Source: Leadership
The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), and the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) have signed an agreement worth one million Euros (about N235m) for the empowerment of Africa’s rural women entrepreneurs.

This agreement was signed last Thursday in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on the premise of the grant provided by Spain through the NEPAD-Spain Fund.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, and the Executive Secretary of the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, Dr.Ibrahim Assane Mayakin signed the agreement.

The grant will provide funds for the Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs (BIAWE) project, which nurtures the business ventures of rural African women operating primarily in the area of agriculture.

The project seeks to support initiatives in economic capacity building for women, promote rural entrepreneurship and develop agricultural resources.

It will also provide a guarantee fund for rural women entrepreneurs in Africa to receive support from banks and financial institutions in the form of loans, processing of agricultural produce and market access for the sale of the produce.

ECOWAS and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are the two regional economic communities leading the implementation of this project.

At the ECOWAS level, the project will be piloted in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, with the hope of extension to other Member States of the Community.