2023-12-04 09:13:19
This Thursday, November 30, the conference on improving access to market financing for women entrepreneurs in Burundi continued. Two panels, expert presentations and group work were organized. The speakers discussed challenges and proposed solutions.
The second day started with a recap of the first day. The first panel on building a public-private dialogue for the development of women entrepreneurs took place. Panelists such as Nadia NINTUNZE, private sector specialist at the World Bank, Ange Muyubira, founder and general director of Kaz’O’zah Keza, Immaculée Nsengiyumva, secretary general of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Burundi, AFAB, Dénis Nshimirimana , general secretary of the CFCIB. They analyzed the obstacles to female entrepreneurship and proposed solutions.
They notably suggested the establishment of clear regulations that facilitate women. According to Immaculée Nsengiyumva, general secretary of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Burundi, AFAB, respect for human rights is an effective solution for equal opportunities. “We demand respect for human rights. It is with respect for the socio-political rights of everyone that we will move forward.”
A presentation was given by Patricia Mwangi, Senior Operations Specialist at IFC. She indicated that African women entrepreneurs occupy a first place and a high rate in the world in the entrepreneurship sector. She advocates reducing gender gaps to boost their development. She also deplored the lack of data disaggregated by sex in companies to quantify and understand the opportunities of different women.
The second panel focused on sharing best practices: “How to build a bankable business”. It is a way of unleashing the potential of Burundian women entrepreneurs by taking into account the imperative to get started.
The participants in this panel are women with experience in the entrepreneurship sector. These include Irvine Floréal Murame, manager director of Ifinity Group, Fatoumata Binta Baldé, head of the IFC regional support project, Melyse Mugisha of Buja Hub and Estella Kamariza, Managing Director of Clarisse SPRL.
The panelists highlighted the need for capacity building and coaching/mentoring for all those who wish to get started. Women must also have determination and perseverance. For them, skills in financing management are important to move forward.
To achieve this, the panelists offer networking by working together, the use of incubators and having the necessary skills in human resources management.
Important proposals
Three working groups were formed with the objective of exploring and brainstorming the main challenges of women’s access to financing and markets. It was also about discussing and proposing solutions through an action plan to address them.
In each working group, participants answered the following questions: including access to finance for women, market access for women, the business environment for women, and strengthening women’s entrepreneurial skills (essential entrepreneurial skills for the success of women entrepreneurs in Burundi).
The challenges of accessing financing include the real estate bank guarantee, high interest rates and regulations that are not up to date. For solutions, we propose to accept the movable guarantee and the regulatory revision, granting of small credits for women and women who must join cooperatives.
To guarantee access to financing, through the movable guarantee, the international financial company, IFC and the World Bank group are pushing a reform to accept the movable guarantee in what is called movable security.
Concerning the obstacles to market access, these include corruption, lack of networking, lack of information, lack of visibility. To remedy this, they propose a system of centralization of information, making clear public and respected regulations. Then there is participation in international fairs and positions and training of entrepreneurs for international certifications.
During the closing, Alphonsus Achomuma, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank said the two-day conference on access to finance and market for women entrepreneurs in Burundi was of paramount importance. “Much more than a conference, I think this event will help more than one person to provide more information on the existing opportunities that are in place for them.”
Among one of these opportunities, he spoke about the PRETE project financed by the World Bank which will provide solutions to the challenges mentioned in the various panels. “The PRETE project will systematically address disparities between men and women. Project activities will encourage the participation of women and target at least 50% of female beneficiaries. The project aims to reduce the gap between men and women in terms of access to finance, means of production and technology.
Alphonsus Achomuma, senior financial sector specialist at the World Bank: “the lessons learned from the discussions and exchanges of the workshops during these two days will contribute to the empowerment of women”
For Alphonsus Achomuma, the project will contribute to the economic empowerment of women by increasing their capacity to make strategic decisions, access financing and achieve better economic results.
He nevertheless deplored that much remains to be done to enable women entrepreneurs in Burundi to realize their potential. “We must all help make this happen by ensuring that the young Burundian girl has the same rights and is exposed to exactly the same opportunities as her brother. Only then can Burundi’s full potential as a country be fully realized.”
According to him, the lessons learned from the discussions and exchanges of the workshops during these two days on access to financing and markets, as well as the tools made available to the participants will contribute to putting Burundian women entrepreneurs on the path to their empowerment. and their development.
For his part, Didace Ngendakumana, director general of the Burundi development agency, ADB, welcomed the opinions and proposals emerging from this very important conference. For him, they will promote female entrepreneurship.
By the Editorial Staff (Iwacu)
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