Chude Jideonwo, the founder of Joy Inc., moderated a panel session on ‘Intra-African Trade: Ensuring Value for Women in the new AfCFTA Framework’, at the fifth edition of the Africa Women and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWEIF) Conference & Exhibition held yesterday Tuesday, 29 October, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Focused on creating value and equal participation for women through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), speakers during the discussion include Pat Utomi, Chairperson, Pan-African Private Sector Trade & Investment Committee; Wendy Luhabe, Founder, Women’s Private Equity Fund & Co- Founder, WINDE; Doubell Chamberlain, Founder & Managing Director, The Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion; Julia Raphaely, CEO, Associated Media Publishing, and Pauline Christian, former President, Black Business & Professional Association.
Speaking during the session, Chude explained the importance of taking action in order to provide support for female-owned businesses, as he urged decision-makers to process and apply available data to boost women empowerment.
Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum is a Pan-African women economic empowerment organisation which nurtures and actively promotes women innovation and entrepreneurship through its development programmes, networking events, including the annual AWEIF conference and exhibition awards.
This year’s conference, themed ‘Enhancing impact: digitalization, investment and intra-African trade’, was aimed at promoting women-owned and women-led businesses for Africa’s growth and development, and also recognised exceptional women for their passion and determination in making a difference in their countries and on the continent.
