They are 18 in number. They were selected from hundreds of applicants who sent applications to the JFD Club, a women's network that promotes women's entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and innovation.   

On Thursday, February 9, the Women's network JFD Club unveiled the 2023 finalists of the three categories of its "Les Magaret Awards", which rewards women entrepreneurs whose innovations are addressing key global issues. From the hundreds of applications received, eighteen women were selected, including nine Africans. They are notably Cameroonians (2), Gabonese (1), Kenyan (1), Senegalese (1), Beninese (1), Egyptian (1), Ghanaian (1), and Ivorian (1) in the three categories (Entrepreneur, Intrapreneur, and junior).

Entrepreneurs

• Nelly Chatué-Diop is a Cameroonian and the co-founder-CEO of Ejara, a digital platform that allows access to investments and savings products from as little as EUR1.5 for Africans.
• Kenyan-born Maryanne Gichanga is the co-founder and CEO of Agritech Analytics, an AI-powered crop and soil management tool that uses satellite data to help farmers improve yield.
• Gabonese Alvine Yeno made it to the list with Ntchina, a community platform that facilitates blood collection. 

Intrapreneurs

• Rhoda Oduro is from Ghana. She is the Business Development & Operations Manager for Developers in Vogue, a program designed to address the underrepresentation of women in the technology industry.
• Senegalese-born Ndiate Séne is the regional director of software engineering at PAPS, a non-profit organization that advocates for a better representation of African women in tech.
• Beninese-born Livia Sossou is the Director of Certification & Financing for Kumulus Water, a water services start-up that aims to provide clean water in an economical and sustainable way.

Junior

• Hend Adel, a 17-year-old Egyptian national, is among the finalists thanks to his project to modify the structure of aluminum smokestacks to reduce CO2 emissions and metal residues in the air. 
• Frederic Melissa Djouka Fongang, a 17-year-old Cameroonian, created a platform that allows both residents and the diaspora to securely acquire real estate properties in Cameroon.  
• 18-year-old Laurianne Yao, from Côte d'Ivoire, is among the finalists thanks to her project E-COL'LECTE, a platform for collecting textbooks and school clothes to be donated to the poorest households. 

According to Delphine Remy-Boutang, president of the jury of Les Margaret Awards, a greater number of applications were received for the 2023 edition. “We have seen massive participation of young girls with applications tripling in 2023 for the Junior category. This is an excellent trend which shows the growing desire of this new generation to influence, through digital technology, a future they hope will be better," she said.

The Margaret Awards was launched in 2013. It annually celebrates women entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in Europe and Africa whose projects and innovations address major societal challenges. The award honors Margaret Hamilton, former director of the software engineering department at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory who developed the embedded software for NASA's Apollo space program. This year, the award ceremony will take place in Paris next April 17.  

Samira Njoya