The Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard have come together to organize this joint initiative called “Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World.” This competition aims to help young changemakers create a better world of opportunities for women and girls in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
The competition seeks entries from 18-35 year olds to submit a 5-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea to the world. There is an opportunity to win a $25,000 grant.The grant must show creativity and sustainable impact in the lives of women and girls across Asia, Pacific, the Middle East or Africa through entrepreneurship.
Applications to the 6th Ogunte Women's Social Leadership Awards are now
open!
These prestigious International Awards recognise the achievements of women in the UK and abroad, influential female leaders, connectors, campaigners and social entrepreneurs.
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) is an organisation that has developed tools and programmes designed to help industry, academia and government recruit, retain and develop women technology leaders since 1997. The organisation provides inclusive platforms designed to ensure women’s voices, ideas and spirits will result in higher levels of technical innovation. The ABI delivers programmes that are changing the world for women and for technology.
The ABI invites nominations for the Women of Vision Award for Innovation, which recognises a leading technical woman who has contributed significantly to technology innovation.
Johannesburg – 25 May 2010: The Africa Progress Panel (APP) has called for a more assertive approach from African leaders to translate the continent’s “immense resources” into social benefits for its people. The report warned that “Africans beyond elite circles are not benefiting sufficiently” while at the same time there was great scope to improve Africa’s partnerships with the Global South.
Kofi Annan, Chair of the Panel and fellow Panel members Linah Mohohlo, Peter Eigen and Olusegun Obasanjo presented the Africa Progress Report on Africa Day – five years since the establishment of the Panel and 10 years since world leaders signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report takes stock of Africa’s progress since 2005 and assesses future opportunities for the continent.
“This landmark report argues that Africa’s future is in its own hands, but that success in managing its own affairs depends on supportive global policies and agreements,” Annan said. “There is no lack of resources, no deficiency of knowledge and no shortage of plans. Africa’s progress rests above all else on the mobilisation of political will, both on the continent and internationally.”
The panel has called on the continent’s finance ministers, who are meeting in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire for the Annual African Development Bank summit, to “climate proof” the continent’s economic growth and development. “Climate change will increase the cost of MDG attainment, whether in food production, health, water, energy, infrastructure and other areas; it will have disproportionate effects on women and the poor,” the Panel said. “As a result, it cannot be treated as a stand-alone issue; climate-proofed development plans can provide the basis for disaster risk reduction and adaptation strategies as well as help identify investment opportunities for low carbon and job generating growth.”
Focusing on Africa’s emergence as a “new economic frontier”, the Report notes that economic engagement with the Global South - China, the Far and Middle East, South Asia and Latin America - “is already having a substantial development impact on Africa”. However, the report asserts that “Africans beyond elite circles are not benefiting sufficiently” while at the same time “there is great scope to improve Africa’s partnerships with the Global South”. The report also notes that “African leaders... need to realize that the benefits of increasing economic ties are not automatic, but only accrue to those that take adequate and pro-active steps to exploit them through targeted policies.”
In particular, the report calls for:
Transparency throughout the entire resource system, from how contracts are awarded and monitored, to how taxes and royalties are collected, to how investment choices are made and executed.
Policies that ensure that the revenues from the continent’s natural wealth reach everyone. This requires major policy shifts and significant investments of resources in institutions, human capacities, women, health, education and infrastructure.
Stating that “Africa’s development and the welfare of its people depend above all upon the political commitment and capacity of its leaders”, the Panel also urges African policymakers to:
1)Empower women by enforcing existing conventions, laws and policies and link their efforts with effective implementation strategies including reliable reporting mechanisms
2)Climate proof development, not least through integrating adaptation to climate change into growth and development strategies, accelerating regional integration, harnessing the potential of information technology and anticipating demographic shifts
The Panel also identifies three priority areas for action for Africa’s partners, recording that Africa’s leaders “need an international environment that is fair and supportive of their efforts.” The report calls for international policymakers to:
1)Provide a level playing field, addressing the fact that “the continent is starkly underrepresented in virtually all international fora” and that “bloated subsidy regimes and unfair trade rules” leave African countries “heavily disadvantaged.”
