Officials call for investment in women and youth entrepreneurs to drive Africa’s growth
Investing to equip women and youth entrepreneurs with skills, resources and mentoring will drive Africa’s growth, according to ministers, bankers and development experts. They were speaking at an event on ‘unleashing the potential of women and youth entrepreneurship in the digital age’, which was held on 21 March as part of the annual session of the Economic Commission for African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The event, which featured a panel discussion, focused on the challenges women and youth entrepreneurs face, how they can leverage technology and which practices can promote entrepreneurship after the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, Africa ranks high in terms of numbers of women and youth-led startups. However, their economic contributions remain limited because of challenges such as poor access to finance, training and technology. Contributing to the panel discussion, which included ministers, bankers and development experts, Ethiopian entrepreneur Ms. Samrawit Mersiehazen urged banks to create a special lending criterion for small businesses. She said: “When I applied for a loan for my business, the bank required me to comply with the same stringent requirements that are set for large corporations. These can be tough to meet, especially if you are running a micro or small business.” The ECA hosted the virtual event in partnership with UNFPA and BADEA.
| Format: | Press release biblioteca |
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| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2021-03
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10855/45899 |
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