While increasing number of women in Africa are taking up business ventures, training and orientation platforms for them are springing up in many countries. The fourth Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), titled as “ Entreprenarium Masterclass” began recently in Pretoria, South Africa, to enhance women’s skills in business development and financial management. Conducted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) with the support of Entreprenarium, a pan-African foundation that invests philanthropic capital in the training and financing of women and young entrepreneurs, the two-day event is being attended by 40 business women, who came through an online application process. The modules for the orientation program covers financial planning, lean start-up methodology and business model canvassing. There will be mentoring and coaching sessions to acquaint the participants about the day to business problems and how to find solutions to tackle them. The training program forms part of the effort of the AfDB to promote women entrepreneurship across the continent and to pave the way for an inclusive growth model. Also, such programs will help fill the widening gap in the employment sector. The demand for jobs is fast outstripping the supply. The training forms part of the Bank’s goal to support over a thousand women entrepreneurs in six African countries. Training has already held in the Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Kenya, and is under way in Tunisia.
South Africa has very high levels of unemployment (59% youth, 29.5% women), huge disparities in income and too many unskilled youth and women. Many youth and women face numerous imponderables like unaffordable bank fees for those on low incomes, trust deficit in financial institutions, and large scale informal borrowings. The black African women, from ordinary families face added handicaps due to low literacy, lack of knowledge in handling finances etc.
