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By Our Reporter
The
Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) is to host a
dialogue on March 9, 2020 in Lagos,
Nigeria, to mark International Women’s Day and raise awareness of the
challenges and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in Africa.
“We want to discuss meaningful ways to make women benefit from the world’s
largest common market for goods and services; and offer a platform for people
to connect, share and network,” said Irene Ochem, AWIEF Founder and CEO.
The aim of the event is to reach regional and pan-African influencers to incite
dialogue round generational-equality to entrench a sense of collectivism in
working towards actionable solutions for gender equality on the African
continent.
International Women’s Day 2020 takes place on March 8, 2020 with the theme:
#EachforEqual, which is the premise that an equal world is an enabled world and
that equality is not a women’s issue, but a business issue as gender equality
is essential for economies and communities to thrive.
The theme for the AWIEF IWD day is: A
decade of economic emancipation of women in Africa 2020-2030. Ochem
explains: “How do we ensure that women and women-owned businesses are elevated
by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), political and
economic transformation and that the principle of collectivism is amplified and
entrenched.”
Partners to AWIEF for this key event include the Embassy of Sweden in Abuja,
AGRA, OCP Group, APO Group.
Making history
The AWIEF conference made history in 2019 when it called for the economic
empowerment of women to be linked to AfCFTA, at its annual gathering of leading
women politicians, businesswomen and entrepreneurs on the continent, 29-30
October 2019, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape
Town, South Africa.
The initial call was made by renowned economic activist and social
entrepreneur, Wendy Luhabe, from the stage on the first day, for radical action
and not just conversation, leading to the adoption on Day 2, by the gathering
of influential women of a resolution to be delivered to the Chair of the
African Union. Said Luhabe, the Founder of Women’s Private Equity Fund and
co-founder WINDE: “Women do not get invited when nations are going through
transitions. We have to make a space for ourselves.”
The resolution states that: “The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AfCFTA), is a monumental milestone on Africa’s developmental roadmap that must
be exploited to the full for intra-Africa trade. It will unleash almost
unlimited opportunities, new economies of scale, and income and employment
generation through greater market and economic integration.”
Gender inequality persists and women and girls continue to shoulder Africa’s
burden of hunger and poverty. 2020 – 2030 is the last decade for achieving the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The year 2020 also coincides with
several important milestones globally and on the continent on gender equality:
Implementation of the AfCFTA, a monumental milestone on Africa’s developmental roadmap, covering a market of more than 1.3 billion people with combined nominal GDP of USD2.5 trillion.
Conclusion of the AU’s Decade of African Women.
End of the commitment made in AU Agenda 2063 of ensuring 50 percent of women’s representation in decision-making by 2020.
Beijing +25 Review and the Generation Equality Forum.
