West African initiatives focus on female economic and technical empowerment

In Côte d'Ivoire, female entrepreneurship faces significant hurdles in transitioning from small-scale family activities to scalable enterprises. While women lead over one-third of SMEs in the country, primarily in commerce, services, and agro-industry, they face barriers regarding access to capital, markets, and equipment. World Bank data from 2023 indicates that while 22.5% of companies had at least one female owner, only 11.6% were led by a woman as the primary manager.

In Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traoré has launched the ‘HAKILI Mousso’ national competition to promote female intelligence and technical expertise. The initiative aims to integrate women into high-technology sectors, including digital tools, physics, mathematics, and biotechnology, to support national sovereignty and industrial modernization.