Liberian president urges support for women-led enterprise in Africa

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Monday called on multilateral institutions, governments and corporations to lend support to female-led enterprise in Africa.

Speaking at an international forum on women in business held in Nairobi ahead of the 10th World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference, Sirleaf stressed that female-led start-ups are key to economic growth in Africa.

"We must look for creative ways to get African women from the farms into business. However, this can only be realized if public and private bodies partner to knock off barriers that hinder women from involvement in trade," she said.

The first female president in Africa will be attending the 10th WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi where an estimated 5,000 delegates will agree on establishment of a fair and solid multilateral trading regime. Liberia, together with Afghanistan, is also expected to become new members of WTO during the four-day Nairobi conference.

Sirleaf urged African governments to prioritize regulatory, policy and financing incentives to spur growth of female owned businesses.

"We must put the fundamentals in place to ensure women have access to credit, knowledge and technology that would enable them trade within and beyond the borders," said Sirleaf.

She emphasized that policy reforms, political goodwill and strategic public private partnerships were key to eliminate bottlenecks that undermine growth of women owned businesses.

African leaders have endorsed a raft of pacts to empower women and girls through education, jobs and entrepreneurship. Sirleaf reiterated that economic empowerment of women underpins sustainable development in Africa.

"Our focus should be to help women access new markets. Governments and financial institutions must direct resources to small and medium sized enterprises that are mainly owned by women,"Sirleaf said, adding that African women offer a huge untapped potential in terms of labor and markets.

African governments have recognized the critical role of women entrepreneurs in driving economic growth and job creation. Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto said many African governments have made deliberate efforts to promote gender parity in trade.

"Sufficient inclusion of women in business and trade is an imperative to catalyze growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. We must therefore ensure women have access to affordable credit and enact policies that mainstream gender into the marketplace," said Ruto.

He added that African integration and policy reforms to enhance ease of doing business will encourage women participate in cross-border trade. Enditem