World Summit on Gender in Kigali: "Getting out of prejudice to give women access to finance" Akinwumi Adesina

25-Nov-2019

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina advocated for a much wider opening of funding for African women in a speech at the inaugural session of the World Summit on Gender on Monday. 4 th edition held this year in Kigali, capital of Rwanda.

"When women borrow, they always pay back. And 80% of them manage to settle their debts each time, without any problem. Where is the risk? The problem is the rigidity of banks and prejudices. We have to get out of it to give women access to funding, "urged President Adesina.

The session entitled "Unlocking women's access to finance in Africa" ​​included a panel of high-level speakers, including Salimata Diop Dieng, Senegal's Minister of Women, Family and Gender, Andrew Temu, President from the African Guarantee Fund, Kennedy Uzoka, Chief Executive Officer of United Bank of Africa (UBA), Joséphine Anan-Ankomah, Executive Director of Ecobank Group and Christine Ngiriye, Entrepreneur.

"It is important for financial institutions to support initiatives from women. They have market gardening perimeters, agricultural products to transform. They create start-ups in the areas of innovation. However, they lack resources, guarantee and procedures to access loans are complicated, "said Salimata Diop Dieng.

"These women need rather moderate funding, just enough to create projects and jobs. They need support from the private sector and the banks to help them settle into the economic fabric, "she added. For Christine Ngiriye, little has changed in almost 30 years, "the problem that arises, again and again, is a warranty problem. "

For his part, Andrew Temu advocates "talking with countries to improve the business environment. Above all, laws are needed to reassure banks. There are several players, banks, investors, entrepreneurs, customers, in action on the economic market. Everyone must talk to each other about risks. "

The president of the African Development Bank, for its part, believes that "the question of risks must be dropped. You have to see how you manage them and how you reduce them. It's a risk management issue. When financial companies lend money, they should establish rankings, "suggested Akinwumi Adesina.

The President of the Bank felt that the financial sector has a responsibility towards African women. And he made an announcement: "Now, we are going to give ratings to all African financial institutions based on what they have done for women. All financial ecosystems must evolve in favor of women. And we will put pressure on the guarantee banks. "

The 2019 World Summit on Gender, held in Kigali, a pilot country in Africa for gender equality, is co-organized by Rwanda and the African Development Bank. It aims to share best practices and stimulate innovation to accelerate progress on gender equality.