As the world continues to celebrate the positive impact of women in society, ImpactHER – a non-profit organisation – has reaffirmed its commitment to empowering African female entrepreneurs to realise their full economic potential and eliminate the biases which undermine their progress.
The reaffirmation was made at a conference organised by ImpactHER, in collaboration with SoFraiche Media and Société Générale, to commemorate the 2022 International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration under the theme ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’.
In her welcome address, Country Representative for ImpactHER, Maame Konadu Mintah, reiterated the organisation’s objectives to empower African female entrepreneurs. She said all measures are being put in place to ensure the African woman entrepreneur achieves her dreams.
“Empowering women is paramount to us. Across Africa, we have managed to grant opportunities to women-led businesses. We take them through training programmes and introduce them to banking facilities which allow them access to funding; and that is why we are partnering with Société Générale, because it is the bank that prioritises growing small and medium-sized businesses,” she said.
Speaking as a beneficiary of ImpactHER, Ms. Mintah recounted how impactful the organisation has been to her.
“Getting married with three kids at the age of 22 was a difficult task, particularly combining work and school. However, coming in contact with the founder of ImpactHER – who was passionate about helping African women – was indeed a turning point for me. ImpactHER is a new NGO that started in New York and we have branches all over Africa – helping young, innovative African women-led businesses.
I started law school in 2015, but while at it we started an entrepreneurial network programme. I had to merge schooling with entrepreneurship, and that was when I saw all the opportunities which were around me,” she said.
Managing Director for Société Générale, Hakim Ouzzani, acknowledged the efforts of women to the progress of every organisation, adding that his outfit aims for diversity within the banking sector.
“Forty per cent of our executive committee members are women, and we also have forty per cent of women represented at the board. It is encouraging, but not enough. We are still working on increasing the participation of women.
“We still have a certain number of targets, and that means including disabled people who are capable. We have started with an initiative to get all these people represented, and that to us is part of diversity. Diversity doesn’t mean just a man and woman combination, its crossable for people or population expertise which can be integrated into our setup,” he indicated.
Women entrepreneurs who attended the conference were given a platform to exhibit their products to prospective clients and buyers.
