International Women's Day Letter from P/CEO Travis Adkins

Mar 07, 2023

 

Greetings, and Happy International Women’s Day!  

The theme for this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day is - Embrace Equity – an ideal which we hold dearly. As we celebrate this day, I wanted to share a few words on what the U.S. African Development Foundation is doing to advance gender equity across the continent.  

No nation can achieve its optimal economic growth without the equitable inclusion of women. It is estimated that Sub-Saharan African economies are losing $95 billion dollars annually due to the gender equity gap in the labor market – which makes it more difficult to the workforce – and thus to national economies.  

Addressing this gender gap and tapping the potential of the majority population on the continent will not only help to redress historical inequities, but would also support and economic boom for African economies.  

It is for this reason, that all of USADF’s employment skills development and job creation programs, as well as our entrepreneurship incubators, prioritize a 50 percent gender balance in participants and trainees continent-wide. 

An additional challenge is the estimated $42 billion financing gap between men and women entrepreneurs in Africa, even though women lead 40 percent of the continent's enterprises.  

USADF is doing its part to close the gap through the targeted financing of women-owned and women-led enterprises. We have partnered with the U.S. State Department’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs to promote African women's entrepreneurship and increase women’s access to capital, markets, technical assistance, and mentorship. USADF has provided nearly $2 million for more than 125 Academy for Women Entrepreneurs graduates in 14 African countries.  

Building upon this success, USADF and the State Department are relaunching the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program this year - which will provide small grants to train women entrepreneurs and support women-owned businesses that have the potential to succeed in regional and international markets. 

At the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, USADF also announced the return of its Women-In-Off-Grid Energy Challenge - this program will help support equity in the energy sector by providing grant funding to women-owned and women-led businesses to seeking to address insufficient energy access in their communities.  

USADF's agriculture investment portfolio is replete with impact stories of women whose lives have improved significantly, in part due to our support of local enterprises focused on improving the lives of smallholder farmers and better connecting them to market opportunities. These women smallholder farmers return to school, pay school fees for their children, provide more diversity in their families’ diet, purchase vehicles, and engage in other income-generating activities.  

At USADF, we honor and will continue to support the women entrepreneurs, farmers, and business leaders who are continuously innovating for their communities, despite the odds and lack of equity in financing, mentoring, and other opportunities that make it easier to succeed. We will continue to Embrace Equity for Africa’s women.  

Once again, Happy International Women’s Day!