Business Platform for Women Launched in Africa
A study in 2016 by the AfDB found that 70% of women are financially excluded. In addition to this, the COMESA (Common Marketing for Eastern and Southern Africa) Secretary General stated that there are more women than men in the African population, and women play a larger role in key sectors such as agriculture and trade. Yet, they face a financial gap of close to R245 billion.
In an attempt to combat such inequality, on the 28th of February in Zambia, a business platform connecting 50 million women entrepreneurs across Africa was launched, named The 50 Million African Women Speak Platform (50MAWSP). This purpose of this platform is to empower the women in Africa, allowing these women to access real-time information on handheld mobile devices.
It provides financial and non-financial information, and a way to increase networking, improve business skills, and share knowledge and information with other women.
“With this platform, you have your own space as an entrepreneur to post your merchandise and advertise it free of charge. Alternatively, it could be the place where you connect with suppliers or even business mentors. All these features, ladies are available to you at absolutely no cost.”
- Zambia First Lady
The initiative of three regional economic communities supported by the African Development Bank. The roll-out plan for this platform is to stretch out over 38 countries that are members of the East African Community (EAC), COMESA, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The platform was launched in Zambia, and the next 15 countries COMESA is going to launch the platform in are; Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Eritrea, Djibouti, Egypt, Sudan, Malawi, Madagascar, Comoros, DR Congo, Tunisia and Mauritius.
This brings us great joy at Professional Sourcing, as we have always aimed to empower women. With Africa being in the spotlight for business opportunities, we hope that this will be transformational to the business world of our country and that we will see many female leaders in the near future.
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