I Encuentro de Asociaciones de Mujeres Empresarias de la CEDEAO

Gender equality is not a new priority for development for African countries; in fact, its importance has been recognized for a long time, since the African Union and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, lead the defence of the women and girls rights several decades ago. There have been different milestones that show the progress in this matter:

• The African Union designated 2016 as the year of Human Rights in Africa, with special focus to the Rights of Women, in addition, 2015 was the Year of Women Empowerment and Development.
• Almost all the countries of the African continent have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
• Over half of the African countries have ratified the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.
• The African Union have designated the period 2010-2020 as the Decade of African Women.
• A strong commitment was acquired in 2015 with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, that was established to face the problem of financing and the creation of an enabling environment to meet the Sustainable Development Goals worldwide.
• In January 2015, the African Union adopted the 2063 Agenda: the Africa We Want, which aims to achieve full gender parity in all spheres of life, eradicate all forms of discrimination in the social, cultural, economic and political spheres and achieve gender parity before 2020 in public and private institutions.
• In 2015 the countries from of the West African region have ratified the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which states that "all interventions must be based on comprehensive policies and processes aimed at addressing the eradication of poverty and inequalities, putting women at the centre of these actions" and whose Objective no. 5 supposes the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

However, despite the general recognition of women's rights and the benefits that equitable access to resources and opportunities for women and men would bring to society, inequalities persist.

The fact that the African women’s achievements of better economic and social well-being benefit the entire society is being acknowledged gradually at the regional and national levels. However, despite the growing awareness, the elimination of inequalities that affect women has not taken place at the same pace.

Throughout the African region, these inequalities are reflected in the access to economic assets, participation in the labour market, business opportunities and the benefit of natural resources and the environment and its paybacks.

The calculations of the UNDP Gender Index indicate that gender inequality is notable in almost all African countries; the gender gaps have had an impact on the Human Development of women, resulting in a lower index compared with men. On average, African women only reach 87% of the level of Human Development of men.

In Africa, the gender gap is the reason why women, who account for more than half of the continent's population, are socially, economically and politically marginalized, according to the 2016 Human Development Report in Africa, entitled "Accelerating the gender equality and the empowerment of women in Africa"; states that in 2014 only in sub-Saharan Africa about 95,000 million dollars were lost, equivalent to 6% of its GDP, due to gender inequality in the labour market.

By reducing the gender gap, it would be possible to achieve a great economic development on the African continent and it would also contribute significantly to achieve the national and international development goals; by ensuring that women receive the same economic, social and political opportunities as men, moving from legal to real equality, governments will ensure that their progress in the fields of economic growth and human development is fully inclusive and sustainable in the long term.

In the Canary Islands, through Casa África, the Canary Islands Parliament and the Government of the Canary Islands, many initiatives have been promoted, dynamized and created in which the African woman plays a leading role; similarly, different private foundations have launched specific programs for the empowerment of women in the African continent.

Casa África and the Women for Africa Foundation have implemented a permanent agreement of collaboration since 2015, in which both institutions work together for the progress and make visible the women of the continent. Casa África believes that women are the "guarantee for peace" and emphasizes the need to put African women at the centre of the joint activity programmed by both institutions. The determination of this institution is to place women in a central place of its strategy and activity.

Some of the different actions foreseen in the mentioned agreement will be conferences, events, congresses, courses and other events where African people and values for the attendees or to make visible the African values, with special focus to those that promote the participation and recognition of African women; thus promoting actions around education, health, economic development and empowerment, which contribute to the progress and well-being of African women.

On the other hand, the Cabildo of Fuerteventura leads the project AFRIMAC "PROJECT FOR BUSINESS EXCHANGE OF HIGH ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT TOPICS BETWEEN THE CANARY ISLANDS AND WESTERN AFRICA", which is financed by the Operational Program of Interreg Territorial Cooperation V-A MAC 2014-2020. AFRIMAC seeks to promote the internationalization of companies in the mentioned region of cooperation in high added value areas. In a transversal point of view, the aim is to improve the competitive potential and entrepreneurship in the productive sector in the abovementioned regions. Thus, a pilot project for the empowerment of women in the business world have been designed among other actions.

Within the framework of these initiatives, we have dynamize the I MEETING OF BUSINESS WOMEN ASSOCIATIONS OF THE ECOWAS with the main objective of strengthening these networks, consolidate them and give them a new momentum to increase the bonds of collaboration between the Canary Islands and the African continent.

Organisation

• Casa África

Collaborators

• International Federation Business and Professional Women (BPW International)

Sponsors

• General Directorate of Economic Promotion of the Government of the Canary Islands
• Cabildo de Fuerteventura
• Binter

Objectives

• To promote the transfer of knowledge among businesswomen from the Canary Islands and West Africa, specifically, the countries belonging to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

• To establish professional networks between the attendees with the main purpose to increase the trade relations

• To promote Business Linkages and Business Opportunities among women entrepreneurs from Canary Islands, and West Africa

• To put a road map for the cooperation among the women entrepreneurs and have information on the developmental agenda of the African Union 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals

• To establish a training program for the Women Entrepreneurs attending the forum for presenting their projects and business opportunities at the elevator pitch sessions

Participants

Representatives of business associations in Africa and Spain, as well as international organizations with competence in women's empowerment and development, especially in the private sector.

Structure

• Round tables
• Workshops
• Networking

Programme

• Programme
• Dossier