On 10 May 2013, The Coca-Cola Company and Business Fights Poverty convened a breakfast event, taking place in the margins of the Africa World Economic Forum, to explore how to strengthen support for women entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on enabling access to finance.
A compelling social, economic and business case for investing in the economic empowerment of women is firmly established, but the barriers that women entrepreneurs face can be particularly acute, due to lower levels of access to education, skills and finance.
As a growing number of businesses commit to supporting women entrepreneurs in their value chains and communities, this event discussion drew from Coca-Cola’s 5by20 and IFC’s Banking on Women initiatives, alongside the collective experience of event participants, to address the following questions:
- What are the main barriers to women entrepreneurs accessing finance, and how can large companies best harness their value chains to leverage opportunities? What can we learn from existing successful models?
- How can businesses, governments and development partners collectively build supportive ecosystems to enable women entrepreneurs?
- What are the main barriers and drivers to scaling promising initiatives?
Opening Remarks (Click here for audio)
- Elsie Kanza, Africa Director, World Economic Forum
Panel Discussion (Click here for audio)
- Susan Mboya, Group Director, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Eurasia and Africa Group, The Coca-Cola Company
- Nomvula Makgotlho, Chief Director: Gender and Women Empowerment
- Patience Marime-Ball, Principal Investment Officer, IFC
The moderator was Gib Bulloch, Founder and Executive Director of Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP).
