Theme: Accessing Finance to Bridge the Gap in the Women Economy

Africa is fast rising. With a population of over 1 billion, its women continue to play a pivotal role in the growth and development of the continent.

According to a World Bank report, 80 percent of food produced in Africa were by women albeit they constitute between 30-40 percent of entrepreneurs running small and medium businesses. Despite being a powerful source of economic growth and opportunity in most societies, African women in the private sector or business continue to encounter lots of challenges including unequal treatment and undeserved stereotypical barriers in their day-to-day business life. In emerging markets, they have unmet financial needs of close to 300 billion dollars every year.

Currently, nearly half or 48.4 percent of the available productive potential of women is under or unutilised compared to 22.3 percent of men. Thus, in order to achieve a more sustainable economic and social development, good gender policies and legislation will have to be put in place with access to finance to enable them start, grow and expand their businesses.

Training and information on improving business skills to enable them flourish as well as inspiration from successful female entrepreneurs are also very essential. The opportunities are vast and it requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders to unite under this platform to achieve these goals.