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WEF ON AFRICA Abuja, Nigeria May 7-9 2014 Look to women for progress – Bineta Diop Bineta Diop is a co-chair at this year’s World Economic Forum. She is the Founder and President of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), an NGO focused on gender issues in Africa, and comes to the WEF as the African Union’s Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security. Report by Adela Johnson. For over two decades, Bineta Diop has championed the rights of the African woman and used every possible platform, including the WEF and the African Union, to make sure that gender issues remained at the forefront of the political agenda. She played a crucial role in achieving gender parity within the African Union Commission in 2003. Her organisation, FAS, remains highly influential and formed a strong lobby to get Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma elected as chair of the African Union back in 2012. Diop, who has attended WEF on Africa meetings for 20 years, intends to use this opportunity as co-chair to move the women’s agenda higher up the priority scale. She believes the penny has finally dropped – there can be no transformation of the continent without the participation of its women. As a co-chair, she will not be asking for any favours, but rather putting the case that empowering women makes great business sense. So what commitments is she looking for from the private sector and policy makers? “We are looking for mutually beneficial partnerships. In Africa we are seeing doubledigit growth but this growth is not reaching the people so we are not getting social growth. The AU wants to create a continent ‘at peace with itself ’ and if this is to happen we need to ensure investors (local and international) invest in a way which benefits all, with a clear strategy which takes into consideration women and the youth.” But what does this mean in real terms? “It means numerous things. For example, if the governments can give women access to land and title deeds, they [the women] will collaborate to form their cooperatives. In Ethiopia She believes the penny has finally dropped. There can be no complete transformation of the continent without the participation of its women and Rwanda, you have seen this happen and today they are the ones growing the coffee and exporting this commodity.” Invest in women Invest in women She goes on to say that there is far too much emphasis on attracting foreign investment when “in fact we can invest in our own people with the right policies. The return on women is proven, and women are much more reliable than men when it comes to paying back [loans]. Women are a much better guardian of your capital. This has been proven, as we have seen with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. ” Because of the impact women have on the family and in their communities, investing in women contributes to social growth. In practical terms, she says that in, for example, infrastructure investment, “consider the needs of women, incorporate them into your strategic planning. When the AfDB makes a loan to governments, what we’d like to see is that the needs of women in particular being considered.” Diop will be at the WEF championing the cause of women and ensuring leaders from business and politics stick to their commitments. “Right now there is no accountability. What is important is to put in place mechanisms to track commitments. When we say give 30% of arable land to women, we need to track whether this has been done.” Women are often the first and major victims of conflicts and wars, but also the ones who often lead the way in repairing the broken fabric. That is why they need to be at the nego- tiating table. “When you went to Rwanda, after the genocide it was women who picked up the pieces,” she says. “The same with Liberia. And today we are seeing it in the CAR. Women need to participate in the prevention process. I come to the WEF not to talk about women as victims, but so we start thinking differently about the impact women can have if we include them in the decision-making process. History shows us that societies where there is strong female participation makes for a stronger and more prosperous society. Rwanda has done so because Paul Kagame understood that women were an important ‘development tool’. He was targeting the right people to implement his own vision. He built alliances with those he knew can make a difference.” 58 | African Business | May 2014

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WEF ON AFRICA

Abuja, Nigeria May 7-9 2014

Look to women for progress – Bineta Diop Bineta Diop is a co-chair at this year’s World Economic Forum. She is the Founder and President of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), an NGO focused on gender issues in Africa, and comes to the WEF as the African Union’s Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security. Report by Adela Johnson.

For over two decades, Bineta Diop has championed the rights of the African woman and used every possible platform, including the WEF and the African Union, to make sure that gender issues remained at the forefront of the political agenda. She played a crucial role in achieving gender parity within the African Union Commission in 2003. Her organisation, FAS, remains highly influential and formed a strong lobby to get Mrs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma elected as chair of the African Union back in 2012.

Diop, who has attended WEF on Africa meetings for 20 years, intends to use this opportunity as co-chair to move the women’s agenda higher up the priority scale. She believes the penny has finally dropped – there can be no transformation of the continent without the participation of its women.

As a co-chair, she will not be asking for any favours, but rather putting the case that empowering women makes great business sense. So what commitments is she looking for from the private sector and policy makers?

“We are looking for mutually beneficial partnerships. In Africa we are seeing doubledigit growth but this growth is not reaching the people so we are not getting social growth. The AU wants to create a continent ‘at peace with itself ’ and if this is to happen we need to ensure investors (local and international) invest in a way which benefits all, with a clear strategy which takes into consideration women and the youth.”

But what does this mean in real terms? “It means numerous things. For example, if the governments can give women access to land and title deeds, they [the women] will collaborate to form their cooperatives. In Ethiopia

She believes the penny has finally dropped. There can be no complete transformation of the continent without the participation of its women and Rwanda, you have seen this happen and today they are the ones growing the coffee and exporting this commodity.”

Invest in women

Invest in women She goes on to say that there is far too much emphasis on attracting foreign investment when “in fact we can invest in our own people with the right policies. The return on women is proven, and women are much more reliable than men when it comes to paying back [loans]. Women are a much better guardian of your capital. This has been proven, as we have seen with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. ”

Because of the impact women have on the family and in their communities, investing in women contributes to social growth. In practical terms, she says that in, for example, infrastructure investment, “consider the needs of women, incorporate them into your strategic planning. When the AfDB makes a loan to governments, what we’d like to see is that the needs of women in particular being considered.” Diop will be at the WEF championing the cause of women and ensuring leaders from business and politics stick to their commitments. “Right now there is no accountability. What is important is to put in place mechanisms to track commitments. When we say give 30% of arable land to women, we need to track whether this has been done.”

Women are often the first and major victims of conflicts and wars, but also the ones who often lead the way in repairing the broken fabric. That is why they need to be at the nego-

tiating table. “When you went to

Rwanda, after the genocide it was women who picked up the pieces,” she says. “The same with Liberia. And today we are seeing it in the CAR. Women need to participate in the prevention process. I come to the WEF not to talk about women as victims, but so we start thinking differently about the impact women can have if we include them in the decision-making process. History shows us that societies where there is strong female participation makes for a stronger and more prosperous society. Rwanda has done so because Paul Kagame understood that women were an important ‘development tool’. He was targeting the right people to implement his own vision. He built alliances with those he knew can make a difference.”

58

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African Business | May 2014

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