By Peninah Nasimiyu Ouma
- The past year has been an amazing experience for me as part of Cohort 6 with AWEC, which has been a transformative experience.
- I have connected with fellow female entrepreneurs across Africa, fostering a network of support, innovation, and empowerment.
- I empower people to nurture their talents and skills, make good and informed decisions and become successful in life.
Last month, April 2024, I was excited to attend the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperation (AWEC) General Assembly in Gaborone, Botswana.
The 2024 AWEC General Assembly that took place between April 17-19, 2024 brought together nearly 200 entrepreneurs, global experts, academics, government officials, and leaders from over 20 African countries.
Renowned for its leadership in women owned businesses, Botswana provided an ideal backdrop for this gathering.
The Assembly served as a platform to celebrate women entrepreneurs’ achievements, foster collaboration, and offer networking opportunities.
As AWEC alumnae we gained insights from industry experts, enhancing our skills and strategies for business growth, scalability and foster collaboration across borders.
In addition, it opened my eyes to the importance of collaboration. The theme of the conference was ‘Collaboration is the new competition’.
The three days General Assembly began with Cohort 6 graduation that saw us being awarded with certificates of completion followed by a mix of facilitated workshops, master classes, panel discussions, and business deep dives that created a safe space for out-of-the-box brainstorming and bold thinking.
Throughout the three days, the room was filled with vibrant energy and palpable joy as attendees connected with their peers, mentors, programme advisors, and other AWEC sisters in person
As the General Assembly drew to a close, we all came together for the closing dinner. The highlight of the evening was a mesmerizing cultural performance that had everyone on their feet, dancing and celebrating our diverse heritages.
My take away quote is “Business is an honourable calling. I am not asking you to be a world leader, but I am asking you to have a positive impact.” – Chris Caine.
The trip to Botswana was revolutionary to the growth of my business, Nasipen Consultancy.
The past year has been an amazing experience for me as part of Cohort 6 with AWEC, which has been a transformative experience.
Safe Environment
I learnt a lot and gained useful and practical knowledge that I have managed to implement for my benefit. It has been a one-year journey with industry experts in various business disciplines taking us through live sessions, one-on-one mentorship and peer sessions with our fellow cohort sisters.
It was an experience that allowed us to learn, express ourselves freely in a female and safe environment.
It allowed us to get honest feedback from our mentors, programme advisor and peers on the quality of our assignments. It felt good to know someone is watching over you and wants you to succeed.
The 1-year business acceleration programme allowed us to bond with each other.
AWEC has changed both myself and my business. I have had access to a business mentor, and a Programme administrator who have cheered me on and pushed me to become a better version of myself.
I have connected with fellow female entrepreneurs across Africa, fostering a network of support, innovation, and empowerment.
I highly recommend this programme to any female entrepreneur across Africa. Look out for the advertisement next year in the first quarter.
I want to congratulate the 2024 cohort 7 for their admission into this programme. Wishing them the very best!
I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to AWEC for this invaluable opportunity to collaborate and thrive.
Who I am
My name is Peninah Nasimiyu Ouma, an accomplished education and training consultant, Founder and CEO of Nasipen Consultancy – an education, training and edtech company.
I am a Kenyan entrepreneur passionate about social change through training, empowerment corporate team building, and climate change mitigation through an education software that eases management and drastically cuts down on paper work in educational institutions.
I am also the Deputy Principal at Nyamninia Secondary School where I teach Kiswahili. In the 2023 KCSE, Kiswahili was the best in Gem Sub County emerging with a mean of 9.2 beating the likes of Sawagongo, Maliera and St Mary’s Yala schools.
In addition, I am a Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) alumni, an African Women Cooperation (AWEC) alumni. I am also a member of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce.
With a Master of Arts in Project Planning and Management, as well as a Bachelor’s in Education Arts coupled with 17 years of experience in the NGO, education and training sector. I am passionate about community empowerment, education and training, team building, climate action, food security and poverty reduction.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: A Look at Women’s History and the Power of March
Moreover, I empower people to nurture their talents and skills, make good and informed decisions and become successful in life.
So far, I have trained and mentored over 100,000 students across the country and 200 education, NGO and corporate staff in Kenya.
Consequently, I have international exposure across East and Southern Africa.