2)Increase policy coherence for development, “recognising the overall impact that countries’ domestic and international policy mix has on the continent and seek to minimize their negative effects.”
3)Fulfil promises on resources and assistance, and “Africa’s partners to recommit to the consensus on the continent’s development and fulfil the many promises on financial support and assistance they have made over the last decade”.
Focusing on the approximately $100billion of financial assistance in annual expenditure from Africa’s partners required to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the presence of anticipated climate change, the report records that “much of this could actually be met if partners were to fulfil the pledges they made over the last couple of years and realize the financing ambitions outlined in the Copenhagen Accord.” It notes that “the mechanisms to collect, administer, and disburse these funds are already in place.”
Looking back on Africa’s progress over the last five years, the report describes it as “a truly mixed picture.” It states that “remarkable progress has been achieved in many fields, but... a number of set-backs, chronic problems and the effects of the global economic crisis and climate change combine to threaten the gains made since 2005.”
The Africa Progress Report highlights that the central challenge for Africa’s leaders is to inspire processes and build practical capacities, both nationally and regionally, to ensure that assets are translated into social benefits and that their people are able to access opportunities that can transform their lives, countries, and continent.
ABOUT THE AFRICA PROGRESS PANEL:
The Africa Progress Panel brings together a unique group of leaders under the chairmanship of Kofi Annan. The Panel monitors and promotes mutual accountability and shared responsibility for progress in Africa. Its three focus areas are economic and political governance; finance for sustainable development, including ODA; and MDG achievement – notably in light of climate change. The work of the Panel aims to track progress and draw attention to critical issues and opportunities for progress in Africa.
The Africa Progress Panel is comprised of:
§Kofi Annan (chair of the Africa Progress Panel, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate)
§Tony Blair (founder, Africa Governance Initiative and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
§Michel Camdessus (former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund)
§Peter Eigen (founder and Chair of the Advisory Council, Transparency International and Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative)
§Bob Geldof (musician, businessman, founder and Chair of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live8, Co-founder of DATA and ONE)
§Graça Machel (President of the Foundation for Community Development and founder of New Faces New Voices)
§Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo (Governor, Bank of Botswana)
§Olusegun Obasanjo (Envoy of the Secretary-General on the Great Lakes region and former President of Nigeria)
§Robert Rubin (Co-Chairman of the Board, Council on Foreign Relations and former Secretary of the United States Treasury)
Five social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Africa during the Opening Plenary session of the 20th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 5 May.
Shona Mc Donald, founder of Shonaquip had previously been recognized as the Social Entrepreneur for South Africa. The other four winners are Godwin Ehigiamusoe of LAPO in Nigeria, Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo of ICEE, and Victoria Kisyombe of SELFINA in Tanzania. They received their awards in the presence of President Jakaya M. Kikwete of Tanzania and the Co-Chairs of the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa.
Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to key challenges. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits in areas such as energy efficiency, education, waste management, health, education, youth and rural development.
The winners will join a group of leading social entrepreneurs from across the African continent as well as others from Europe, India and the USA, and will be active participants providing insights on sustainability and social innovation in the discussions under the meeting’s theme Rethinking Africa’s Growth Strategy.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an affiliate organization of the World Economic Forum, conducts the search and selection of social entrepreneurs in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, India and South-East Asia. It selects three to five social entrepreneurs per year from each region. Selected social entrepreneurs are connected to the world’s business, political and media leaders through the events and initiatives of the World Economic Forum.
The following winners were awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Africa:
LAPO is the leading microfinance institution in Nigeria with over 240,000 clients. It is recognized for delivering sound financial and social services to alleviate poverty and empowering the disadvantaged. Alongside its financial services offering, LAPO supports enterprise development in diverse areas such as food processing, craftworks, merchandising, fabrication and farming, while the LAPO Development Foundation provides social and health empowerment programmes addressing issues of empowerment, nutrition, health, discrimination, injustice and gender equality.
