Gender Entrepreneurship Markets Third Quarter Edition Global Newsletter: July 2006 IFC GEM welcomes you to its seventh quarterly newsletter designed to keep businesswomen in touch with key events, relevant research and, most importantly, each other! We provide brief descriptions of news, events, and online resources that will involve, inspire and inform you and others like you. Wherever possible and appropriate, we provide a link to further detail. This issue's highlights include news of World Bank Group activities (including the signing of the credit line for women entrepreneurs between IFC and Nigeria's Access Bank) news reports from other sources (including the Imagining Ourselves Online Exhibit), upcoming events around the globe (including the Global Banking Alliance for Women Conference in November) and links to useful Web sites (including the OECD Gender, Institutions, and Development Database). Our regular spotlight this issue falls on Fatima Wali, a Nigerian entrepreneur with an impressive record of breaking barriers for women in real estate, construction, and architecture. This newsletter shares helpful news and information with women entrepreneurs around the world. If you or your business association have an event you would like to make known, have a success story to share, or would like to tell us what you would like to read more about, please email us. This newsletter is for YOU and we want to keep you involved. The GEM Newsletter is also available in French, Arabic and Farsi. NEWS News from IFC GEM and the World Bank Group Reports on Women's Entrepreneurship in Kenya Launched More than 120 participants attended the launch of the Gender and Economic Growth Assessment (GGA) and Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Kenya this May in Nairobi, Kenya. The studies were commissioned by the Kenyan Ministry of Trade and Industry and carried out by IFC GEM, the Foreign Investment Advisory Service, and the World Bank. World Bank Country Director, Colin Bruce, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, David Nalo, launched the reports during a Gender and Economics Workshop, hosted by the World Bank and IFC GEM for participants from across Africa. "Removing the barriers to women's full participation will help enable the full economic potential of women to the benefit all Kenyans," said Colin Bruce. The GGA finds that Kenya could gain between 2.0 to 3.5 percentage points of GDP growth per year by addressing gender inequalities. Voices of Women Entrepreneurs in Kenya is a complementary advocacy tool and includes inspiring profiles of successful women business owners. Read more IFC and Nigeria's Access Bank Open Credit Line for Women Entrepreneurs The IFC signed an agreement in June to provide a US$15 million loan to Access Bank Plc, a Nigerian bank that will be one of the first banks in Africa to dedicate lines of credit to finance women-owned businesses. This is the first major loan under IFC GEM. Declan Duff, IFC Vice President, said, "Women are a driving force in the African economy, but their access to finance is still far too small.... This initiative will increase the contributions of women-owned businesses to the Nigerian economy and can have a significant development impact." IFC GEM will provide assistance and training to enhance the bank's ability to reach out to the women's market and provide business and management training for women entrepreneurs. Read more Commercial and International Bank (CIB) Egypt Joins Global Banking Alliance for Women The Global Banking Alliance for Women accepted this June Egypt's CIB as its first member from the Middle East and North Africa. In welcoming CIB, the Alliance recognized the bank's leadership in the retail women's market and its new partnership with the IFC to develop a women entrepreneurs program. The signing ceremony took place at the 2006 Global Summit of Women in Cairo in the presence of Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Egypt's Minister of Investment. "Women entrepreneurs have the potential to create much needed jobs for our country," said Dr. Mohieldin. "I applaud CIB Egypt for their vision and commitment to Egypt's economic growth and development." Read more World Economic Forum on the Middle East Hosts Women Leaders The Women Leaders Programme of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East brought together for the first time women ministers from across the region to construct a five-year action plan for policies to address the region's gender gap at this year's forum in May. Participants in a session entitled "Equality before the law?" agreed that regional governments must make the gender gap a serious development priority and called for a cohesive strategy for moving forward. Representatives from the World Bank President's External Consultative Group on Gender were among the 1,100 participants at the forum. Read more 2 IFC Pangea Artisan Market and Café Opens under Women's Empowerment Theme A series of activities in May commemorated the launch of IFC's Pangea Market and Café, which sells handcrafted products made by artisans in developing countries and tells their stories through multimedia exhibits. Pangea, which means "all lands" in Greek, is a celebration and tribute to the spirit and resilience of women in developing countries. As part of Pangea's educational and outreach efforts, the IFC's Grassroots Business Initiative and IFC GEM organized a thematic day to celebrate Women's Economic Empowerment, share experiences, knowledge and ideas on women's issues, and develop opportunities for collaboration among various women's groups. Read more GEM Hosts Emerging Women Leaders as Part of Mentorship Program In April 2006 GEM hosted at the IFC over 20 women from around the world who were visiting the US as part of the US Department of State's International Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. In collaboration with Vital Voices and Fortune's Most Powerful Women, this initiative placed emerging women business leaders from around the world in three-week mentoring programs with Fortune's most powerful women leaders. For more information, contact Leadership Summit. First World Bank Group Investment Climate Assessment to Feature Gender Analysis The World Bank and the GEM program of the IFC Private Enterprise Partnership for the Middle East and North Africa (PEP MENA) discussed gender-related findings and recommendations of the Yemen Investment Climate Assessment during a seminar with key experts and stakeholders this April in Yemen. The World Bank's assessment identifies and prioritizes investment climate constraints, benchmarks progress on reform, provides cross-country comparisons of investment climate indicators and helps countries forge broad consensus on priority areas for reform. The assessment feeds into World Bank and IFC operations and technical assistance. Read more MORE NEWS Imagining Ourselves Online Exhibit Connects Women Since March 8, Imagining Ourselves, an online exhibit by the International Museum of Women in San Francisco, has provided a platform for young women to create positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. The project includes an online exhibit, a series of global events, a celebrity blog on Yahoo!, and a dazzling book published by the New World Library. Each month's exhibit focuses on a specific theme. Read more 3 Twenty-One Leaders Honoured for Breaking Barriers on Behalf of Women Women's eNews Annual gala in New York this May honoured twenty-one individuals for breaking barriers on behalf