International FemBioBiz acceleration programme Claudette Albert wins with cassava shortbread product |16 August 2018

Woman entrepreneur Claudette Albert has come out as the winner of the second pitching competition for the international FemBioBiz acceleration programme, surpassing 11 other Seychellois-women contenders.

Mrs Albert will be representing Seychelles and be joining other female entrepreneurs from Mauritius, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the South Africa Innovation Summit in Cape Town in September.

The programme is an initiative of the Nepad Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SanBio) which is being organised locally through the Guy Morel Institute in collaboration with the National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (Nisti).

The first phase of the programme was conducted earlier in May whereby hopeful applicants followed a rigorous training programme at the Guy Morel Institute (TGMI) after which they were able to pitch their products and projects to a panel of judges.

Similarly, in this second phase, the contestants engaged in training sessions spanning from June 28 to August 10, and then with the skills gained, yet again pitched their concepts to a panel.

The five judges evaluating the contestants were Pascalina Monthy from Barclays Bank, Christina Esther from TGMI, Cindhuja Kamalraj from Nisti, businessman Radley Weber, and Germaine Michaud, a part-time facilitator and businesswoman.

Mrs Albert's cassava shortbread product which she pitched as a healthy breakfast and snack alternative for the local market gained the interest of the judges. She developed her prototype at the Seychelles Tourism Academy in the school’s certified baking lab where she received technical support from the lab's technicians, and her product is further certified by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards (SBS).

In an interview with the press, Mrs Albert stated that the programme is ideal for Seychellois female entrepreneurs since it provides them with the opportunity to obtain grants and support in a business environment that is quite difficult.

"SanBio has presented women entrepreneurs with the great opportunity to leave the cottage industry and go on to industrial level. Biotechnology is what women need; we cannot always be baking cakes in our kitchen," she highlighted.

"Cottage industry in Seychelles limits what we can achieve because of the funding and the banking products that are not conducive to women in terms of the conditions they require," Mrs Albert added.

If successful in her final pitching presentation in South Africa, Mrs Albert will receive a cash prize to develop her business further and will be able to attend Europe's leading start-up event hosted in Finland.