COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) implementing the 50 Million African Women Speak digital platform met 24-25 April in Arusha, Tanzania to review progress of the initiative and make recommendations on how to take it forward.
The two-day meeting was the latest RECs coordination meeting where COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS executive managements received a report on overall progress of implementation. The meeting also agreed to undertake a study for the 50MAWSP’s long-term sustainability as well as key activities which the RECs will jointly implement in 2025. Stakeholders/users who were invited to the meeting were also able to provide feedback and recommendations on areas for improvement.
The EAC Secretary General Hon. Veronica Nduva opened the meeting and noted that the 50MAWS platform can help redress various unique challenges they face.
“Women make up a significant portion of our small business sector but often encounter greater barriers to scaling and exporting. If we can remove these barriers, imagine what we could achieve—economically, socially, and regionally.
“That is why women’s economic empowerment is not an add-on. It is at the core of our development strategy. Studies globally show that when women are economically empowered, they reinvest more into families, health, and education. Empowering women is not only the right thing to do—it is the smart thing to do,” the EAC Secretary General said.
COMESA Assistant Secretary General Dr Dev Haman challenged women to make the most of the platform to transform their economic fortunes while urging the implementing partners to devise means to sustain the platform.
“Deliberating the future of this initiative is the reason we are here and I implore you to bring to the fore your best ideas on how to make this platform self-sustaining. I am pleased to report that COMESA has mobilized resources and commissioned a study that will culminate in the development of a 50 Million African Women Speak sustainability strategy,” Dr Haman said.
Representing the Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, ECOWAS head of delegation Ms Salimata Thiam voiced her institution’s continued commitment to 50MAWSP, citing its critical role in supporting women economic empowerment.
“The ECOWAS Commission is fully committed to this dynamic platform. Concrete steps to honor our commitment under the agreement to co-finance the platform’s operations have already been taken. And we will continue to work with all our partners to create a stronger digital ecosystem, serving the continent’s women,” she said.
Also present at the meeting were representatives of the East African Women in Business platform, as well as national focal points from various Member/Partner states of the three RECs.
Launched in 2019, the 50 Million African Women Speak digital platform has served more than 700,000 users to date, providing business information resources on starting and growing a business, access to markets, credit and training for women across 37 African countries. It is accessible via web at www.womenconnect.org