of women. The impressive roster included Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Economy and Planning Minister in the United Arab Emirates and the first woman to hold a ministerial post as part of a recent cabinet reshuffle. Read more Fellowships Available at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) NED welcomes applications to its Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program for the 2007-08 year in Washington, D.C. The program aims to deepen the participants' understanding of democracy and promote democratic change. It offers five-month fellowships for practitioners and five- to ten-month fellowships for scholars. To visit, click here. Global Symposium on Growth Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs This two-day symposium in Stockholm, Sweden, brought together entrepreneurs, bankers, policy makers and academic researchers to discuss hurdles for women that want to start, run and grow their businesses. Keynote speaker, Myra Hart, professor at Harvard Business School, shared her experiences for how more women can grow their businesses. Read more In Rio Rush Hour, Women Relax in Single-Sex Trains In Rio de Janeiro, women traveling on rush-hour trains can find a haven from sexual harassment in single-sex cars, a result of a law enacted last month. Even critics of the law acknowledge the mood in the "pink cars" is relaxed and cheerful. Read more Inspirational Quote "Economists and policy makers in Africa cannot afford to ignore gender issues if they truly wish to follow a shared growth agenda." - John Page, Chief Economist for the Africa Region, World Bank 4 SPOTLIGHT ON: Fatima Wali, Nigerian Entrepreneur Fatima Walli has redefined the meaning of property management in Nigeria by breaking new ground in the formerly underdeveloped and male dominated domain of property and facilities management. Fatima initially set up Participant Properties Limited in 1994 with a partner who asked her to help renovate and manage a large property under lease. Armed with years of experience in the private and public sectors and with degrees in architecture, urban studies, economics and management construction, Fatima accomplished this task with ease and began looking for her next challenge. She realized that comfortable and well maintained properties, particularly for short to medium term visitors, were few and far between in Nigeria, and she established FilmoRealty Ltd. With a portfolio of 120 units under management, Filmo has become the first point of call for foreign diplomats and multinational expatriates seeking modern and safe accommodation in Nigeria. Filmo now has properties in Lagos, Abuja and soon in Port Harcourt. A successful entrepreneur, Fatima is also serious about gender equality and about ensuring business access to other women. She was instrumental in making the initial link between GEM and Access Bank Nigeria that led Access Bank to become one of the first banks in Africa to dedicate a line of credit specifically for women entrepreneurs. An active member of the International Facilities Management Association, Fatima is a dynamic woman who is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on real estate and facilities management topics, as well as on issues of concern to African business women. Her next challenge is to expand Filmo's innovative business model into other parts of West Africa. We have no doubt that she will successfully meet this challenge with her characteristic energy and enthusiasm. Each Women in Business newsletter spotlights either a women's business association that has developed an innovative idea or process that promotes women's entrepreneurship, or an enterprising and inspiring woman who has achieved success. If you have a success story to share, please email us with the details. We look forward to sharing your stories. CALL FOR CONSULTANT CV's IFC GEM is looking for women and men experienced in the field of private sector development and gender for future short-term assignments. If you have relevant experience and would like to be included in our database, please email us. 5 EVENTS Gender, Transport and Development Conference 27-30 August, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa: This conference will provide an opportunity for researchers, policy makers and organizations worldwide to share global multidisciplinary perspectives on issues of gender, transport and development. Read more International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) Conference on Entrepreneurship 31 August - 2 September, Riga, Latvia: The 6th annual IEF conference will focus on key issues concerning entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in business, with an emphasis on growing small and medium sized firms. Read more Doing Business in 2007: How to Reform 9 September, Washington, DC: This event will launch Doing Business in 2007, the IFC and the World Bank's annual investment climate research report, which tracks and compares barriers to starting and operating a business in more than 150 countries. Read more Global Banking Alliance (GBA) for Women Conference November 6, London, Glasgow: This annual conference will bring together GBA members to share experiences and best practices and will highlight recent global research on access to finance. For more information, click here to contact. Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Conference 7-10 November, New York, NY: By focusing on "Innovative Strategies" and "Measurable Impacts," the conference will provide a forum to discuss the hurdles and rewards of incorporating CSR into core business strategies and operations. Read more LINKS TO RESOURCES Become a Supplier to the World Bank The World Bank awards every year about US$600 million on goods and services for internal requirements through a competitive bidding process. Women-owned businesses from around the world are especially encouraged to bid. Read more World Bank Publishes Guidelines on Addressing Violence against Women The guidelines for health, education, justice and multi-sector projects provide project 6 examples that have integrated approaches to responding to violence against women into their design. Read more Guidelines for Creating a Culture of Equality in the Workplace in South Africa The guide highlights and promotes the involvement of private business in achieving gender equality. Drawing on a number of laws and international commitments to women's rights, it seeks to enhance gender equality in the workplace. Read more OECD Gender, Institutions, and Development Database This is a new tool for researchers and policy makers to determine and analyze obstacles to women's economic development. It covers a total of 162 countries and comprises an array of 50 indicators on gender discrimination. Read more Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women This NGO in Jordan provides training, information, project implementation, legal consultation, and it promotes a national census on the need for better laws and regulations for society and business. Read more Mawred Website Highlights Women's Economic Contribution in Syria Focusing on women's role in economic development in Syria, the Mawred Web site includes a newsletter, links to events, and other publications on women's development in the region. Read more Email us to suggest a web link. Published by the Gender ­ Entrepreneurship ­ Markets unit of the International Finance Corporation. Please email us your comments or queries. 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