Issue 4 – Investing in Women, Accelerating Progress
This month, we celebrated International Women's Month by highlighting our programmes, partners, and staff who help us deliver on our commitment to creating an environment that is equitable and inclusive. ?
In this edition of our newsletter, we recap our activities, including insights on our strategic focus to empower women and inspiring stories of women making a difference in their communities.?
#IWD2024: A Recap of International Women’s Month?
Throughout International Women's Month, we showcased our commitment to #InvestingInWomen and accelerating progress toward gender-inclusive economic growth
On 8 March, International Women’s Day, Senior Vice President Ms. Swazi Tshabalala emphasized the Bank's year-round dedication to this cause, stating, "It's a theme we don't keep for just 'once a year', but it's constantly lighting our fire." The Bank's flagship Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa program exemplifies this commitment by addressing the $42 billion financing gap faced by female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa.?
"Investing in human capital, education and skills training programstargeting women and girls accelerates Africa as an engine of growth - prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow." – Dr Martha T.M. Phiri, PhD , Director, Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Division, African Development Bank?
Keeping with the theme for the month, the Bank hosted an X Space discussion on "Investing in Africa's Women to Accelerate Progress," featuring Dr
Beth Dunford
, African Development Bank Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development;
Aramide Abe
, Global Lead, Jobs & Entrepreneurship,
Global Center on Adaptation
;
Valerie Labi
, Co-Founder and CEO,
Wahu Mobility Ltd.
; and
Adja Sembene FALL
, CEO,
Contanna
. The discussion, moderated by
Uyoyo Zino Edosio
, Principal ICT and Innovation Specialist at the Bank, explored practical financing solutions, cross-sector partnerships
LISTEN to the replay: https://bit.ly/4922c0p #AfDBXSpace??
In a blog published this month, Dr Beth Dunford also highlighted the misconception that women are not suitable candidates for loans, despite studies showing that women in Africa are a better credit risk and have higher repayment rates than men. ?
“Africa is undergoing a fundamental reset in mindset toward investing in its women entrepreneurs. For too long, too many commercial banks and other financial institutions have been on the wrong side of business practice when doing business with Africa’s women-led small and medium enterprises.” – Dr Dunford, Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank?
Visit the Bank's Gender in Focus page to learn more about our initiatives and ongoing efforts to promote gender equity and women's economic empowerment across the continent.
Japan-Africa Partnership?
Japan's Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Masato Kanda, recently visited the African Development Bank. He praised Bank President Akinwumi Adesina's leadership and reaffirmed Japan's support for the Bank's poverty reduction and resilience-building efforts. The visit highlighted the strong partnership between #Japan and the Bank in driving sustainable development across Africa.?
One example of this collaboration is the Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) program, which has nurtured talented African youth like MARY YEBOAH ASANTEWAA . With a JADS-funded master's in public health management, Mary now pioneers the use of drones in strengthening African public health systems at SORA Technology , a Japanese firm in #Ghana.?
"My experience with JADS attests to how targeted educational investments in women can accelerate societal progress and lead to significant contributions in fields where we are underrepresented," says Mary, who is committed to developing public health surveillance systems across the continent.?
Learn more about Mary's journey and the Japan-Africa partnership: https://bit.ly/49YO0a1 #InvestingInWomen #healthtech?
Watch a recap of Vice Minister Kanda's visit below.?
#AfDBPodcast: Making a Difference?
Throughout International Women's Month, the African Development Bank's "Making a Difference" podcast featured stories of women making a positive impact across the continent.??
From Nialé Kaba, C?te d'Ivoire's Minister of Economy, Planning, and Development, who advocated for local raw material processing and support for entrepreneurs, to Monique Ntumngia, founder of Green Girls Organization, who is revolutionizing access to renewable energy for women and girls in rural Africa, these episodes showcased the work women are doing to lead on sustainable development across diverse sectors.?
Other featured guests included Karen Rot Münstermann, Evaluator General and Lead for IDEV, the Bank's Independent Development Evaluation function, and Haowa Bello, Nigerian fashion entrepreneur and CEO of the Madame Coquette brand, who shared her journey of turning her love for handbags into a thriving business.?
Visit https://bit.ly/AfDBPodcasts to discover our full #podcast library.??
领英推荐
UPCOMING
SAVE THE DATE: The #AfricaInvestmentForum will hold its 2024 Market Days from 4-6 December in Rabat, #Morocco.?
The flagship event, hosted by the forum’s founding partners – the African Development Bank, Africa50, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and Trade and Development Bank – will bring together investors, transaction sponsors, heads of government and development finance institutions to advance investment-ready deals toward market close.?
Since its founding in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum platform has mobilised nearly $180 billion in investment interest for transformative energy, infrastructure and agriculture projects, cementing its standing as Africa’s pre-eminent investment platform for global investors.?
More on what to expect at #AIF2024 Market Days: https://bit.ly/3IyM5fU?
Also coming up:?
25-26 April: Digital Climate Advisory Services Training to Support Climate Resilience for Smallholder Agriculture in Central Africa, Douala, Cameroon and Virtual?
27-31 May: African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings, Nairobi, Kenya #AfDBAM2024?
NEWS
WORK WITH US
More #AfDBJobs vacancies: https://bit.ly/AfDBJobs??
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Driving sustainable infrastructure development
8 个月Lets all pause and take stock of the last half a century's deliverable targets against the lofty aspiration of poverty reduction. Remember the Vision 2020s that delivered zilch? I think we are in love with our empty words and voices. Real doers where srt thou? Not a great big fan of dissecting humanity into camps, usually laced with a victimhood narrative.Away with the tokenism. Just do it. PS: let's do better by appreciating and honouring women every day. This calendar monthly thing is getting a bit tiring. I hear some are already clamouring for "dog" month - you get my drift. I suspect we will run out of months at this rate
Construction Subcontract Manager - UK and Northern Europe
8 个月#AfricaInvestmentForum has no contact details
Construction Subcontract Manager - UK and Northern Europe
8 个月where these women are?
Portfolio Management/ Private equity/M&A/ Member of Family Office Club/ Affiliate networks/ Strategic partnerships
8 个月Inspiring!
--Bhadresh
8 个月Sir, pl share your email address to share our profile. We are Team of Scientist, Technocrats and Engineers. Our Scientist Mr Parthosarothy Mukherji, held 9 USA PATENTS AND worked @ Saidel USA. Climate change & Carbon Capture is our Core Subject. [email protected]