Five women entrepreneurs from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Morocco have won the 2026 Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award for Africa, securing a combined €125,000 in funding and six months of accelerator support to expand their ventures.

Each winner will receive €25,000 in non-dilutive funding, alongside support focused on business development, investor readiness and impact measurement.

The winners were announced during a virtual Media Parley organised by the Bayer Foundation and the Impact Hub Network. They emerged from 1,172 applications received globally, with African applicants accounting for half of the entries.

The African cohort is part of 15 winners selected worldwide, with five entrepreneurs chosen from each of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The African recipients are Dr Alice Muhuhu, founder of Aurora Health Systems in Kenya; Beamlak Alemayehu, founder of Medanit Digital Health in Ethiopia; Omowunmi Christine Emmanuel-Ogah, founder of ExCare Health in Nigeria; Funmilayo Ishola, co-founder of Dehydrator Hub in Nigeria; and Sokayna Bellam, founder of Jodoor in Morocco.

Muhuhu, a medical doctor, founded Aurora Health Systems, which developed an artificial intelligence-powered ECG device capable of operating offline and detecting more than 50 cardiac conditions.

She said the idea emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic while she was working in a public hospital and witnessed how limited access to diagnostic equipment affected patient outcomes.

In Ethiopia, Alemayehu’s Medanit Digital Health provides healthcare services through multiple channels, including an app, web portal and national health short code.

Emmanuel-Ogah’s ExCare Health, based in Nigeria, is transforming community pharmacies into integrated primary healthcare centres offering services such as diagnostics, vaccination and medication.

The venture currently operates five pharmacies, two laboratories and two immunisation centres accredited by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

Ishola’s Dehydrator Hub is also based in Nigeria and focuses on reducing post-harvest losses through solar-powered food processing facilities that convert agricultural waste into ingredients suitable for export.

The initiative targets a major food-security challenge in Africa, where an estimated 22 per cent of annual food production is lost, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Meanwhile, Bellam’s Jodoor in Morocco employs hydroponic farming technology to reduce water consumption by up to 80 per cent, offering an alternative approach to agriculture in water-stressed areas.

The accelerator programme will provide the winners with training and support in investor preparedness, business fundamentals and impact measurement. They will also receive opportunities to showcase their ventures at a global event in Amsterdam in October.

Jana Op Den Winkel, Communications and Programme Lead at Bayer Foundation, said the initiative was intended to help women entrepreneurs move beyond recognition and gain the resources required to expand their solutions.

The Executive Director of Bayer Foundation, Chitkala Kalidas, said the foundation’s focus was on helping entrepreneurs accelerate the impact of solutions already addressing challenges in healthcare and food systems.

The Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award was launched in 2021 and is now in its sixth edition. The programme, delivered in partnership with the Impact Hub Network, provides funding, mentorship and access to international networks without requiring recipients to give up equity in their ventures.