Advocacy mission of the ECOWAS Center for Gender Development (CCDG) to the African Electronic-TRADE Group in Kigali for support to the 2nd phase of the project “50 Million African Women Speak Out” | www.l-integration.com – INTEGRATION

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A mission led by the Director of the CCDG, Mrs. Sandra OULATE FATTOH, stayed from April 24 to 29, 2023 at the headquarters of the African E-TRADE Group in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss the establishment of a technical partnership framework and support for resource mobilization for the 2nd phase of the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform project (50MAWSP). The African E-Trade Group is an institution created by the African Union to support the development of information and communication technology (ICT) projects for the benefit of women and young entrepreneurs in Africa..

As part of prospecting, raising awareness and mobilizing new technical and financial partners for the implementation of the 2^th phase of the project 50 Million African Women Speak », a mission of the ECOWAS Center for Gender Development (CCDG) stayed from April 24 to 29, 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda. The main objective of this mission is to discuss and finalize a technical partnership and support framework for the 50MAWSP project with the the African E-Trade Group (AeTRADE) which is an initiative of the African Union that brings together public and private sector partners to develop projects that leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICT ) for the benefit of African entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow.

Specifically, this mission aimed to present the results obtained during the 1st phase of the 50MAWSP project, as well as the priorities for the 2nd phase of the project, identify potential areas of collaboration between the AeTRADE Group and ECOWAS/ CCDG in the areas of empowerment, entrepreneurship, access to regional markets, training and financing for women and young people, discussing resource mobilization and communication strategies to support fundraising for the 2^th phase of the 50MAWYSP project and finally discuss the establishment of a framework for discussion and partnership between ECOWAS, COMESA, EAC and the AeTRADE Group for the implementation of the 2nd phase of the 50MAWYSP project.

The mission enabled the CCDG to meet and have several working sessions with the managers of the AeTRADE Group, in particular its Executive Director, Mr Mulualem SYOUM and the Operations Manager, Mrs Treasure MAPHANGA. Among other benefits of this mission, we can note that the AeTRADE Group has undertaken to make the CCDG its partner institution and gateway to ECOWAS and West Africa for all its initiatives and programs, particularly in with regard to E-trade, training and financing of women and young entrepreneurs, support for trade and the empowerment of women and young girls in the 15 ECOWAS Member States.

The AeTRADE Group has also made a commitment to support the mobilization of resources for the 2^th phase of the project, particularly with the African Development Bank. The pan-African institution also intends to make its entire technical platform, e-commerce technology and resources available to facilitate and increase the visibility, ownership and sustainability of the 5OMAWSP initiative. The AeTRADE Group has promised to facilitate on the 50MAWSP platform, the sharing of experiences, access to training, financing and regional markets for women and young entrepreneurs from the 3 Economic Regions involved in the implementation of the project ( ECOWAS, COMESA and EAC). A consultation will be organized between the 3 RECs and AeTRADE Group with a view to extending the memorandum of understanding being drawn up between the group and ECOWAS to the other two RECs (COMESAv and EAC).

Taking advantage of the opportunity of this mission, the CCDG invited the AeTRADE Group to visit its premises and participate in the celebration of its 20 years which will take place from June 02 to 06, 2023 in Dakar, Senegal.

Finally, as part of the Forum on Job Creation in Africa and the African Integration Week organized by the African Union and the AeTRADE Group from July 7 to 9, 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the CCDG will be invited to lead a panel on its Excellence Scholarship Program and its initiatives in favor of the employment of women and young people in West Africa. Also within the framework of the said forum, an official invitation will be sent to ECOWAS, COMESA and EAC to co-organize a session to promote the visibility of the project “50 million African women have a voice” as a highlight of the African integration week.