Tunis / Nairobi — The African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Donald Kaberuka, and Mrs. Graça Machel, Founder of New Faces, New Voices (NFNV) jointly launched the first "African Women's Economic Summit" to ensure the inclusion of women in the decisions that are shaping the global financial system.
During the lively opening session, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya Njuguna Ndung'u and Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya, expressed their strong support to African Women's Economic Empowerment given their positive socio-economic impact in meeting the developmental challenges of the continent.
The Prime Minister highlighted by saying: "if you empower a woman, you empower a whole family and a nation. They all agreed that recovering from the financial crisis, the financial leaders should take the advantage to include more women."
Some 160 African and global decision-makers in the financial and political sectors, policy-makers, regulators, commercial banks, and prominent women entrepreneurs attended the ceremony.
The AfDB President stated that he was "proud to be meeting here in a country which also has one of the most impressive innovations in the financial sector- in which women leaders play a key role, with the Central Bank's support".
However, he acknowledged that "women access to financial services so critical for the growth of any economic endeavour remains problematic". He pledged for the need "to cross the bridge together to break through the barriers holding back so much a force for good into the World of finance".
The African Women Business Initiative, launched by the AfDB Private Sector Operations, is an example of how the financial stakeholders could best serve the half of our Continent, how more women get up the corporate ladder.
Graça Machel, founder of New Faces, New Voices warmly thanked the African Development Bank President for its continuous support. "The AfDB has given his best in terms of insights and inputs." She then claimed "space and right for women to be at the centre stage in the reforming and reshaping of the financial sector".
It is from this common understanding that Mr. Kaberuka and Mrs. Machel decided to convene and co-host the first African Women's Economic Summit in 2010. The Summit is held in Kenya with the support of the Central Bank of Kenya agree to be the main local partner to the event.
The initiative is driven by the growing realization that women represent a key emerging market in Africa and are significant contributors to economic growth. Yet their role as decision makers in the financial sector, and as users of financial services is overlooked.
Moving forward, the Summit intends to identify today key actions that financial sector stakeholders need to take to invest differently in women towards building stronger financial sectors and competitive economies in Africa.
The rest of the first day session included fruitful sessions on the following topics: reshapings Africa's financial sector; the business case for investing differently in women, chaired by Graca Machel herself; overcoming the challenges the economic power of women and the Africa's role in reshaping the global financial system.
The panelists of the last session were prominent leaders and regulators such as Speciosa Kazibwe Wandira, former vice-president of Uganda, Luisa Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique, Linah Mohohlo, Governor of the Central Bank of Botswana.
Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate and Founder of the Greenbelt Movement made a special address at the diner to show her strong support to African women.
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AfDB and Founder of New Faces, New Voices Network Co-host of the African Women Economic Summit
Contacts
Pénélope Pontet
