Women entrepreneurs in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Seychelles and Zimbabwe are among the latest to benefit from a digital platform aimed at empowering African women to grow their own businesses.
Funded by the AfDB, the 50 Million African Women Speak (50MAWS) networking platform was launched last year as a joint initiative by COMESA, the EAC and ECOWAS trading blocs and will cover 38 African states. Both internet- and mobile-app based, it offers a range of financial and non-financial services to female entrepreneurs, providing information on how to run a business and create opportunities online, as well as where to access financial services and training resources.
In Tanzania, 50MAWS is working with the Tanzania Women Chamber of Commerce to promote the platform in the country.
The chamber says it is ready to start training its 6 000 members to use the service, enabling them to network with their peers across the continent.
