The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) has announced a stellar speaker line-up for the 8th edition of its annual conference and awards taking place on 26 and 27 September in Cairo.
AWIEF chose to hold its award-winning conference, expo, and award ceremony in North Africa for the first time, in partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation (MOIC) and Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA). 60 industry experts across business, international development, and government are hosted to share their insights and thought leadership.
This year’s edition is entitled “Advancing Africa through gender integration”. The event aims to promote and accelerate MSMEs growth for Africa’s inclusive economic growth and brings together the African entrepreneurs for discussions on entrepreneurship, leadership, technology and innovation, sustainability, intra-African trade, finance and investment, energy and infrastructure, and agriculture and food security.
The list of high-level AWIEF2022 keynote speakers includes Dalia Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer, Nahdet Misr Publishing House and Founder of EdVentures; Amany Asfour, President, Africa Business Council; Chinyere Almona, Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI); and Marieme Esther Dassanou, Manager, Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
According to Minister Rania Al-Mashat, “The hosting of AWIEF2022 in Egypt reflects Egypt’s keenness and support for empowering women and enhancing their economic participation and important roles in innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve sustainable development. Such a step also reflects the state’s pivotal roles and national efforts on women empowerment to strengthen women’s contribution to the labor markets.”
On the other hand, “The theme for this year’s AWIEF event is inspired by the fact that no conversation about empowerment or entrepreneurship can, or should, exclude either women or men. Gender diversity and inclusion are vital for Africa’s economic growth”, said the Founder and CEO of AWIEF, Irene Ochem.
She added that a lot of progress has been made, but there is still a lot of work to be done, especially about access to finance for women entrepreneurs, access to markets, skills training, and networks. Egypt is at the forefront of the African entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem, and we are going to learn and connect with those driving this growing economy and other African economies.
