U.S Department of State to Promote African Economy
The U.S. Department of State will host this June 2012 several events to promote economic growth throughout Africa by engaging women and youth, encouraging entrepreneurship, and strengthening U.S. – African economic partnerships.
The main events are the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the U.S.-Africa Business Conference, the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, the Innovation Summit and Mentoring Partnership with Young African Leaders, and Global Economic Statecraft Day.
With the goal of reducing poverty and conflict in the region, AGOA has become a cornerstone of U.S. policy in Africa. Since its enactment in 2000, U.S.-African partnerships have increased and Africa’s exports to the United States have quadrupled.
In a bid to raise awareness on the importance of infrastructure development, including energy, transportation, water and sanitation, 11 Rwandan companies will attend the U.S.-Africa Business Conference which is set to kickoff on the 21-22.
The conference aims to provide an opportunity to showcase U.S. business expertise to potential African clients, and to highlight trade and investment opportunities in Africa to U.S. exporters and investors.
The U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda will also send two Rwandan entrepreneurs, Gloria Uwizera and Oda Nsabimana to participate in the African women’s entrepreneurship program (AWEP). Gloria Uwizera is the founder and owner of GLO Creations, an art and fashion business specializing in batik, as well as the current president of the Rwanda Fair Trade Artisan Association. Oda Nsabimana is the owner a pineapple plantation from which she expects to be able to export in the near future to South Africa and the region.
The AWEP program will showcase how gender barriers have been broken down and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the U.S. have opened up through changes in business practices and the evolution of laws and regulations. The participants will learn about access to capital, business best practices, and the importance of social entrepreneurship, while developing their own professional partnerships and communication and advocacy skills.
The U.S Department will also host the Innovation Summit and Mentoring Partnership with Young African Leaders from June 13th to 30th, 2012.
The program will focus on social entrepreneurship as a tool for maximizing Africa’s potential to create jobs and opportunities and aim to enhance U.S.-African collaboration to promote innovation, investment, and social responsibility. In this program the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda is sending one young Rwandan, Clarisse Iribagiza, to participate. Clarisse Iribagiza is the winner of the East African reality TV show “Inspire Africa,” in which she competed against young entrepreneurs from across East Africa. She is also at the head of (HeHe) Limited, a mobile applications development company founded in 2010 while she was a student at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
To celebrate the Global Economic Statecraft Day, the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda will host a Youth Entrepreneurship Program at the American Corner at the Rwanda Tourism University College in Gisenyi on June 14th at 2:00 p.m. The event will feature a discussion on youth entrepreneurship in rural areas led by Mr. Charles Kayitana, a lecturer at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB). Mr. Kayitana will lead discussions on best practices in “customer care†with students, small business owners, tourism employees and transport service professionals.
Source ( U.S embassy communiqué)
