Giving Compass' Take:

• The author relays the three actions that women can take toward economic empowerment: advancing access to finance, awareness-raising campaigns, and changing the narrative of Africa. 

• How would the economy benefit from the untapped potential of women and their entrepreneurship? 

• Read the Giving Compass Gender Equality guide and learn more about women's economic impact. 

This year my angle of study looks at the women economic empowerment, drawing from successful cases of women entrepreneurs in Africa, documented in the two-years research program by the World Bank, titled: Doing Business, Women in Africa.

According to the OECD, for women, “economic empowerment is the capacity, above all, to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes”. Women’s economic empowerment can therefore be seen as fundamental to strengthening women’s rights and enabling women to have control over their lives and exert influence in society.

Yet, they remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation. Gender discrimination means that women often end up in insecure, low-wage jobs, and it curtails their access to economic assets, such as land and loans.

I see three actions as solutions, on the financial, cultural & advocacy and marketing/narrative sides. The main word here is transform.

  •  Advance access to finance for Women: through technical/advisory assistance and lending support, financial inclusion for women are beneficial for the reduction of gender-based barriers in the business environment. In addition, it welcomes the creation of business opportunities and improves the working conditions for female employees, market segmentation and inclusion of women in community relationships.
  • Awareness-raising campaigns and advocacy training for men and women, to enhance awareness of girls’ rights through the adaptation of positive cultural values (such as, respect, equality, equal opportunities..), and with the aim of eliminating cultural norms and practices leading to gender-based violence, such as forced marriage, early pregnancies, school-drop outs to take care of the family and thus lack of education and job opportunities).
  • Change the narrative of Africa: In an enlightening piece by the New York Times, a female Ethiopian entrepreneur points out at the single misleading narrative of Africa, written by non-Africans. People need to change their minds about Africa, inspiring the World to work in synergy and to make an impact on their communities.

Read the full article about women empowerment by Gaia Paradiso at Huffington Post