Women Take the Lion’s Share of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit

By / Published July 26, 2015 | 6:07 pm

Women in our society are the powerhouse of entrepreneurship and they constantly invest back in their families and their communities. This statement is a paraphrase of the words of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama during the opening of the sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi.

In line with his words, women are set to be the biggest beneficiaries as they take the lion’s share of the goodies received at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. President Barack Obama announce plans to support women entrepreneurs in Kenya, Zambia and Mali. The United States has given 1 billion dollars to support entrepreneurs, a majority of them being women. These funds will be used to mentor women and help them venture into the world of business.

There is an additional 675 million dollars that has been set aside to help uplift women in terms of meeting their entrepreneurship desires.

The Global Innovation through the body of Science and Technology (GIST) is out to support close to 10,000 young and vibrant women entrepreneurs and make them achieve their dreams. There are also plans to set up three major centers for women entrepreneurs. Three organizations, Department State African Women, Caterpillar Foundation and StartUp Cup are responsible for the setting up of these centers.

The operation of these three centers for women entrepreneurs is aimed at creating close to 7,194 jobs as well as creating 630 certified new female mentors who will help rocket the world of business, innovation, entrepreneurship as well as mentorship to reach new dimensions.

In the same spirit, Overseas Investment Corporation (OPIC) has given 200 million dollars to Equity Bank Group and an additional 450 million dollars for lending out to women and youths in the SME sector to finance and run their business. There are also other MOUs that have been signed, equally tailored towards the benefit of women.