At least 670 million people, mostly in the developing world, are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to a basic eye examination and a pair of glasses. ICEE works in ten African countries in addition to operations in Asia and Latin America to provide screening services and glasses prescriptions through its “Vision Centres”. It focuses on capacity building in the public sector to deliver eye care services, stimulating the professional role of optometrists and eye care providers, thereby expanding and sustaining its impact to 290,000 beneficiaries. It has also developed its own global supply chain and resource centre to reduce the cost of spectacles dramatically for its own services, and also for NGOs and public providers.
In Tanzania, where 75% of the population live in rural areas, and 33% live below the poverty line, most enterprising individuals do not have scarce working capital to buy equipment upfront. Victoria Kisyombe recognized that the capital outlay to buy assets and equipment for small businesses is difficult even on a microfinance loan and thus pioneered the leasing of fixed assets to women, which has led to the development of more than 18,000 value-added businesses and wealth creation. SELFINA’s clients, 60% of whom are in rural areas, become eventual owners of leased equipment and can use it as collateral for further borrowing.
Shonaquip is a social business that provides high-impact support services that promote inclusion and equal opportunity employment for persons with disabilities. It promotes and supports the safe provision of appropriate wheelchairs, offering professional support services and clinical training for professionals and families. It also designs and builds Africa-appropriate wheelchairs and postural support devices suitable for use in rural, rough terrain and remote areas. Shonaquip have 40,000 clients (80% children) who have been provided with mobility devices and receive ongoing holistic postural support.
HALCHA Youth and Community Development organization is based in Garbatulla, a small town in northern Kenya where the populace are faced with poor living standards, low literacy levels, unemployment, unpredictable weather patterns that adversely impact on food security.
The group was started as a self-help group in 2006 and officially upgraded to a community based organisation in March 2007. The objectives at formation were:
To improve the socio-economic status of the youth and wider community
Capacity building and mentorship development.
The promotion of environmental and wildlife conservation, and
HIV/AIDS Advocacy.
The organization is not only committed to improving the living standards of the local community but also actively promotes the status of women in decision making by building confidence and raising self esteem so they can fully participate in their own affairs and make informed decisions.
Amongst it's development activities, HALCHA trains members in dressmaking and tailoring to promote self employment. The organization also emphasizes the preservation of local artisan culture.
HALCHA, which has 40 affiliate youth group members throughout the Garbatulla District has partnered with the Kenya Women’s Finance Trust Maua unit to reach more than 200 women, out of which 60 member beneficiaries have received loans. Another project in partnership with Kenya's Ministry of Youth Affairs has benefited more than 2,000 youth with capacity building and mentorship development, enabling 34 youth groups in the district to receive funding.
These milestones have been achieved in spite of the challenges the organization faces. These include financial constraints as well as the lack of working tools such as sewing machines for the tailoring project. Transport and logistic problems also affect the organization based in a remote rural area.
However HALCHA has the manpower and willingness to promote development and continues undaunted in it’s bid to help in the alleviate of poverty amongst the youth and wider population of Garbatulla District.
This is the first detailed global study of its kind that attempts to understand the nature of women mobile subscribers in low and middle-income countries such as Kenya and India.
Among the key findings, the report showed that:
There are 300 million fewer female subscribers than male subscribers worldwide
A woman in Africa is 23% less likely to own a phone than a man.
Going forward, two thirds of potential new subscribers for mobile network operators will be women.
Women in rural areas and lower income brackets stand to benefit the most from closing the gender gap.
93% of women report feeling safer because of their mobile phone.
85% of women report feeling more independent because of their mobile phone
41% of women report having increased income and professional opportunities once they own a phone
“You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair… it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates. This is the next and more profound stage…” - President Lyndon Johnson.
Teething problems in both the youth and women enterprise development funds have emerged. This week, no less than the Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya was urging financial intermediaries to relax their requirements for youths seeking to cash in on the enterprise fund loans.
