American & African Business Women's Alliance Features African Women Ambassadors' Breakfast Roundtable Series

20 February 2004
Content from a Premium Partner
Corporate Council on Africa (Washington, DC)
press release

Washington, DC — The American and African Business Women's Alliance (AABWA), in partnership with the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and the Constituency for Africa (CFA), will be hosting its first in a series of Roundtables, featuring African Women Ambassadors on Tuesday, March 9th, 2004. This event will be held from 8:30am-10:30am at the National Press Club (First Amendment Lounge), located at 529 Fourteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. There are presently eight (8) Women African Ambassadors representing the nations of Angola, Congo (Kinshasa), Lesotho, Mauritius, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. The purpose of this roundtable is to honor outstanding examples of Women in Leadership from the African Diplomatic Corps. The event also provides a forum to discuss Women in Business involved in trade and investment opportunities in their respective African countries. Ms. Lauri Fitz-Pegado of The Livingston Group, LLC and AABWA-USA Advisory Committee member will serve as the moderator of the program.

AABWA was created in February 2001 by a group of American and African business women convinced of the need for a private sector driven "trade association" focused on mentoring, training, networking and promoting trade and investment opportunities between the United States and African nations. AABWA's primary goals are to: (a) build skills and relationships among African women and between American and African women which will contribute to the development of successful African businesswomen who engage in importing/exporting; and (b) provide American businesswomen with knowledge and insights into African markets so they can successfully invest in and trade with African countries. Dr. Gloria B. Herndon, President and CEO of GB Herndon & Associates, is the American Co-Chair and Mrs. Martha Mugambi, Director International Development Centre for Africa, LTD, Nairobi, Kenya, is the African Co-Chair of the organization. The AABWA-USA Secretariat, run by Program Director Kadidia Thiero, is located at and functions in partnership with the Corporate Council on Africa in Washington, D.C. and the Africa Secretariat, launched in May 2003, is located in Kampala, Uganda and headed by the Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority, Dr. Maggie Kigozi.

Along with CCA and the Constituency for Africa (CFA), AABWA has strategic partnerships with several organizations such as Students in Free Enterprise, Inc. (SIFE), Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), All American Small Business Exporters Association (AASBEA), Center for Private Enterprise (CIPE), Vital Voices Global Partnership, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Women in Business Programme. AABWA has effectively utilized these strategic partnership relationships to enhance its ability to deliver effective training programs for women throughout the continent. "Our partnerships produce programs of value to our existing and future members," said Sandra Taylor, founder and USA Vice-Chair of AABWA, and recently appointed Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, Washington, USA.

AABWA will be organizing its second international conference on the African continent in Accra, Ghana February 2005. AABWA looks forward to expanding the corporate, government, and non-governmental partnerships necessary to make our next biennial conference a success. According to AABWA-USA Co-Chair, Gloria B. Herndon, Ph.D., "We are confident that the AABWA Roundtable Series will play a significant role in highlighting the importance and influence in African economies of women-owned businesses." AABWA was established to empower the business woman by fostering trade and investment opportunities as well as access to markets in Africa and the Americas through networks, mentoring and leadership development.

For further information about AABWA and membership, please visit the website: www.aabwa.com

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