• Marie Chantal Kouacou founded African Women Innovation 3.0 to train African women in AI, blockchain and Web3

• The platform targets digital skills gaps that limit female entrepreneurship and leadership

• AWI 3.0 combines online training, entrepreneurship programs and professional networking

Rapid digital transformation continues to reshape entrepreneurship and leadership models across Africa. However, unequal access to digital tools and skills continues to widen gender gaps. In this context, targeted initiatives increasingly focus on women’s digital empowerment.

Ivorian finance expert and entrepreneur Marie Chantal Kouacou promotes blockchain and Web3 adoption across Africa. She founded and currently leads African Women Innovation 3.0 (AWI 3.0) as Chief Executive Officer.

Founded in 2023, AWI 3.0 supports African women in acquiring high-demand technology skills. The organization delivers training in artificial intelligence, blockchain, Web3, digital productivity and innovation.

AWI 3.0 operates an online learning platform that centralizes all training modules. The initiative aims to equip women with the skills required to achieve autonomy, professional credibility and visibility in the digital economy.

AWI 3.0 structures its programs around several complementary pillars. The organization offers foundational training, entrepreneurship and leadership programs, personal branding development, networking, and mastery of digital tools.

Each training path focuses on practical competencies, including team management, strategic positioning, professional relationship building, and leveraging digital tools as growth drivers.

Alongside her role at AWI 3.0, Marie Chantal Kouacou serves as a business partner at GUILD4AI, a global artificial intelligence network that brings together innovative companies, speakers, experts and educators.

She also acts as Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of OIA Anacarde Côte d’Ivoire, a platform that federates stakeholders across the country’s cashew value chain.

Kouacou holds a degree in accounting and finance from the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Yamoussoukro. She also graduated from TECH Global University, a digital university, where she earned a master’s degree in business intelligence in 2024.

Kouacou began her professional career in 2003 at Société Générale, where she worked as an administrative assistant.

In 2004, she joined Côte d’Ivoire’s National Center for Agronomic Research. She successively held positions as accountant, head of administrative and financial services, and head of management control, before leaving the institution in 2023.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum