geo/africa
She Leads Africa today kicks off a pitch competition for female entrepreneurs in West Africa, offering prize money of USD$10,000 for the winner.
The company said the female-only competition will give the most promising female entrepreneurs in West Africa a platform to connect to prominent mentors, business funding and new market opportunities.
Catalys Supply Chain Finance (Catalys), a supply chain finance (SCF) solutions provider, formed a strategic alliance with the UK-based technology specialist of working capital solutions, Demica.
When Joyce Musonda wanted to start a business two years ago selling kitchen tiles from her backyard in an up-and-coming district of Zambia's capital of Lusaka, she braced herself for a battle to find a start-up loan.Her predicament is common: around 80 percent of sub-Saharan adults have no bank accounts and struggle to access finance from banks reluctant to lend to new customers, especially the small entrepreneurs for whom they have no history.
Jun 16, 2014 : Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing region in terms of mobile subscriptions. But with many rural areas lacking basic telecoms infrastructure, there are ample opportunities for investment. The FT's Vanessa Kortekaas assesses the risks and rewards.
Madinah Nalukenge, who did not study beyond grade school, is part of a growing trend in Africa where more women are running businesses on a scale that was unthinkable a generation ago. Africa now has the highest growth rate of female-run enterprises across the world, according to the World Bank. About 63 percent of women in the non-agricultural labor force are self-employed in the informal sector in Africa, more than twice the worldwide rate, according to World Bank data.
Africa is at a critical juncture in its development trajectory. Economic changes in recent decades have shifted traditional power structures and witnessed the emergence of concepts that emphasize gender equality. It is acknowledged that across the continent, women play a pivotal role in agricultural production, rural economy, household-level nutrition and the reduction of rural poverty. Therefore, the promotion of African women and their access to finance plays a key role at the African Development Bank's Annual Meetings in Kigali.
Customer adoption is the single biggest inhibitor of the widespread growth of mobile financial services, especially in rural communities, and will be discussed in depth during an expert panel discussion at the sixth annual Mobile Money & Digital Payments Africa, which is to take place in Johannesburg from 21-22 May 2014. According to Emma Pearce, program director of the event, the lack of financial education and product design are two of the biggest barriers to adoption in Africa, though by no means are they the only ones.
The MFW4A Partnership Forum is the flagship biennial event for the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) Partnership Secretariat. This year, the MFW4A Partnership Forum is aimed at providing a platform to provoke debates and discussions, foster the sharing of innovative ideas, good practices, tools, expertise and policy analysis amongst African Financial Sector champions from the public and private sectors in 'New Frontiers in African Finance'.
Women are a driving force behind Africa’s economy. Nearly a third of firms in Sub-Saharan Africa are female-owned and women grow an estimated 80 percent of the food. The East Africa Trade Hub (EATH) provides technical assistance to African firms and governments to enhance their competitiveness in global markets and helps African businesses take advantage of trade opportunities available under AGOA.
The AECF makes its funding available through competitions. Private sector companies are invited to compete for AECF funds by submitting their new and innovative business ideas to a particular AECF competition. These ideas have to comply with the rules (eligibility and selection criteria) of the particular competition being applied for. The best ideas are awarded up to US$2.5m in grants and interest free loans.
