ECA Hosts Trade Finance for Female Entrepreneurs Workshop At IATF 2018
In a bid to find help find solutions to the challenge of access to trade finance for female entrepreneurs, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), organized a workshop to discuss trade finance for female entrepreneurs at the on-going Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Cairo, Egypt.
Female entrepreneurs around the globe typically face greater barriers to accessing trade finance than their male counterparts, more so in the developing world where cultural norms continue to affect their desire to do well in their chosen careers.
The World Bank Women, Business and the Law database shows that in all regions, a significant proportion of countries do not prohibit discrimination based on gender or marital status in access to credit.
In a bid to find help find solutions to this problem, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), organized a workshop to discuss trade finance for female entrepreneurs at the on-going Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Cairo, Egypt.
Participants and panelists discussed how trade and gender interact through the ability of entrepreneurs to access financial services, and what governments, the private sector and development community can do to help promote gender-inclusive trade financing.
ATPC Coordinator, David Luke, in his opening remarks highlighted that Africa was one of the regions with the highest number of female entrepreneurs but that was not matched with the financial support they get from financial institutions.
Implicit discrimination by national financial systems due to cultural norms, he said, can exacerbate the gender-divide in access to credit.
"We need to ensure affordable access to finance for female entrepreneurs. It is crucial to helping women-owned businesses to scale-up, invest in new production processes, improve their competitiveness and access world markers, among many other positives," said Mr. Luke. Read more from All Africa.