna Bellam – Jodoor. Advancing climate-resilient hydroponic agriculture to help farmers produce fresh food with fewer resources and build more resilient food systems.
The session will also feature Eshban Kwesiga, a Ugandan investor and systems thinker working at the intersection of community philanthropy, climate, and agriculture. Through his work with the Global Fund for Community Foundations and as a founding partner and board member of Dawn Elements, Eshban brings a perspective on mobilizing local capital, community-led development, and the challenges local startups face in accessing investor resources. He will help set the scene for Africa and the Middle East by sharing reflections on regional impact investing, agricultural systems, local resource mobilization, and the kinds of collaborations that can support more resilient and community-rooted solutions.
Who this is for
This event is for investors, funders, ecosystem builders, accelerators, foundations, journalists, academics, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in supporting women-led innovation across Africa and the Middle East. It is especially relevant for people looking to learn from founders building practical, locally grounded solutions in health access, food security, climate resilience, agriculture, and underserved communities.
What will happen
You’ll hear brief founder spotlights from the five Africa & Middle East awardees from the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award 2026, followed by a facilitated conversation with founders, investors, and ecosystem actors. The session will explore founder journeys, regional realities, lessons learned, ecosystem needs, and concrete ways to collaborate — creating a space for exchange, visibility, and connection rather than public evaluation or live feedback.
Why join
🌎 Get a front-row seat to women leaders advancing health access, food security, climate-smart agriculture, community care, and climate resilience across Africa and the Middle East.
🤝 Connect directly with founders, investors, ecosystem actors, and changemakers across the region and beyond.
🚀 Explore opportunities to collaborate, support, and amplify ventures already creating measurable change in underserved communities.
About the Award
The Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award is a global accelerator program in partnership with Impact Hub that supports women-led social enterprises addressing key challenges in health and food security. The program selects 15 women entrepreneurs from Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and provides a 6-month investor readiness accelerator, including tailored business advisory support, expert-led learning sessions, global visibility opportunities, and a sponsored trip to the in-person Award Ceremony. Awardees also receive a €25,000 cash prize to help scale their impact and strengthen solutions that improve the lives of underserved communities.
About The Bloom
The Bloom is a global community that connects and empowers 80,000+ social impact professionals through impact matchmaking, job boards and funding opportunities, networking and mentorship events, upskilling sprints, in-person gatherings, and a free weekly newsletter featuring social impact job openings, changemaker interviews, and career resources.