Women entrepreneurs and business leaders in Africa have emphasised the critical role of female inclusion – gender equality and equity in the growth and prosperity of African business ventures.
During the ‘Together We Lead’ event hosted by MasterCard at the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF), Amanda Dambuza – entrepreneur and author, Lee Ann Lancaster – chief growth officer of Mama Money, and Adriana Marais – physicist, technologist, astronaut candidate with the Mars One Project and founder of #ProudlyHuman, joined a panel discussion hosted by Shamina Singh, executive vice president, sustainability and president, MasterCard Centre for Inclusive Growth, to discuss the challenges faced by aspiring businesswomen across Africa.
From making education, technology, and capital more accessible to encouraging cultural dialogue and overcoming gender stereotypes, the discussion at the event focused on ways women’s potential could be used to unlock stronger, more sustainable economies at a time when the failure to integrate women into national economies costs Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) $95 billion in lost productivity every year.
“Today, #Womenpreneuership is one of the largest opportunities for African women. Despite being the only region in the world where more women than men choose to be entrepreneurs, women are still constrained by a shortage of support and resources, training and social acceptance. At Mastercard, we’re committed to closing the gender gap – whether it’s progressing women to senior leadership roles, building diverse teams, ensuring equal pay, or investing in specialist programmes and partnerships,” said Suzanne Morel, country manager – South Africa, MasterCard.
Experts say digitisation of cash will positively impact any economy, as it will bring more people into the formal economy, alleviating poverty and reducing income inequality, which is especially beneficial for women who are disproportionately affected by financial exclusion. They say by helping populations connect to networks that help them save, expand their business and become financially secure, governments and corporate partners contribute positively not only to individuals’ growth, but also to that of local economies.
“Through our Lab of financial inclusion, we have been able to help millions of women through the products we’ve launched to support sectors like education, agriculture and SMEs. Kupaa, our digital payments tool to make paying school fees easier, is currently available in over 350 schools in Africa with over 160,000 students and 110,000 parents using the solution. Only by taking a partnership approach are we able to generate ideas and address local challenges relevant to underserved and unbanked populations across industries,” said Salah Goss, head of Lab for financial inclusion, MasterCard.
