International Women’s Month 2023: Investment champions from Abidjan share their journey with Africa Investment Forum | African Development Bank

The Africa Investment Forum marked International Women’s Day by hosting a special evening session for African female business leaders and innovators under the ‘Women as Investment Champions’ pillar.

Founded in 2019 by the African Development Bank and seven other founding partners, the Forum is a fully transactional, multi-stakeholder, multidisciplinary platform dedicated to advancing private and public partnerships to financial close.

The intimate dinner gathering took place on March 8, as an excellent opportunity to “sit and dine together, learn from each other and hear from those who are conquering the world,” said Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director of Africa Investment Forum. the attendees at welcoming comments.

“I’m happy to see the champions in this room. Women doing great things, doing big things; women doing small things in a big way, and big things in an even bigger way,” she said.

Chinelo, highlighted the support the Africa Investment Forum has given to women following the launch of the Women as Investment Champions pillar in 2019.

“This pillar seeks funding that will accelerate women’s businesses and discover their specific needs and also encourage their innate strengths to ensure they do the businesses they do,” Anohu said.

“The AIF stands ready to assist everyone in this room and learn from everyone in this room. Together we can lift and support each other,” she said.

Special guest, US Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis expressed her support for the AIF Women’s Pillar and said her country recognized the importance of investing in women.

“As for the United States, we are here to support, encourage, partner with, learn from and also exchange with women and see how we can better open the American markets for them and to encourage investment in Cote d. “Ivoire and the region,” Davis said. “Because investing in women brings empowerment, bringing prosperity to families, communities, countries and the world.”

It wasn’t until December last year that the Africa Investment Forum gained strong support in the US at the US-Africa Business Summit, convened by President Biden to advance key infrastructure projects for the continent. Three Forum founders signed memoranda of understanding worth more than $1 billion with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to expand U.S. trade and investment in Africa.

Swazi Tshabalala, Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group said the opportunity was right for her to “talk to women entrepreneurs, hear their stories, understand their needs, which I think will help us better support them in growing their own business and pursuing their own passions.”

At the end of the night, she expressed her admiration for women involved in educating other women for entrepreneurship and leadership roles. “I think that’s a very underrated part of the work we have to do for women and as women,” she said.

As the businesswomen shared their journeys, triumphs and challenges, they also shared their expectations of AIF as a catalyst and facilitator of women’s finance. They expressed their optimism and expectations about how much further women can go with more resources.

Kadi Fadika, CEO and partner of Hudson & Cie, a financial firm specializing in intermediation, the stock exchange industry, brokerage and investment management, spoke about the company’s new project that enables it to support women-owned small businesses . “It’s not our only goal, but we provide women with funding adapted to their current size and growth,” she added.

Young women are leading a new generation of female entrepreneurship

Three outstanding young female entrepreneurs spoke passionately about their businesses, which have raised the bar of innovation for Ivory Coast: Salimata Toh, CEO of Agribana, which converts banana trunks into biodegradable bags, Edith Kouassi, CEO, EcoPlast Innov, a recycling plant which converts plastic waste and used tires into granules and building materials and Ahoua Touré, CEO Maison Manjou, founder of a gastronomic company that celebrates African heritage through culinary works to “highlight the richness of the continent”.

Other guests at the event included Laure Gondout, former minister of foreign affairs in Gabon, Patrica Pokou-Diaby, founder and CEO of Plot Enterprise Ghana Limited, a major cocoa processor, Oumou Coulibaly, CEO of Ivoire Win, Jane Feehan, head of Western and Central Africa, European Investment Bank, Massogbé Touré, Founder and CEO of the SITA Group which produces, processes and exports cashews, and Roselyne Chambrier Chalobah, Country Representative, Arise RCI. The experienced manager of infrastructure and logistics projects also owns the San Pedro Multipurpose Industrial Terminal Project and Manon Karamoko, president of WIC Capital, an investment fund dedicated to financing women-owned businesses.

Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development Beth Dunford and Esther Dassanou, coordinator of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), which bridges the financial gap for women in Africa, also attended from the African Development Bank.

The partners of the Africa Investment Forum are the African Development Bank along with seven other founding partners, namely Africa 50; the Africa Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Southern African Development Bank; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic Development Bank.

Click here to learn more about the Africa Investment Forum’s Women as Investment Champions pillar.