To lead discussion on post-pandemic recovery

World leaders including Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank, AfDB, Beth Dunford,  Global Coordinator and Senior Technical Officer, Women’s Entrepreneurship Development, ILO, Virginia Rose-Losada,  Chief, Rural Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and Human Security Division, UNIDO, Virpi Stucki, Vice President, Inclusive Growth, Global Social Impact, Visa, Mamadou Biteye OBE, CEO, PwC Southern Africa, Shirley Machaba,  CEO, Africa Region and Pakistan, Jumo, Buhle Goslar;  will lead the discussion on post-pandemic recovery and economic growth  in December at the 7th Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum conference, AWIEF.

Others are, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt, Rania Al-Mashat, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ghana, Minister of ICT and Innovation, Rwanda, Paula Ingabire, Co-founder and CEO, Flutterwave, Nigeria, Olugbenga Agboola, Founder and Executive Chairman, Moven, USA, Brett King, CNN Anchor and Correspondent, Eleni Giokos, Digital Skills Global Leader, Amazon Web Services, AWS, Izabela Milewska, Bethlehem Tilahun-Alemu, Founder and Executive Director, SoleRebels, Ethiopia,  Founder, Jenna Clifford, South Africa, Jenna Clifford.

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The speakers consisting of African and global business leaders, policymakers, and development partners will dialogue on the opportunities that have been created by the pandemic, the challenges to be encountered, and how best to reposition the continent on a stronger footing for sustainable development and transformation.

With the theme, “Advancing inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth in the post-COVID-19 African economy,” the city of Cape Town, South Africa will be agog with high-level industry experts and business and public sector leaders from across Africa and the world.

In a statement, Founder and Chief Executive Officer AWIEF, Irene Ochem,   said, “Africa has set for itself important milestones of not only the UN SDGs and the African Union Agenda 2063, but also the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which took off in January 2021.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous global upheaval and has exacerbated and laid bare existing and enduring inequalities in African societies and economies. As we emerge from the crisis, the two-day virtual AWIEF2021 event presents an invaluable opportunity and platform to ponder on the aftereffects, mine experiences undergone by African countries, their societies and economies, in order to plot a way forward for an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth and transformation.

“Analysts worldwide have already pinpointed some common trends: the significant acceleration towards digital technology, with many more online services being created; the accentuated shift to remote work; the devastating effect on MSMEs and SMEs; the changes in consumer behaviour; growing social unrest; cracks and flaws that have been exposed in traditional governing, education, health, and business structures.

“The SME sector, the real engine room of the African economy and responsible for job growth in the private sector, has been severely affected. Women are suffering disproportionately. The AWIEF conference plays a hugely important role in promoting and driving urgent action towards women empowerment, entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.

Colleen Harrison, Head of Marketing at PayFast, one of AWIEF2021 sponsors and partners, said “We’re excited to partner with AWIEF whose goals of economic inclusion and empowering entrepreneurs align closely with those of PayFast. We believe that enabling female entrepreneurs through technology and specifically e-commerce, will drive innovation and economic growth in Africa, giving women more opportunities to create value in their communities while generating an income through online payments”.

Vanguard News Nigeria