The Union of the Mediterranean, in partnership with the Union of Arab Banks and in collaboration with prominent international organizations, will organize a conference on the theme: “Closing gender gaps in the MENA financial sector: towards women-led business development”. It will take place on 06 and 07 March 2024 in Cairo, Egypt.
This event will mark International Women’s Day 2024 and will bring together senior bankers and entrepreneurs from the MENA region to shed light on the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in scaling up their businesses.
These range from gender disparity in funding to lack of support. It will also seek to highlight the ongoing work on narrowing the gender gap in the MENA financial sector towards women-led business development and engage in discussions on promising practices and critical issues to support women entrepreneurs in launching and expanding their businesses.
The event will highlight ongoing initiatives aimed at reducing the gender gap in the MENA financial sector and promising practices for enhancing the financial and digital inclusion of women entrepreneurs.
The main highlights of the agenda include:
- Keynote addresses by prominent figures in the financial industry.
- Ceremony of “ring the bell” for gender equality. This annual global tradition aims to raise attention to the pivotal role that the private sector can play in advancing gender equality to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to raise awareness about the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).
- Panel discussions on bridging gender gaps in the MENA financial sector (Gender disparities in access to finance for business creation and development; The role of financial institutions and banks in promoting gender equality; Behind the Female angel investment scene)
- Technical roundtables focusing on financial inclusion (Innovative practices to boost women’s financial inclusion; Women in Fintech: Bridging the Gender Gap; Bridging the gap for international trade and gender equality)
