Global initiatives for female economic empowerment

Various regional initiatives are being implemented to enhance the economic and technical empowerment of women across Africa and India.

In Uganda, the Revolutionary Black Wall Street initiative has introduced the System Usher Contractor Programme to provide young African women with stable income and professional growth through roles as public information representatives. In India, financial institutions such as Save Solutions, Annapurna Finance, Satin Creditcare Network, and Fusion Finance are expanding access to micro-ATM services, microfinance products, and formal credit to support women entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas.

In West Africa, efforts are addressing different facets of female empowerment. In Côte d'Ivoire, women lead over one-third of SMEs but face significant hurdles in transitioning from small-scale family activities to scalable enterprises due to limited access to capital, markets, and equipment. While 2023 World Bank data shows 22.5% of companies had at least one female owner, only 11.6% were led by a woman as the primary manager. To address vocational needs, the Guédikpo Civic Service Center recently completed the seventh cohort of the ‘Girls Power’ program, which trained 150 young women in sectors such as catering, automotive mechanics, and agro-pastoralism. Supported by the National Civic Service Office (OSCN) and UNICEF, the program provided specific assistance to 23 young mothers to ensure training completion.

In Senegal, a new program in the Touba and Mbacké regions aims to combat precariousness through financial support, training, and marketing assistance for local products, aligning with the directives of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Meanwhile, in Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traoré has launched the ‘HAKILI Mousso’ national competition to integrate women into high-technology sectors, including biotechnology, mathematics, and digital tools, to support industrial modernization.