Spain gives 1m Euros to lift W, Africa rural women
July 16, 2012The Spanish government has provided one million Euros to empower rural women in West Africa under a project that will run for two years.
The Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs (BIAWE) will nurture the business ventures of rural African women operating primarily in the area of agriculture while supporting initiatives in economic capacity building, promoting rural entrepreneurship and developing agricultural resources.
The BIAWE project will guarantee resources for rural women entrepreneurs to receive support from banks and financial institutions in the areas of loans, processing of agricultural produce and market access for the sale of their produce.
The Agreement was signed in Addis Ababa recently by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency by NEPAD’s Chief Executive Officer,Ibrahim Mayaki and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Miguel Fernandez-Palacios, Spain’s Ambassador to the African Union, said financing of the joint NEPAD-ECOWAS project was proof of the Spanish government’s commitment to the African continent and the empowerment of the African woman to improve their living condition.
Mayaki thanked the Spanish Government for the support which he said will help address key issues related to NEPAD programmes such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Porgramme (CAADP) that addresses the needs of women in agriculture.
Ouédraogo said the business incubator was aimed at creating wealth through modernizing and professionalising female-owned enterprises in line with the Millennium Development Goals aimed at eradicating poverty and hunger as well as to promote gender equality and women empowerment.
In 2009, the Heads of State of West Africa and Spain signed a joint declaration in which the ECOWAS Commission and the Spanish Government undertook to provide support for the capacity building of West African women.
The signing of the Agreement with NEPAD is the final stage preceding the project implementation.
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