Africa: Investors urged to ensure women entrepreneurs get same opportunities as men
"'Let us in!' African women entrepreneurs implore investors at UK business event"
From job creation to clean energy, female African entrepreneurs can add millions of dollars to their economies and deliver positive social change if they are taken more seriously, experts said at British trade event on Monday. Entrepreneurs from 21 African countries—many of them women—showcased businesses from smart street lighting in Nigeria to environmentally friendly breweries in Kenya aimed at making profit and doing good at the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit in London...
But female entrepreneurs from African countries including Uganda and Zambia said they needed to benefit from the same opportunities as men for their continent's ambitious development goals to be realised. "It is not just about men-run and owned businesses...the whole team has to play," said Monica Musonda, founder of Java Foods, a Zambia-based food manufacturer that aims to tackle malnutrition. "We have to scale and make women-run businesses profitable because they create impact, create jobs and they also contribute to development," she said.