Under its African Women In Business (AWIB) Initiative launched in 2004 by AfDB Private Sector Operations (OPSM) and as a side event to the 57th World Congress of FCEM- World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, the African Development Bank organizes today a workshop on "Enhancing African Women In Business' Development in the context of the crisis" to be held in the conferences' center of Yaoundé.

AfDB is the official sponsor of the conference organized under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Cameroon in partnership with the association of business women in Cameroon - the GFAC, and with the African Network for the support to Women Entrepreneurship -RASEF".

The African Development Bank (AfDB) strongly believes in fostering women entrepreneurship as a tool for economic growth. It is within that framework that the Bank is committed to assist in the promotion of gender equality and women entrepreneurship mainstreaming in Africa through its African Women in Business (AWIB) Initiative as well as through its financial crisis response initiative.

The conference will give the opportunity to:

Exchange experiences and promote networking among key partners;

Discuss the impact of the financial crisis and its implications for donors, institutions, countries and women entrepreneurship and

Come up with concrete recommendations on how to provide more effective and coordinated support as a response to the crisis for women's entrepreneurship development and businesswomen growth in Africa.

The conference's content includes the following topics for which short issues papers or power point presentations will be prepared and presented as background for discussion including: the impact of the financial crisis on African women entrepreneurs focusing on trade activities, as well as the crisis impact on the regional integration, the reaction of international markets and new trade financing instruments proposed as a response to the lack of liquidity. New financing strategies to support trade in this context will also be discussed as well as efficient methods to support women on other issues such as discrimination, professional training and networking.

This event is targeted to senior policy makers from the public sector - particularly involved in SME policymaking - as well as three hundreds women entrepreneurs from Africa and all over the world, representatives of businesswomen associations, representatives of the financial sector and development partners.

Contacts

Lotfi Madani