Dr Kate Quartey-Papafio, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Reroy Cables Limited, in a speech read on her behalf, has stated that women should be supported by stakeholders to operate within the energy sector.
Reroy’s CEO admonished stakeholders to channel resources to help correct the gender imbalances when it comes to granting women entrepreneurs access to services, capital, and other resources for businesses.
“One priority of the Reroy is to see women dominate the energy and power sector. We, therefore, entreat all partners to ensure that the WE4A project looks at the male-dominated sectors like energy and support women in that regard.”
Dr Kate Quartey-Papafio
She also encouraged women who have little resources to start with the little capital they have, adding that, with a great vision and efforts, they could gradually grow in business.
Dr Quartey-Papafio made this statement at the Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) project in Accra, under the theme “Capitalizing on the Full Potential of Women Entrepreneurs for Employment Creation”.
Also, Regina Barbosa Bauerochse, the Country Director, GIZ, said women economic empowerment remained a very important issue for Africa.
Regina stated that, women are more economically active in Africa than anywhere else in the world, according to the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook Report (2019).
She urged African countries not to overlook the great potential of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
This, Regina hinted, plays a key role in the economic and social development process, and contributes a substantial proportion to total employment.
Even though women operated most MSMEs in Africa, access to finance was a major constraint for them, Regina disclosed.
This problem inspired the development of the WE4A project to support and provide women with avenues for growth.
Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) project
The project was launched by the Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in partnership with the European Union, to prepare Sub-Saharan African (SSA) women entrepreneurs for global markets.
The project will be developed with the help of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The project is being implemented by the GIZ GmbH and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).
WE4A is designed to train businesswomen, create market avenues for them on the global front and give them funding to build or develop their businesses.
The project will initially benefit Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania. It aims to increase economic inclusion and empowerment of women and create more decent jobs in African countries.
Mr Gideon Mankralo, a Technical Advisor of the WE4A project, GIZ, said the project has been divided into three components.
2,420 female entrepreneurs from across SSA would be enrolled in the TEF programme, which includes online training, mentoring, and networking opportunities and a seed capital of $5,000, Gideon hinted.
Mr Mankralo stated TEF alumni with a high growth potential would go through an acceleration and growth programme and receive second stage financing of 10,000 Euros.
Additional support will come in the form of technical assistance to further enhance their businesses.
Top performing beneficiaries would receive further add-on financial support of up to 50,000 Euros paid as a non-repayable grant, Gideon added.
Madam Anna Himbson, the Deputy Executive Director, Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), stated that the theme for the launch corresponds with an initiative to be launched by the GEA dubbed, ‘Ghana Women Entrepreneurs Network’ to boost growth of women in businesses.
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