What I look forward to in 2023…
I wish you all a happy, healthy and fun Year of the Rabbit. But most importantly, I wish you to find “daily joys”, a wonderful gift that my colleague Edwige Takassi gave me for the new year, that I will do my best to carry out in 2023.
Last year, Althaë has been engaged in very interesting projects, all focusing on women’s empowerment. With our friends from Strategic Impact Advisors we closed the operational phase of the fabulous “Hey Sister! Show me the mobile money!” campaign in Ghana, Uganda and Malawi, and expanded the curriculum to both French- and Spanish-speaking countries. But Hey Sister! continues to thrive and touch many lives. I was surprised and pleased to see that SINAPI in Ghana used Hey Sister in their digital financial literacy curriculum, when we worked with them on evaluating their innovative approach to broadening acceptable collateral for women entrepreneurs. (forthcoming)
Another project came to an end: working with UM-PAMECAS and WOCCU to put more money in the hands of women entrepreneurs in Senegal, by designing GIFT, a gender-lense investment toolkit that will be adapted and used by WOCCU’s many member organizations throughout the world. Senegal remained dear to my heart last year, as I had the privilege of taking a deep dive into the women traders’ market, to better understand their business models, financial needs and aspirations. The many traders I had the chance to sit down with opened my eyes on how women entrepreneurs have embraced the digital revolution: they advertise on TikTok, use WhatsApp Business to contact their customers who can place orders by text message, pay for them using mobile money and wait for their delivery at home.
On the learning side, a project with the Donor Committee on Enterprise Development gave us the opportunity to explore the issue of legal identity and economic empowerment, revealing that “With an ID in Hand, Women Have More Economic Opportunities.” And encouraging all of us to think about this critical initial step when we design programs and strategies designed for women entrepreneurs.
Along those projects and discussions, a few key topics have surfaced, and I am keen on exploring them further in 2023. How can we build the resilience of women-owned businesses? Women are more vulnerable to climate change shocks and they are looking for solution that support business continuity and allows them to keep on providing income to their families. This nexus of climate change resilience and financial inclusion is going to be front and center in the 2023 discussions on gender and women’s economic empowerment. How do we frame the discussion around formalizing businesses in a productive way: yes, the downside of formalization is the tax exposure, but the upside is bright: with access to better financial product (bigger loans) to larger markets (think public and private procurement channels, the capacity to bid on public tenders, etc…) and access to technical assistance. How do we continue to change systems that constrained women instead of supporting their ambitions, businesses and successes?
In 2022, I had the pleasure of working with amazing women – Shelley, Jennifer, Deanna, Tala, Diattou, Edwige, Alejandra, Lynn, Maya, Nisha, Katie, Wendy, Carla, Christiana, Lauren, Maliha, Ella, Ana, Sylvia, Tania, Claire, Anne, Victoria, Capucine and France – and equally amazing men – Felix, Sven, Patrick, Wisdom, Malick, Thierno, Serge, Hamilton….every conversation, every idea, every different point of view has enriched me.
To all of you whom I have worked and chatted with, debated and presented with, thank you. Every interaction enriched me and gave me hope that we can build better systems for women. I look forward to connecting, reconnecting. That’s how I boost my creativity! Here’s to 2023: everything is possible!