Recently, the minister for Gender and Children Affairs, Esther Murugi had also expressed concern that over Sh700 million meant for women projects had not been disbursed.
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!
It seems that there is so much money available but the means of accessing it are dead ends. In common parlance: money, money everywhere, but no way to get it in the pocket.
As long as these funds rely on financial intermediaries, they will continue to have problems of their target populations being unable to access these funds.
After all these intermediaries are banks, and banks are in the business of giving loans whilst enforcing conditions and requirements that make it difficult for the person taking the loan to default. So, without any culture change in the banking fraternity, you can still expect the loan officer in the bank to ensure that the youth or woman entrepreneur has a viable business that will pay back the loan. This will happen regardless of whether the government wants to throw the money at these people. If that is how they will measure their performance in terms of beneficiaries of loans, then we suggest that they put a desk in front of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) and give loans to any Tom, Ochieng or Wanjiku who happens to be strolling past them.
Both the youth and gender ministries should not feel toothless if they cannot reach their stipulated number of entrepreneurs. They also must remember that small business owners have a natural aversion to exposing their business to risk, and thus are hesitant to take out loans.
In seeking funds, small business owners tend to use what can be described as the ‘pecking order’ model. This suggests that entrepreneur’s attitude towards and use of financial sources are most positive towards first, internally generated equity (for instance injecting own savings into the enterprise), followed by debt financing from sources such as banks.
Small business entrepreneurs also prefer sources of finance associated with the least information asymmetry. It is easier to approach your brother for a startup loan than it is to wade through the rigorous formalities of a bank loan. For one, you need a fully developed business plan, something not many people in business have. This requirement is also asked for when seeking finance from the youth and women’s funds.
There is also the ‘theory of the discouraged borrowers’ (Kon and Storey, 2003) which posits that some existing small business owners believe they will not be successful in obtaining external finance and therefore do not apply.
Apart from a shyness in opening oneself to be asked confidential questions on one’s business, there is also the overriding need to maintain control of one’s business. Thus such firms prefer using retained profits and cash flow to fund their business development, rather than opening up themselves to losing control of their enterprise. This is why seeking capital from personal savings or other informal sources (such as family and friends) is the preferred option for entrepreneurs who seek to minimize intrusion into their businesses.
The emergence of the micro finance sector has somewhat filled in this gap as a particular type of informal finance that takes the form of a small loan to individuals. However, as can be seen from the rapid growth of Equity, Family and K-REP Banks, these institutions have now outgrown this approach and their operations are now more akin to commercial banks than the informal micro-finance.
So instead of forcing entrepreneurs to take their money, the two funds can actually reach more enterprises if they become innovative in assisting existing small business owners to expand their businesses.
Apart from solely financing entrepreneurs, the funds could have more impact if they were in a position to expand business opportunities by providing collateral support, mentorship and technical assistance, which are lacking or too expensive for many small enterprise owners.
Loan guarantees can assist entrepreneurs with the potential for success but lack the current capacity to qualify for conventional bank loans to access more funds than are currently available within the funds. This will enable such businesses to expand so they can achieve the economies of scale that are necessary to compete with larger businesses.
Both fund managers can also learn lessons from the US Small Business Administration (SBA). Innovatively this independent agency is mandated to enter into contracts with Federal (government) Agencies and then sublet these contracts to small firms, that is apart from assisting small businesses in obtaining government contracts.
The Small Business Act (1953) which created the SBA also has a small business subcontracting clause in all government contracts over $10,000, requiring Federal Agencies to publicize in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) all procurements over the small purchase threshold and any others with subcontract potential.
In lieu of setting up that table outside KICC, this could be a more impactful solution to both funds, that is if their sole measure of performance is how many groups of entrepreneurs they finance.
No small business owner would pass up the chance to grow their business by receiving technical expertise or collateral to access higher value loans. Neither would they refuse to competitively take part in the profitable public procurement market sector.
